I tried the Wood's SW22-FW dehumidifier – it's industrial, but effective

Dehumidifiers have quickly become a home essential. They’re perfect for keeping you cool when it’s hot and humid, or helping you to tackle must, mould, and mildew in your home. Whilst the average dehumidifier is brilliant for the average home, what do you do when your home is a little more damp than average?

If you’ve done your research into the best dehumidifiers on the market, you will have come across Wood’s. The Swedish brand makes some of the most substantial, formidable models on the market, and the Wood's SW22-FW is perhaps the most industrial of them all.

It's a high-quality appliance, supported by local suppliers, that packs one seriously powerful punch. It looks like it means business because it does. I tested it on everything from damp laundry to dripping cellars. Here’s what I found.

Specifications

First impressions

The Woods looks commercial, but that’s because both its capacity and power are. Most other dehumidifiers are made from a tough plastic shell, but the Woods is made from more premium-feeling metal. It’s boxy and big, but it’s happy to tackle any tough humidity problems that might come its way. 

This is the kind of dehumidifier you'd put out of the way or in a cellar. It's not beautiful, but it will get the job done. Plus, you’ll get a whopping six-year warranty with the Wood’s too, which is much more than the average three years normally on offer.

Who would it suit?

The Wood's SW22-FW Dehumidifier is designed for serious damp issues in big rooms. It has the capacity to extract nearly 14 litres of water from any room and, one of the best features is its 11 litre water reservoir. You could leave this running for a long time without ever emptying the water tank. It's every reluctant cleaner's dream come true. 

That's probably why Wood's chose not to make this a design piece, cultivating more of an industrial aesthetic. I would happily leave this in my cellar for days, if not weeks, whilst feeling safe in the knowledge that my damp space will be drier and fresher than if any other dehumidifier was down there. 

You can set the humidistat to operate within 30-90% humidity (an unnecessarily broad offering) and then the unit will automatically shut off when your desired humidity is reached, or when the water reservoir is full. This doesn't come with a hose for continuous draining, but you don't actually need one. The capacity of the Wood's is so immense that a drain would be redundant.

Big homes with industrial damp problems are really the best places for the Wood's. In a smaller home, this would get in the way and it would be wild overkill. If you have a flat with only a few rooms, this isn't for you. And, if you need your dehumidifier to dry laundry, this isn't for you. I'll explain more in my tests, but this isn't a specialised laundry dehumidifier and, as such, it's not quite as finessed as models such as the Pro Breeze dehumidifier. It is cheaper and more effective, but we can compare models further down this review.

What is it like to use?

Using the Wood’s is relatively easy. It needs to be plugged in and stood 25 cm from a wall. There are two dials to turn to get this working. You have two fan speeds and a humidistat. Whilst these sound simple, they're not very self-explanatory and my instruction manuals talked about a hydrostatic marker, which didn’t seem to exist. However, after guessing that the bottom dial controlled the power of the Wood’s, it whirred into action.

I recorded 56 dB of noise, which isn't bad. It's about average for a dehumidifier. You won't be falling asleep in silence, nor would I recommend having this in your bedroom, but you won't be getting noise complaints and you won't have to shout to be heard over the sound of the Wood's. Considering how powerful it is, the Wood's is really good

Test 1: humidity and condensation

The first task I set it was my bathroom. If you get condensation on the windows in your home, whether that’s your bedroom in the morning, the bathroom after a bath, or the kitchen when you’re cooking, you might need some extra help clearing the air. 

My bathroom windows, when they’re as misted as you can see in the image above, take a full morning to clear. However, with the Wood’s running in the room, my windows were totally clear in under five minutes. That's up there as one of the fastest dehumidifiers for a bathroom we've ever tested. 

However, carrying this up two flights of stairs to get to the bathroom was enough for me to never want to move the Wood's again. It's not portable, so if you plan on using it in a room, it's better to stay there.

The Wood’s was loud too, so I wouldn’t recommend putting this as a good dehumidifier for a bedroom. If you can tolerate the noise of an extraction fan in your kitchen or bathroom, you’ll be fine with the Wood’s in short bursts.

Test 2: Laundry

The next test I put all of our dehumidifiers through is on laundry. I wash a full load of plush blankets, cotton napkins, pillowcases, sportswear, and normal clothing. That way I’ve got a good range of materials for the Wood’s to work with. Normally, without any help from a dehumidifier to dry clothes, it’ll take 24 hours for everything to be cupboard dry. With the Wood’s whirring away beside my washing, everything was dry in an hour and a half. 

