Living in a high humid area is notorious for health. For instance – high humidity causes hyperthermia, lethargy, and low energy. Hyperthermia causes dehydration, fainting, fatigue, muscle cramps, heat stroke, etc. So, we use dehumidifiers to lower the relative humidity level in our house.
Maintaining the relative humidity between 30 to 50 percent help with respiration, glazing skin, the longevity of the furniture, etc. As a dehumidifier collects water in water, beginners always have a question – how quickly should a dehumidifier fill up?
A dehumidifier should fill up its basin within 6 to 7 hours. How fast should it fill up depends on several related factors like – humidity in your room, temperature, motor capacity, how fast it starts working. Time may vary according to the dehumidifier tank size.
How Quickly Should a Dehumidifier Fill Up?
A 2-liter dehumidifier water tank should take 6 to 7 hours to fill up. Whereas, a 4-liter dehumidifier tank should not take more than 12 to 14 hours. As a commercial dehumidifier can collect 50 liters of water in a day, a 500L dehumidifier should fill up within 10 days. The larger the tank size, the more time it takes to fill up.
What Does It Mean When a Dehumidifier Fills Quickly?
A dehumidifier fills quickly means there is a high moisture level in the air. A dehumidifier works effectively and collects water from the air. Sometimes, a dehumidifier takes time to determine the humidity level, dampness level per sq feet of the room, surface area, and other factors before starting working. When the humidity is higher and the temperature is more than 16 degrees Celcius, the dehumidifiers fill real quick.
Why Does My Dehumidifier Keep Filling Up?
The reason your dehumidifier keeps filling up is you keep it running. No dehumidifier will keep filling up when it shut off except for the portable electric dehumidifier. Besides, ice melting in the coils keeps the bucket though the dehumidifier is off. In short, ice melting in the coils, keeping the dehumidifier turned on, or using a portable electric dehumidifier keeps it filling up.
How Often Should a Dehumidifier Fill Up?
It depends on how much time you keep it running. The thumb role is – a dehumidifier should fill up twice a day or once every two days depending on relative humidity, temperature, capacity, etc. A brand new dehumidifier might fill up more than this. If you keep running a 2-liter tank dehumidifier for 24 hours for a small and high humid room, it will fill up 4 times a day.
Factors Affecting a Dehumidifier Fills Up Quickly
You may be in confusion “why the dehumidifier fills quickly?” In this part, I will share with you all of the factors that affect a dehumidifier function. On top of that, I will share with your all possible solutions in the next paragraph. Let’s go –
- High-humidity: It is the first and fundamental cause of a dehumidifier filling up faster. If your room has humidity, the dehumidifier has to condense more water from the air. For instance – you are living in the cities like – Louisiana, and Texas, there has 75% humidity in the air. Your dehumidifier will collect more water and fill up real quick. You have to dump out water from the bucker more frequently.
On the flip side, Arizona has a low relative humidity (40 percent). Your dehumidifier does not need to condense water to maintain the humidity in the room. You may need to drain water from the tank once or twice a week.
- Ice build-up in the coils: It is common in a dehumidifier that comes with a refrigeration working system. The air pushes through the refrigeration coils and condenses into water. If your region’s temperature is too low, the air may turn into ice. Ice in the coils retarded the air passage. When this ice melts, the water starts dripping and filling the bucket.
Besides, dust and dirt may clog the coils. That decreases the airflow rate through the coils and causes frosting in the coils.
- Malfunctioning of fan: The fan is responsible for air pushing through the coils. If the fan does not work or does malfunctions, the air will start turning into the water to ice. Again, the ice melts and starts filling the bucket.
When ice builds up in the coils, the bucket constantly being filled up with water even the dehumidifier is turned off.
- Dehumidifier capacity and bucket capacity: A dehumidifier capacity means how much water it collects from the air over 24 hours at 16 degrees Celcius. A bucket capacity means how much water it holds until water spills out.
If you have both 70 pints and 50 pints dehumidifiers, the 70 pints dehumidifier bucket will fill up more quickly. This 70 pints dehumidifier can collect 33-liter water in a day. If the bucket capacity is 6 liter, it will be filled up 5.3 times in a day. On the other hand, you have to empty 10.6 times in a day if the dehumidifier bucket capacity is 3 liter.
- Defects in the dehumidifier components: Any defect in the dehumidifier components like – the float switch, the drainage system can make your dehumidifier fill up promptly. Conversely, these defects can cause cease the filling bucket with water.
- Defects in air filter: Before air comes in contact with coils, the air passage through the air filter. If the air filter is choked with dirt, the frosting of air will occur in the coils. As I have said earlier, the frosted air starts melting later. Finally, the water starts filling the tank.
- Leakage: Any leakage in the dehumidifier causes filling up it faster.
What to Do if Your Dehumidifier Fills Up Quickly?
In the last part, I have talked about why do the humidifiers fill quickly. In this section, I will share with you all of the possible and tested solutions. Read the following carefully to solve the issues. Keep reading –
- For a high humidity issue, you can use another draining option or use a condensate pump. Using a draining hose can expel more water from the basin. A condensate pump will work efficiently regardless of the humidity level.
