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Quiet and Dehumidifier are often found in the same sentence and in many Google searches, however, finding a dehumidifier that is actually “quiet” is next to impossible.
A dehumidifier is a mandatory choice if your house is located in a humid region as it removes the moisture in the air to avoid the invasion of mold, mildew and allergens. The problem, however, with this appliance is that it creates disturbing noise.
For reasons untold, the development of a quiet dehumidifier hasn’t been top priority for manufacturers but that doesn’t mean that you can’t decrease the noise that comes from yours.
Here in this article, we’ll explore the likely reasons for vibrating noises emerging from your dehumidifier. And go over some surefire ways to make sure that you can quiet down the machine you’ve invested in.
Also read: Best Quietest Dehumidifier For Basement And Bedroom
Dehumidifier Noise Levels
The noise from a dehumidifier is measured in dB or dBA. A typical dehumidifier will make sound that falls in the 35 dB to the 60 dB range. However, even a 2 dB difference will result in significant change in how loudly your dehumidifier is vibrating since we use the logarithmic scale to measure it.
Reasons And Solutions To Noisy Dehumidifier
To pull in the air, the dehumidifier have a fan that performs all the work of removing the dampness in your home or room. With all of that movement from the fan and compressor, the constant humming starts to vibrate the casing too with even more noise; which is absolutely terrible. So, now that we know who and what the culprit of this noise is let’s discuss how we can reduce it.
1. Place The Dehumidifier On An Even Surface
Placing the dehumidifier on an uneven surface will cause the whole unit to rattle or make vibrating noise. So, make sure to place it on a surface where it stays upright, it will be much quieter during operation. If you have wooden floors, you can take the extra measure of using a carpet/mat too. Wooden floors will amplify even the normal operating sound from your dehumidifier, this will help to absorb the noise.
2. Clean Any Internal Dust/Debris
If dust or debris is gathering on your dehumidifier’s internal parts like the fan blades, condenser, coil – you can hear vibrating noises. This will also reduce the efficiency of your dehumidifier and needs your immediate attention. Thorough internal cleaning and vacuuming should fix this problem.
3. Ensure The Optimum Airflow
The dehumidifier can make noise when it has to work hard to pull in the air. If it placed too close to the wall or any obstrucle, airflow in and out of the machine is obstructed. So you need to make sure walls or furniture should not obstruct airflow around your dehumidifier. How do you know how much distance to put in between your dehumidifier and any obstruction? Fortunately, most manufacturers mention it in the product manual.
4. Position The Water Bucket Properly
The water reservoir in your dehumidifier can generate loud rattling noises. So try shifting the bucket and try to find the position where the vibration dies out.
Alternatively, you can try moving the whole dehumidifier unit until. This will also help the bucket settle properly and stop vibrating. If the rattling stops when you push down on the bucket, take the bucket out of the reservoir and reinstall it.
5. Wash The Air Filter
If you hear unusually loud banging noise from your dehumidifier, it probably has a clogged air filter. As dirt accumulates on the air filter, airflow into your dehumidifier will reduce or stop completely. This in turn overstresses the fan and motor, making your dehumidifier abnormally loud.
To stop this racket, take out the air filter and wash it clean with detergent. A clean air filter will not only keep your dehumidifier quieter, but also extend the machine’s service life and make it more energy-efficient.
6. Tighten Any Loose Screws
Loose screws or components will also make your dehumidifier noisier than usual. Disconnect the power source before you remove the cover to take a closer look. Tightening any wobbly screws or parts should make any vibrating sound go away.
7. Check The Fan Blade And Housing
Grinding sounds from a dehumidifier are common too. Your dehumidifier’s fan blades are the usual culprits behind this noise. When they fail to clear the fan housing or catch onto some other internal components, you hear the grinding noises. To check if a fan blade is functioning properly, you can try to wheel the fan blade by hand. If the blade doesn’t turn smoothly or if it gets rubbed against the fan housing, clear the fan housing and make sure the fan blades can rotate unobstructed.
If the fan blade spins okay but the fan doesn’t, maybe it’s the fan motor that has an issue. If the motor creates a humming noise or a fan blade doesn’t spin even with power, it’s an indication that the motor of your fan is defective. And you may service or consider replacing it.
8. Apply Lubrication
Without sufficient lubrication, your dehumidifier’s rotating parts will make strange buzzing noises. This is a mechanical glitch and can be taken care of easily. After removing the cover of your dehumidifier, apply light machine oil to the bearings of components. This maintenance step is often mentioned by manufacturers in product manuals.
9. Replace The Faulty/Worn-Out Compressor
A leaky dehumidifier compressor is a noisy beast. If the vibration still persists after these steps, you may have to change the compressor. If you are looking to replace your worn-out compressor, the cost-effective option would be to get a new dehumidifier itself. Also you can contact a licensed technician to replace your Faulty compressor.
10. Use Acoustics To Your Advantage
Even though these machines aren’t quiet to begin with, we can still reduce the noise that they create using some very common materials and a little bit of work. A method that is tried and true is using a combination of plywood and carpet or high-density foam.
If you purchase a small 2×2 piece of ½” plywood, some simple carpet, and a stapler you can create your own platform to place your dehumidifier on. Not only does this absorb the vibration, but also dissipates the noise. If you don’t want to do that, purchase a block of high-density acoustic foam – it does the exact same thing.
The reason why this works so well is because of the way the vibration moves through the casing of the dehumidifier itself. The vibration moves top down (from the motor down to the base) and if the surface that it is put on is too hard, off level, or the dehumidifier’s legs are not touching the floor evenly, the noise will continue to persist. The way the acoustics work in this case is very simple. The soft, absorbent nature of carpet and high-density foam spreads the noise over a larger surface area; leaving only the humming noise of your dehumidifier rather than the loud vibrations.
Conclusion On Quieten A Dehumidifier
Because of all the moving parts, the humidifier do require maintenance from time to time. However, by being able to applying above fixes like cleaning, lubricating, changing out a few parts and using acoustics to your advantage you can dampen the noise while still having a dehumidifier operating in your home, office, or workplace.