When a leak, a flood or fresh plaster leaves a room too wet, buying a machine you will use for a fortnight rarely makes sense. Dehumidifier hire gives you a unit sized for the job, usually by the day or week, with the option to keep it longer if the walls are still reading wet. Hire firms also rent air movers, which blow air across wet surfaces so the dehumidifier can pull the moisture out of the room. Send one request and independent hire firms near you quote you directly, so you can compare delivery, deposit and daily rates.
When hiring makes sense
- After a leak or flood: a burst geyser, a leaking roof or a blocked drain leaves carpets, boards and walls wet. Drying quickly helps stop mould (see water damage restoration).
- New plaster and screeds: builders hire units to bring humidity down so paint and flooring can go on.
- A trial run: try a compressor or desiccant unit in your damp bedroom before you spend on one.
- Events and stores: a hall, a stand or a stockroom that only needs dry air for a few days.
What to ask the hire firm
Hire rates are normally per day, with a lower daily rate for a week. Ask about delivery and collection, because they are often charged separately, and whether a deposit is held. Ask if the unit drains into a tank that you must empty or comes with a drain hose. A large unit can fill a tank in hours, so a hose to a drain saves a lot of walking. Check the power draw in watts, especially if you run on an inverter or a generator, and ask whether the unit restarts by itself after a power cut. Ask what happens if it breaks down while you have it, and who is responsible for damage or a lost unit.
Choosing the right machine
Capacity is quoted in litres a day at the maker's test conditions, so a unit removes less in a cool, dry room. For a wet house, firms often use one large unit and several air movers instead of many small dehumidifiers. In a cold garage or an unheated store, a desiccant unit may work better than a compressor unit (see desiccant dehumidifiers). For warehouses and building sites, industrial dehumidifiers on castors with a pump are common. Tell the firm the room sizes, the ceiling height and how wet the walls feel.
Running it properly
Close doors and windows so the machine dries the room and not the street. Keep the filter clean, leave space around the grille and point the air movers along the wet wall or floor. Keep a cheap humidity meter in the room and watch the reading fall; when it stays steady, ask a damp inspector or the restoration firm whether the structure is dry. Switching off too early lets the walls release moisture again.
What to put in your request
- Room sizes and ceiling height, or the floor area to dry
- What got wet (floor, walls, carpet) and when
- Your power: plug point, inverter or generator
- How many days you think you need it
- Delivery address and access, such as stairs or a gate
Dehumidifier Hire for homes, rentals, businesses and industry
- Homeowners and tenants: a unit and a few air movers hired for a week after the geyser burst, with the drain hose run to the yard
- Landlords, agents and body corporates: a dehumidifier hired to dry a rental between tenants while the cause of the damp is being fixed
- Offices, schools and clinics: a unit placed in a flooded server or filing room until the walls and boards have dried
- Warehouses, archives and storage: a large unit on castors hired for a stockroom that stays wet after heavy summer storms
- Factories and food plants: extra drying capacity hired for a few weeks while a production area is repaired
- Growers, nurseries and farms: a spare unit hired for a tunnel or grow room during a humid spell, instead of buying one
- Hotels, gyms, spas and pools: units and air movers hired quickly to dry a guest room so it can go back on the booking list
- Insurers, assessors and restoration firms: extra air movers and dehumidifiers hired in to handle a large claim or a busy storm week
- Builders, HVAC engineers and contractors: drying hired for new plaster, screeds and painted walls so finishes can go on without delay
Frequently asked questions
Do you hire out dehumidifiers yourselves?
How long will I need the dehumidifier?
Can I run a hired dehumidifier on an inverter?
Is hiring cheaper than buying?
Dehumidifier Hire by province and city
- Johannesburg
- Pretoria
- Centurion
- Midrand
- Sandton
- Randburg
- Roodepoort
- Krugersdorp
- Randfontein
- Germiston
- Boksburg
- Benoni
- Kempton Park
- Alberton
- Vanderbijlpark
- Vereeniging
- Durban
- Pinetown
- Pietermaritzburg
- Richards Bay
- Newcastle
- Ladysmith
- Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth)
- East London
- Kariega (Uitenhage)
- Mthatha
- Cape Town
- Bellville
- Paarl
- Stellenbosch
- George
- Worcester
- eMalahleni (Witbank)
- Middelburg
- Secunda
- Mbombela (Nelspruit)
- Rustenburg
- Brits
- Klerksdorp
- Potchefstroom
- Mahikeng
- Polokwane
- Tzaneen
- Kimberley
- Upington
- Bloemfontein
- Welkom
- Sasolburg