Anyone thought of this?
I wouldn’t plan on using the water generated from the dehumidifier for drinking, but could it be good for showering or even washing dishes?
Then I could go with a smaller water tank, which saves space.
Generating 1kW from solar so I should have enough to power it.
I benefit from the lowered humidity anyway.
Greetings & Welcome!
I guess besides the quality of the water, the volume of water created would come into play. I tend to average about a gallon a day for water usage. I carry 2x 7 gallon water jugs for about a 2 week supply. I usually fill mine at city parks for free potable water.
If the water quality is good, I’d consider reusing it.
Cheers!
I believe there won’t be any problems - If you clean your unit and filter weekly. Your dehumidifier is just a cooling device which causes the moisture in the atmosphere to condense and become water. Should be fine for dishwashing if it’s fresh.
Many people have thought of this, it is usually called an AWG (Atmospheric Water Generator).
It does work, but you can’t use a normal humidifier because you need the condenser coils to be food-safe. You also need to treat the water with minerals, otherwise it will leach them from your body. Other than that, it totally works (but is a huge consumer of energy).
For washing dishes or showering, I suspect it would be fine to use a normal dehumidifier.
I used to collect up to 3-4 liters in a day from an Ebac dehumidifier, while in the UK. Clean and ‘distilled’, the metal content is probably negligible, and nothing that a good coolant mix won’t deal with. Simon is right: the biggest problem is stopping it from going ‘bacterial’ . . . something silver dropped into it would probably stop that. But then there’s the cost of the silver… Life is never simple.
I read about it on hvaclifehack, that water from a dehumidifier or air-con unit would have picked up dust and whatever else might be floating around from the air as they are open systems.
I think you could easily pull a gallon or two a day in a humid environment and many of the dehumidifiers I see these days are either closed so the water doesn’t sit stagnant or actually contain a pump and simply push the water wherever through a tube.
I think the major issue here is the heat the dehumidifier would create.
I tapped the drain hole in my AC unit that is mounted in my rear window. When set up I have a nipple fitting that screws into the drain hole with a small hose that runs into 6 gal water tank. I was surprised how much water I catch on these hot humid Florida days.