Your guide to selecting the best commercial dehumidifiers

In a wide range of circumstances, high humidity levels can cause a great deal of harm.

From encouraging the growth of mould, mildew and rust, to allowing flood damage to eat away at crucial building materials, failing to keep humidity under control can pose a real threat to people, buildings, products and more.

Effective dehumidification ensures that environments are kept within a healthy humidity range and that moisture is removed from unwanted areas. With the right climate solutions in place, companies go a long way towards guaranteeing that locations are healthy, safe and comfortable, and that items inside are protected from the risk of water damage.

However, with a wide choice of commercial dehumidifiers on the market, you may be struggling to find the best one for your needs. Below we discuss how to select the ideal option for your purposes.

What is a commercial dehumidifier?

A commercial or industrial dehumidifier is one specifically designed to manage the humidity levels in a large, commercial space, or to support professional activities such as construction work or water damage restoration.

When searching for ‘dehumidifiers’ online, you might immediately be presented with smaller, domestic versions. While these may be perfectly suited to improve the air quality and remove moisture in rooms around the home, these will not fulfil the far greater demands of commercial applications.

Could you use an electric heater to fulfil the same role?

While a heater can help pull moisture out of water-damaged materials, that water will then remain in the atmosphere. When it hits a cold surface, it will condense and you are back to square one. A dehumidifier captures moisture in the air, meaning that there is no risk of it causing further harm.

In addition, the energy cost of an electric heater can run very high, especially if you are running it as consistently as you would a commercial dehumidifier. By contrast, Aerial dehumidifiers reuse the latent heat energy generated during the dehumidification process. This is then used to reheat the cool air passing through it, helping maintain the temperature within the area.

What are the types of commercial dehumidifiers?

Commercial dehumidifiers primarily fall into two categories: condense dehumidifiers and adsorption dehumidifiers.

Condense dehumidifiers

Also known as refrigerant dehumidifiers, condense units draw in humid air across refrigerated coils. This rapidly cools the air below its dew point temperature – condensation occurs and the unit collects the water removed from the air.

The cooled air then passes across a condenser, where it is reheated and returned to the room as dryer, warm air at the required humidity.

Adsorption dehumidifiers

Also known as desiccant dehumidifiers, adsorption units draw humid air through a slowly rotating, water-trapping rotor, often made from silica gel. This material attracts the moisture, removing it from the air stream.

Once past the rotor, part of the air is discharged as dry air, while another part regenerates the rotor. Wet air is then exhausted to the atmosphere through a duct.

Which is the right choice for my needs?

Both systems can capably control the humidity in a wide variety of commercial environments. However, there are some notable differences that can help you determine which approach will be better suited in your circumstances:

Fundamentally, across a wide range of temperatures and humidity levels, a condense solution is perfectly suitable. It is often the most cost-efficient option, and can capably keep the humidity as low as 40% RH with no impact on performance or efficiency.

However, in situations where the temperatures are notably colder, such as waterworks or cold storage areas, or when you need to keep items in specific, extremely dry conditions, an adsorption dehumidifier is essential.

Furthermore, adsorption units are reliable water damage restoration dehumidifiers, as using a side-channel blower or turbine, they can target water trapped within building cavities. Unlike condense units, which circulate all air within an area, this means dry air can be channelled to exactly where it is required.

In summary, the right choice between these two options will be a balance of what is technically required against your available budget.

Choosing the right commercial dehumidifier for your circumstances

Now you hopefully have a stronger understanding of the positive impact of commercial dehumidifiers and how to decide between a condense and adsorption solution, here we provide our recommended dehumidifiers in four specific circumstances.

For construction and water damage restoration

Whether it is speeding up the drying of screed, plaster and paint, or protecting hygroscopic building materials like wood from water damage, commercial dehumidifiers play a critical role in making conditions on construction sites safer, more efficient and more comfortable for all involved.

Furthermore, a powerful drying solution is vital in restoring rooms and buildings affected by water and flood damage, ensuring that the building structure does not weaken over time, dangerous mould does not develop, and as many items can be recovered as possible.

Our recommendation: ASE 300

Due to its high performance at low temperatures and its heavy-duty yet lightweight build, the ASE 300 can deliver fast results in all kinds of construction and emergency situations, minimising the long-term damage that can be caused by flooding.

• Low temperature and humidity operation

• Made of sturdy stainless steel and powder coated sheet steel

• ECODRY G3-rotor delivers strong fan speeds for maximum water absorption

• Built-in hygrostat for variable humidity control

• Operation hour and energy counter displayed

For waterworks

By their nature, waterworks will always create environments with high humidity levels. If these are left uncontrolled, the moisture in the atmosphere can create all kinds of problems, such as structural damage to buildings, hygiene issues for workers, and rust and cracks forming on tanks and pipework.

Our recommendation: AD 110

Compact, lightweight, robust and quiet, the AD 110 is one of our most versatile dehumidification units, well-suited to a wide range of testing environments. As well as being highly efficient and powerful, its in-built bracket allows for fast and simple wall mounting.

• Compact and space-saving

• Maintenance-friendly refrigerant circuit with service connector

• On-demand hot gas defrost system in cold temperatures

• Hermetically sealed piston compressor

• Energy-efficient axial fan

For warehouse storage

Whether you are storing food, electricals, cardboard or family heirlooms – every item has an ideal humidity level. By maintaining this within your warehouses, you can help extend the shelf-life of your stock, and prevent its quality from dropping due to moisture damage.

Our recommendation: AD 740

With its robust, rotomoulded design and considerable capacity, the AD 740 is absolutely shock and breakage-proof, helping it stay functional and safe amid the hustle and bustle inside an active warehouse.

• Easy to open, clean and maintain

• Intelligent eDRY® control and digital display

• Simple to store with folding handle and recessed wheels

• 5-year warranty on rotomoulded housing

• Can be combined with all products from the AERCUBE® series

For archives

For both newly printed documents or ancient manuscripts, humidity can quickly become a major issue that can cause the deterioration of vital information and treasured items. To ensure hygroscopic materials like books do not suffer water damage over time, a reliable dehumidification solution is crucial.

Our recommendation: AD 520

Universal, reliable and cost-effective. The energy-saving potential of the AD 520 makes it a practical choice for all forms of storage facilities, including areas housing substantial amounts of paper-based items.

• Suitable for heated rooms up to 200m³ and unheated rooms up to 150m³

• Galvanised sheet steel case, coated in stainless steel finish

• Floor standing unit with rubber feet to provide stability

• Collapsible handle for ease of storage

• 2-speed EC-axial fan for quiet, effective drying

What sets Aerial commercial dehumidifiers apart?

At Aerial, we go the extra mile to maintain our reputation as the drying experts. We ensure our customers can access all the technical data they require to choose the right size dehumidifier for their application and budget, while our well-trained team is always available to advise on the most suitable selection.

We understand that size is critical when selecting your ideal dehumidifier. Too small and it will not be powerful to make the required impact. Too large and it will cost you more to run, and could risk over-drying your environments.

With decades of experience behind us, we take every precaution to guarantee you receive the right dehumidifier for your needs.

• All of our products are designed in-house, and we are constantly evolving and improving our technology

• eDRY® technology ensures the highest quality components and precision sensors that control and measure to an accuracy of 1%

• Since 2020, all portable units are F-gas compliant with EU regulations, meaning they do not contribute to greenhouse gases

• Our products are built to last with strong materials and solid housing, making them an ideal choice for rental companies

For more information on our market-leading range of commercial dehumidifiers, please get in touch using the form below.