Given that this doesn’t even have a specialised laundry setting, I think that’s pretty impressive. I have cycles longer than that on my tumble dryer. It's noisy, but it’s also quick and it gets the job done. 

Test 3: cellar

The next and final test is in my cellar. This place is dripping and I’m yet to find a dehumidifier that I’d be happy to leave running in the cellar (with any belongings that I care about in it too). 

I left the Wood’s running overnight, from 9 pm to 9 am. Whilst this doesn’t have a digital humidity screen, I used my own sensor to detect the humidity difference. The Wood’s went in when the cellar was at 62% and, when I came down in the morning, the cellar was down to 39%, which is an incredible effort from the Wood’s. It’s the best result I’ve had so far. 

The reservoir collected the most water out of all the dehumidifiers that I tested and it was the easiest to empty too: the tray simply slid out. Even though I hadn’t even come close to filling this reservoir, I had collected nearly 2 litres of water. I said that this looked commercial and this kind of performance is proof that the Wood’s really is commercial.  

How does it compare?

Of all the dehumidifiers that I've tested the Wood's extracted the most water from the air, in the shortest amount of time. For both power, capacity, and cleaning, the Wood's is a clear winner. However, it's held back by the aesthetic appeal. I'm all for industrial chic, but I'm not sure I could style out this filing cabinet in my home. In the cellar though, this is perfect.

If you're looking for capacity, but it needs to be easier on the eye, the Pro Breeze 20L dehumidifier is a great alternative. It's almost a quarter of the price and, if you use the continuous drain pipe, it claims to be able to extract more water in 24 hours than the Wood's SW22-FW. Whilst I didn't see this in practice, the Pro Breeze came the closest to the Wood's SW22-FW in terms of timing and efficacy at drying clothes. Moreover, the Pro Breeze is easier to move around and it has a slim, glossy aesthetic that's much more visually appealing.

Neither comes with an air purifying function, you'll need to look to the MeacoDry Arete One dehumidifier for that. This is about half the price of the Wood's SW22-FW, again with less capacity, but higher efficiency, so it'll be kinder to your utilities. 

If I had to pick one out of all three, I'd choose the Wood's for my cellar, the Pro Breeze for my laundry, and the Meaco for general home use. If I could buy all three, I would.

Should you buy it?

I’m seriously impressed with the Wood’s. Until testing this, I wasn't convinced that any dehumidifier could handle the damp problem I've been battling (for years) in my cellar. However, the Wood's has given me confidence that it could be left to its own devices and I could have a liveable space down there. 

So, if you’ve got some serious damp and you’ve been struggling your way through buying guides of the best dehumidifiers, this will solve your problems. It’s not pretty, but I’m buying one for my cellar (as soon as it’s in some sort of sale). 

Where can you buy it?

Normally, you can pick up the Wood's SW22-FW dehumidifier from B&Q or Currys, but they're not in stock right now. You can go on a mailing list to be notified when the Wood's is back in stock over there, or, if you're in a hurry, here are some other places where you can shop the SW22-FW:

• Viking Online: £604.80 with free, next day delivery
• Lunney's Electrical: £599 with a 28-day returns period
• Ruslip Appliances: £649, but they offer price matching
• J Harries Electrical: £599, but the returns period is 14 days
• Climate Dry: £511.35, which is the cheapest we've seen without any catches

How we test

At woman&home, how we test dehumidifiers is a rigorous and thorough process, designed to emulate a range of home uses. You'll notice that we comment on everything, from unboxing and first impressions, right through to cleaning and how these models stand against other dehumidifiers on the market.

Over three weeks, I used this in my home, putting the Wood's through our three standard tests, again and again. These comprise of clearing condensation in the bathroom, extracting water from my damp cellar, and drying laundry. These are three of the main tasks that the best dehumidifiers on the market should be able to fly through. I make notes on how much water is collected, how fast the machine works, and how noisy it is. 

There are plenty of other considerations to account for too. If a dehumidifier has special features, air purifying capabilities, and extra accessories, I'll let you know about them.

In short, the testing process means that I can write up a holistic review that represents what the Wood's 22 is like to have in your home. I'm critical where necessary and praiseworthy when it's warranted too. There'll be no nasty surprises waiting for you if you decide that this is the dehumidifier for you.