Hot And Sticky!

[Hosea]

Well, here I am living in the Philippines. I hate humidity! Coming from the mid-west of the US I'm accustom to high humidity. After working outside for the past 29.9 years I have become accustom to all sorts of weather. Even though I am using the word (accustom) I'm beginning to wonder just what it means. You never really become comfortable with extreme weather of any kind. Anyway... One thing I found to be true many years ago was that a dehumidifier is the best thing for damp climate. Although I'm not completely sure if it is practical here in the Philippines, from past experience it sure seems to make more sense to use one then to keep the ac on all the time. I have looked and asked around and this being my fifth trip to the Philippines I have only found one person (Makro in Manila) that right off the bat knew what it was but didn't know where I could get one. The house I live in is mostly concrete. I'm told it was an old Japanese ice house during the war. If the doors are closed it stays cool for a long time. I'm thinking that if I had a dehumidifier it may stay cool all day. In California we use a swamp cooler (evaporative cooling system). Because of the dry desert air, when you blow air over cool water, depending on how big the cooler is you will be very comfortable at a fraction of the cost of an AC system. If I can't find one here in the Philippines I will look at one of the Chinese countries or Japan. Our electric bill for August was P3,500. I am willing to pay that to keep cool and dry but I can't help wonder what it would be with a dehumidifier instead of AC or in combination. Anyone seen one or know where I can get one at a reasonable price?

[Mr Lee]

Well, here I am living in the Philippines. I hate humidity! Coming from the mid-west of the US I'm accustom to high humidity. After working outside for the past 29.9 years I have become accustom to all sorts of weather. Even though I am using the word (accustom) I'm beginning to wonder just what it means. You never really become comfortable with extreme weather of any kind. Anyway... One thing I found to be true many years ago was that a dehumidifier is the best thing for damp climate. Although I'm not completely sure if it is practical here in the Philippines, from past experience it sure seems to make more since to use one then to keep the ac on all the time. I have looked and asked around and this being my fifth trip to the Philippines I have only found one person (Makro in Manila) that right off the bat knew what it was but didn't know where I could get one. The house I live in is mostly concrete. I'm told it was an old Japanese ice house during the war. If the doors are closed it stays cool for a long time. I'm thinking that if I had a dehumidifier it may stay cool all day. In California we use a swamp cooler (evaporative cooling system). Because of the dry desert air, when you blow air over cool water, depending on how big the cooler is you will be very comfortable at a fraction of the cost of an AC system. If I can't find one here in the Philippines I will look at one of the Chinese countries or Japan. Our electric bill for August was P3,500. I am willing to pay that to keep cool and dry but I can't help wonder what it would be with a dehumidifier instead of AC or in combination. Anyone seen one or know where I can get one at a reasonable price?

I have used a dehumidifier in Florida and was going to buy one in Cebu too but we found that it also used a lot of electricity and did not really save us money. We have central air here so we were able to turn up the a/c 2 degrees and it was still comfortable, but the bill was about the same. I guess if you run one and do not run the air then it might save some money but it also generates a lot of heat while running, so I think it will cancel out what you are trying to do.If you still want one, I am pretty sure we saw one in SM appliance store in Cebu City a couple years back & if not then ask a smaller appliance store if they will order it for you.

[TheMason]

In California we use a swamp cooler (evaporative cooling system). Because of the dry desert air, when you blow air over cool water, depending on how big the cooler is you will be very comfortable at a fraction of the cost of an AC system.

I used to live in Arizona so I'm very familiar with swamp coolers. They will not work in the Philippines. The swamp cooler works by adding humidity to the air. That's the last thing you want to do here in the Philippines. You're better off with a regular electric fan.I dealt with the heat and humidity of the Philippines by moving to Baguio. The cool mountain air suits me just fine. We do not have an AC, fan, or swamp cooler in our home. Its never hot enough to need one. A heater in the winter time would be nice, but when I looked around for one last winter, I just got a lot of funny looks from the salespeople. Edited September 11, 2009 by TheMason

[Jollygoodfellow]

According to wikpedia a refrigerated air conditioner works the same as a dehumidifier.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dehumidifier

[Mr Lee]

According to wikpedia a refrigerated air conditioner works the same as a dehumidifier.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dehumidifier

Except it vents the hot air out in the house because it does not have an exhaust to vent it out to the outside of the house and thus that is why it did not save us any money in electric. I think if a person could connect a duct to it and send that hot air outside, then it would make the house cooler feeling.

