A Surrey dehumidifier company has reported an encouraging upturn in spending amongst customers with sales of premium finish swimming pool dehumidifiers increasing sharply so far this financial year.
Meaco (UK) Limited has been involved with dehumidifiers since 1991 and has noticed a trend recently in sales of swimming pool dehumidifiers that seems to buck the national story of austerity and recession.
As Company Director Chris Michael explained: “We have a good selection of swimming pool dehumidifiers - for which we offer a range of finishes from the standard plastic white case through to more expensive metal and stainless steel finishes.
“Obviously, the metal and stainless steel options do cost more, increasing the price of the entry-level 300i from £1633 to £2674 to the end user including VAT.
“Despite the challenging economic climate and people tightening their belts, we have seen a marked increase in demand for the models with the metal or stainless steel finish, sales are up ten-fold against the same period last year. I guess that customers have paid a lot to complete and decorate their pool halls and want something that is in keeping with that standard and plastic will just not do.”
The Meaco swimming pool range starts with the 300i extracting 54 litres per day and runs through to the 500i, 800i and finishes with the 1200i - which removes a massive 198 litres of water per day. Each one is available in a metal finish.
The dehumidifiers can either be hung in the pool hall or mounted in a plant room and ducted through the wall; it is the former option where customers are opting for the metal and stainless steel finish.
The metal finish is coated with three layers of an anti-rust protection ensuring that they maintain their high finish for many years to come.
Made in the European Union, the Meaco swimming pool range has been designed to be compatible with the connections of other brands of dehumidifiers making replacing other manufacturer’s units with a Meaco model simple. The connections for the Low Pressure Hot Water (LPHW) and continuous drainage options are the same location and diameter, making a replacement installation a lot tidier and faster.
Noise is another very important issue for pool owners, as the last thing customers want is a swimming pool dehumidifier that rumbles away loudly in the pool hall. The Meaco 300i extracts 54 litres of water per day but only makes 44dB of noise, which is similar to most domestic 10 litre dehumidifiers.
Also considering that every 6-10dB is perceived to be a doubling of noise by the human ear, then we can start to see how important it is to take this into account if one dehumidifier states 44dB and another 52dB, for example. Even the Meaco 1200i - that extracts 197 litres per day is rated at only 46dB, which is incredible for such a large dehumidifier.
Another option that makes Meaco different is the remote wireless humidistat, something that the business has pioneered. Chris explained the significance: “Meaco started out selling mostly to museums and art galleries in the early 90s where wires and cables are frowned upon because of the historic nature of the buildings. Collecting data via radio was the obvious thing to do, albeit it was cutting edge in 1992 when we designed the first system with the Victoria and Albert Museum.
“When we developed the swimming pool range having the relative humidity and temperature sensors located in the return air flow of the dehumidifier was the obvious, industry standard, thing to do. But pool halls tend to suffer from cold spots where condensation and mould will still form, even with a dehumidifier in use.
“So being able to position the sensor in these locations and send a radio signal across the room to the dehumidifier ensures that we get much more accurate dehumidification and fewer issues with condensation and mould in the remote spots.”
Installers and end users often find sizing a swimming pool dehumidifier difficult, but it is something that the team at Meaco do on a daily basis.
“We prefer it if customers call us with a few basic pieces of information about their pool and then let us help them select the correct dehumidifier rather than guessing, we have been doing this for years and to date no-one has come back to us and said that we have under sized their dehumidifier,” Chris commented.
“Using a good quality cover will reduce the size of the dehumidifier required, as the evaporation from the surface of the water will be reduced. On top of this, keeping the air temperature about 2°C will help to warm the water temperature. The important thing is that everything is taken into consideration and the dehumidifier is sized correctly.”
Meaco dehumidifiers can look after everything from the domestic hot tub or swim spa right through the range of domestic pools up to pools in schools and health clubs - with the Meaco 1200i able to control pools with a surface area of around 10m x 15m metres on its own. Customers with larger pools often install two or three machines to make sure that they have the right coverage whilst still benefiting from the low noise level and high quality appearance of the Meaco dehumidifiers.
Chris believes that it is a combination of the high quality external finish of the dehumidifiers, and the range of available options, such as the radio humidistat in addition to the normal LPHW heating, that is responsible for more end users and installers selecting Meaco.
Hopefully the increased spend that Meaco are experiencing from customers looking for higher quality dehumidifiers will be reflected across the economy and will be a start of an upturn in sales for the entire swimming pool community.
