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I have a air dehumidifier in my basement, and at work I am using a coalescing filter for our air compressor. As I see it, my air dehumidifier uses quite a lot of electricity compared to the completely passive coalescing filter.

Why cant we get a low power dehumidifier from a fan and a (presumably slightly larger than average) coalescing filter?

Diydumbster
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A coalescing filter separates liquids from gasses. You need a mist or droplets for it to work. There are dehumidifiers that work on compression, coalescing, expansion (some with energy recovery), but they aren't really suitable for the home. You need an aftercooler to condense the vapor for removal by the coalescing filter. Efficiency seems to be about 15% thermal.

Phil Sweet
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  • Do I understand correctly that a coalescing filter will only work if the humidity is 100%, and that compressing the air increases the humidity, thus making coalescing filters suitable in the case of air compressors. – Diydumbster Sep 11 '22 at 05:24
  • yes, they remove droplets, leaving behind 100% RH air. – Phil Sweet Sep 11 '22 at 09:56
  • If it's not obvious from Phil's answer: in your air compressor example, there is _already_ a stage in the process where water will condense out of the air -- the condensing filter just makes sure it happens at a convenient physical location (i.e., not in the tank, or in the lines). The purpose of a dehumidifier is to _create_ a situation where water will condense out of the air -- without some step like that, you can't "catch" the water droplets. – TimWescott Sep 11 '22 at 18:55