[Hosea]

Guess it has been a lot of years since I had a dehumidifier. After reading Mr Lee said it brought back memories of how much heat that thing generated. I still think a small one may be more efficient than an air conditioner but just the same, I think I will use Mr Lee's suggestion. Tightening up the house and putting the ac on low may be the best solution. May even keep out the lizards, ants and other critters that belong outside.

[Jollygoodfellow]

According to wikpedia a refrigerated air conditioner works the same as a dehumidifier.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dehumidifier

Except it vents the hot air out in the house because it does not have an exhaust to vent it out to the outside of the house and thus that is why it did not save us any money in electric. I think if a person could connect a duct to it and send that hot air outside, then it would make the house cooler feeling.

Its been a long time since I had a refrigerated aircon but I am almost certain the ones I had did have a option to vent hot air to the outside by sliding the vent lever.Anyway its been awhile so I can not argue with you but on the other hand I have never been wrong before,, ha :th_thbarbaque:

[Sampaguita]

Guess it has been a lot of years since I had a dehumidifier. After reading Mr Lee said it brought back memories of how much heat that thing generated. I still think a small one may be more efficient than an air conditioner but just the same, I think I will use Mr Lee's suggestion. Tightening up the house and putting the ac on low may be the best solution. May even keep out the lizards, ants and other critters that belong outside.

Bugs, lizards, they got to live too. Joke lang

[johnb]

Well, here I am living in the Philippines. I hate humidity! Coming from the mid-west of the US I'm accustom to high humidity. After working outside for the past 29.9 years I have become accustom to all sorts of weather. Even though I am using the word (accustom) I'm beginning to wonder just what it means. You never really become comfortable with extreme weather of any kind. Anyway... One thing I found to be true many years ago was that a dehumidifier is the best thing for damp climate. Although I'm not completely sure if it is practical here in the Philippines, from past experience it sure seems to make more sense to use one then to keep the ac on all the time. I have looked and asked around and this being my fifth trip to the Philippines I have only found one person (Makro in Manila) that right off the bat knew what it was but didn't know where I could get one. The house I live in is mostly concrete. I'm told it was an old Japanese ice house during the war. If the doors are closed it stays cool for a long time. I'm thinking that if I had a dehumidifier it may stay cool all day. In California we use a swamp cooler (evaporative cooling system). Because of the dry desert air, when you blow air over cool water, depending on how big the cooler is you will be very comfortable at a fraction of the cost of an AC system. If I can't find one here in the Philippines I will look at one of the Chinese countries or Japan. Our electric bill for August was P3,500. I am willing to pay that to keep cool and dry but I can't help wonder what it would be with a dehumidifier instead of AC or in combination. Anyone seen one or know where I can get one at a reasonable price?

Hi Hosea, I have to do some running around today, visit the BI in Mandaue, then on to Cebu Home Builders [also in mandaue], then Ayala for some electric light fittings then possibly on to SM and finaly downtown for some prices on electrical cable.the wife and I will keep our eyes open for a dehumidifier.John

[Hosea]

Thanks Johnb,What did you find? I am really curious about this. I might just get one just because. I asked at SM. They don't know what a dehumidifier is. I gave on them real quick. I tend to do that when I get that dumb look. I don't even bother. I know it may seem rude but I started doing that in the US after asking this younger generation simple questions and they just look at you. I've asked around and got no where. I have seen them on alibaba. Strange to me no one knows what a DH is but you can find swamp coolers everywhere. Thanks for keeping me in mind.