Protecting your investment

With boats representing a major investment in both cash and time, owners are always looking for the best way to protect that investment.

In the cooler waters of the northern hemisphere, that means ensuring the hull stays dry, something that inevitably means using a dehumidifier to remove moisture from damp air.

As Ecor Pro Director Martin Gray explained, warm moist air that contacts a cold steel hull will inevitably cause condensation and a permanently damp boat.

A dehumidifier is a must, but which kind? Refrigerant dehumidifiers are an option, but since they become increasingly ineffective as the temperature drops and don’t work at all below freezing, they are not the ideal choice.

A better option is a desiccant dehumidifier like Ecor Pro’s DH1200 INOX, which combines marine build quality with class-leading performance, outstanding energy efficiency and useful automation.

A desiccant dehumidifier absorbs water and then uses a heater and fan to vent the warm, moist air away from the problem area – in this case the hull – and out, often through the engine room breather. Because there is no container of water to be pumped away, there is also no danger of a leak.

The DH1200 INOX is specifically built for the marine environment using 316 Marine Grade  stainless steel and is compact enough to be used in small hulls while delivering excellent results.

Because they incorporate a heater, desiccant dehumidifiers have a superficially higher running cost, but they are far more efficient. “Refrigerant dehumidifiers will keep chugging away even in cold weather when they aren’t actually doing any good,” explained Martin.

“In terms of doing the job, particularly in cooler temperatures, the DH1200 is far more efficient, cutting energy costs and the owner’s carbon footprint.”

Another significant benefit with the Ecor Pro model is that it incorporates not just one but two humidistats. “A humidistat allows you to specify when you want the dehumidifier to cut in,” Martin explained. “It means you can leave it turned off when you don’t need it and know that it will turn itself on automatically when the humidity rises and off again when it’s no longer needed.”

Ecor Pro models have one humidistat on the unit itself and another that can be placed elsewhere, perhaps in the cabin into which the dry air is vented, allowing more user control.