Independent proof that Ecor Pro dehumidifiers outperform the competition

When you want a dehumidifier to dry out your previously flooded home or business, you want to know that it’s going to do the job quickly and effectively.

At Ecor Pro we know that our desiccant range is the most efficient on the market – as well as being the most environmentally friendly.

But we know it’s not enough for us to say our products are the best. We want independent proof – and so do you.

Valori has been set up by Chris Netherton, an acknowledged expert in the field of disaster management and recovery and founder of a national learning resource that teaches insurers, restorers and home owners about flooding.

He realised that the widely accepted AHAM (Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers) test for dehumidifiers was not based on a real-world situation since it involved extracting moisture from damp air over a six-hour period and multiplying it by four to give a daily rate.

In the AHAM test, the moisture in the test vessel is continually being replenished, which leads to a misleading result, since in a real flood situation the environment continually changes as the dehumidifier does its job. The test also measures moisture collected from the air, whereas what you care about is the dampness of your building – floors, walls and ceilings.

Chris, whose extensive experience includes working at the Royal Aircraft Establishment, has now created a more realistic test based on saturating a Thermalite block, putting it in a test chamber with a dehumidifier and seeing how long it takes to dry out completely. If that sounds simple, it is. It’s what you want your dehumidifier to do, after all.

You can read more about the Valori test below.

At Ecor Pro we are confident that the Valori test is the most realistic and reliable accreditation standard for dehumidifiers, and one that insurers, restoration specialists and the public will understand.

We are also delighted that in recent tests, our Ecor Pro DH3500/EPD200 machine was judged ‘best in class’ by Valori after going head-to-head with a number of competitors.

So, if you are looking for accreditation that means something, look for Valori.

The Valori Test explained

 After realising that the AHAM test was unsuited to real world conditions and was not providing useful or useable information, Chris Netherton set out to design a method which would allow him to test different dehumidifiers.

He abandoned the ‘pint per 24 hours’ scale, not just because of the flawed logic but because desiccant dehumidifiers vent the moisture away, which means it can’t be collected and measured.

After designing a wooden cabinet that could hold a desiccant or refrigerant model, Chris soaked a Thermalite block for 24 hours, at which point it had sunk and gone from a dry weight of 7kg to a wet weight of 9kg, representing 2kg of water absorbed.

He then used the different dehumidifiers to dry out the blocks fully, testing four different machines twice each. On each occasion the dryness of the block was checked using an industry standard damp meter and by checking it had returned to its pre-test 7kg weight using high quality scales.

The test showed that the refrigerant model took 28.2hours to return the block to its dry state, while the desiccants took 26.2 hours, 24.2 hours and 21.5 hours – that lowest figure having been recorded by the Ecor Pro DH3500/EPD200.

The most effective machine – the DH3500/EPD200 – proved to be 31.16% faster than the refrigerant dehumidifier, a difference that would be particularly significant when applied to an entire building made of many thousands of similar bricks.

About Valori

Unlike the AHAM (American Home Appliance Manufacturers) test, which was designed by the very manufacturers who are responsible for the machines they are testing, the Valori test is run by the independent Valori research institute.

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