- For ice build-up in the coils, you can expose the coils if possible. Then brush the coils gently both upward and downward. Use lukewarm water or detergent to clean the coil If you can not expose the coils, use a vacuum at the top hole of the coils. For easier operation, I would suggest using a no-rinse evaporator coil cleaner. It has a sweet smell, non-corrosive features, and so on.
Many dehumidifiers come with defrost features, you can buy this type of dehumidifier for your home or garage.
- For the fan issues, you have to diagnose any internal motor fault first. Besides, if you find any damage to the blower blades replace them. On top of that, check the electric supply, capacitor for better fan function.
- I would suggest the homeowner buy a large garage dehumidifier with a hose. Why? Because you may have already bought a dehumidifier with a small bucket capacity, you have to empty it multiple times in a day. If there has a drainage hose with a dehumidifier, you do not need to empty it multiple times.
- Diagnose the dehumidifier components first. When you can diagnose any fault with the float switch, replace it with a newer one. You should check any blockage in the drainage system before diagnosing internal components.
- Keep the air filter clean as much as you can with lukewarm water. You should not replace it until it is damaged. Most of the manufacturers out there suggest cleaning dehumidifier air filters once a year. However, you keep your vision before getting it corroded or damaged.
Nowadays, Frigidaire has developed a new humidifier with a filter reset indicator. This indicator help with daily cleaning. The dehumidifier will not start working until you clean it.
- For leakage problems, you should hire an expert for diagnosing the spot and fixing it.
Why Is Your Dehumidifier Filling Slowly?
A dehumidifier is filling slowly because air has low humidity and low temperature, uncleaned air filter, technical problems (float switch), less pint capacity. Besides, using a small capacity dehumidifier for a larger room is another reason for slow filling up.
Is It Safe to Run a Dehumidifier Constantly All the Time?
No, it is not safe to run a dehumidifier constantly all the time because it will make the air drier (RH is less than 30%). As a result, you will suffer from dry coughing, sneezing, wheezing, skin cracking, irritation in the throat, nose bleeding, allergy, asthma, etc. Besides, running it 24/7 increases the electricity bill. I recommend you to run it for 12 hours. However, you may customize it based on your condition.
Best Time of the Day to Use a Dehumidifier?
Early morning or late night is the best time to use a dehumidifier. If you run it in the night or morning, the energy cost will be lower. So, I recommend you use your dehumidifier from 10 P.M. to 7 A.M. However, you can run your dehumidifier at any time of the day as you required. But, you should not run it when the humidity level is below 30% percent.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it normal for a dehumidifier to fill up every day?
Yes, it is normal for a dehumidifier to fill up every day when the bucket capacity is lower than the dehumidifier capacity. A 10 pints dehumidifier can collect 4.73-liter water in a day. So, if your dehumidifier bucket has a 2-liter capacity, it is normal for this dehumidifier to fill up twice every day.
How long does it take for a dehumidifier to start collecting water?
A brand new dehumidifier takes 12 hours to start working. However, an already functional dehumidifier starts collecting water since it is switched on. But, you can not guess the water level changes in a minute. So, people love to say, for 500 sq. feet room, a dehumidifier takes 19 minutes to start working.
Why does my dehumidifier run but not collect water?
Your dehumidifier runs but does not collect water because the humidity level has been reached normal, or the temperature is below 16 degrees Celcius. If there has any clog in coils or damage in the air filter, you may not see any water change at this particular time and assume that it is not collecting water. But later the frosted ice starts melting and dripping to the bucket.
How much water should a dehumidifier collect in a day?
A medium-sized dehumidifier should collect 20-liter water in a day while a commercial one can collect 50-liter water. How much water a dehumidifier can collect depends on the humidity level, temperature, dehumidifier capacity, and bucket capacity. You can read our in-depth article on how much water should a dehumidifier collect in a day by clicking the link.
How much should a dehumidifier collect in an hour?
A 50 pints dehumidifier should collect almost 1 liter of water in an hour. Likewise, it is also dependent on the humidity level, temperature, and capacity of a dehumidifier.
Why do dehumidifiers have to be upright for 24 hours?
A dehumidifier has to be upright for 24 hours to settle down oils in the compressor exactly. If the oils do not settle down properly, the performance of the unit will be less.
How do I know my dehumidifier is working?
The easiest way to know your dehumidifier working is by using a hygrometer. After running a dehumidifier for 1 hour, check the hygrometer reading.
If the humidity is lower than before, the dehumidifier is working. Besides, you can check the water basin. The presence of water in the basin denotes your dehumidifier is working.
Will mold grow at 55 percent humidity?
In 55% humidity, black mold will be growing. In summer, your room humidity should be between 40 to 50 percent. In winter, the humidity level should be between 30 to 40 percent. These recommended percentages depend on out temperature of your room.
Will the dehumidifier always collect water?
No, a dehumidifier will not always collect water but a portable electric dehumidifier. If the condensation coil is clogged with ice, the melted ice water can be collected in a water bucket.
Conclusion
Your question was, how quickly should a dehumidifier fill up? It depends on how much bigger the water bucket capacity is. Generally, a 2-liter dehumidifier water tank fills up within 6 to 7 hours. So, for a larger dehumidifier tank, it would tank more time to fill up; it may be several hours or several days.
