Quiet everyday
MeacoDry Arete One 12L
Short answer: this is our everyday pick for a heated UK flat, quiet enough for your bedroom. At 20 °C / 60 % RH Meaco’s table is 5.23 L/day, the everyday heated-flat figure; at 10 °C / 60 % RH it falls to 1.95 L/day. Compare it with the OmniDry 12 L on price and documentation.
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The Arete One 12L is the machine we’d compare most UK flats against. Meaco rates it at 12.18 litres per day at 30 °C / 80 % RH. That’s the carton headline. At 20 °C / 60 % RH the same official table is 5.23 litres, and that’s the useful figure for your heated living room. At 10 °C / 60 % RH it’s 1.95 litres. A heated living room usually sits between those lab points. We’d shop with the cooler row, not the carton headline.
Noise is the same published pair as the 10 L: 35 and 38 dB(A). Power at 20 °C / 60 % RH is 151 W. The tank is still 2.5 litres. Night mode and laundry mode are on the sheet, with a 40–70 % humidistat. You also get auto-restart, a child lock, castors and H13 HEPA. The body is the same 472 × 319 × 237 mm shell as the 10 L. Weight is 10.9 kg, so the step up from 10 L is capacity, not bulk.
Laundry mode on the Arete holds the unit in a drying cycle rather than a humidity target. That’s useful in a closed bedroom or living room with an airer. It won’t match a condenser tumble dryer on a wet Sunday, and Meaco doesn’t claim that it will. Continuous drain is how you’d run a long laundry day without hovering over the 2.5 L tank. The hose is a 12.5 mm garden fitting you supply.
Arete Two 12 L, on the same claimed litre class, adds a DC motor, a third fan speed (up to 140 m³/h), app control, a timer and a louvre. At 20 °C / 60 % RH Meaco quotes 5.4 L/day on the Two. Power at that point is 136 W on Two versus 151 W on One. Extraction stays in the same band. If you don’t need the app, the One is the quieter everyday buy. The head-to-head that actually changes the money is the Arete One 12L against the Pro Breeze OmniDry 12 L.
Published specification
Extraction figures and room sizes are what the maker claims, and they’re often measured at a warm, humid lab point. Your rooms in the UK are usually cooler, so that’s a lower real take. We haven’t run our own lab tests.
- Type
- Compressor + HEPA
- Claimed extraction
- 12 L (manufacturer claim; 12.18 L at 30 °C / 80 % RH)
- Room guidance
- ~50 m² / flat to 3-bed (published on UK listings; Meaco EU sheets also quote 30 m²)
- Tank
- 2.5 litres
- Published noise
- 35 and 38 dB(A) (Meaco)
- Operating temperature
- 5–35 °C
- Power (manufacturer)
- 151 W at 20 °C / 60 % RH (Meaco)
- Weight
- 10.9 kg
- Continuous drain
- Continuous drain on 12.5 mm garden hose (hose not included)
- Laundry mode
- Yes, plus night mode
- Filter
- Washable dust filter and H13 HEPA included
- Warranty
- 5 years
Where it fits
- You, if it’s a 1–3 bed heated home and you need a dehumidifier in the living space, not a garage.
- You, if you’ll pay for Meaco’s extraction table, HEPA and five-year warranty rather than the cheaper 12 L.
Where it struggles
- Your budget is the OmniDry’s band and you’ll accept a thinner spec sheet.
- The room is unheated. We’d read the EcoAir DD1 page instead.
On the sheet
- Meaco’s table puts the headline at 12.18 L/day at 30 °C / 80 % RH.
- In a properly damp room at 20 °C / 80 % RH, Meaco’s table says 8.33 L/day. For your everyday heated flat at 20 °C / 60 % RH it’s 5.23 L/day, and that’s the figure we’d plan on.
- At 10 °C / 60 % RH the take is 1.95 L/day, so a cold spare room still starves a compressor.
- Published noise is 35–38 dB(A), with night mode and laundry mode.
- You get H13 HEPA, a 2.5 L tank and a five-year warranty on the sheet.
- It’s the same 472 × 319 × 237 mm shell as the 10 L, so it isn’t a bigger object for the extra class.
Limits worth knowing
- It’s still a 5 °C floor. Compressor physics don’t change at 12 L.
- There’s no timer or app on the Arete One. Arete Two 12 L is the one with those.
- The tank still has no handle, per Meaco.
For heated homes, see our best 5 dehumidifiers for UK homes.
Head to head
- Meaco vs Pro Breeze 12L: Which Dehumidifier to Buy (UK)
Two 12 litre compressors for heated UK flats. Arete One publishes a temperature table, HEPA and a five-year warranty. OmniDry sells the same litre class for less, with a 2 L tank and a hose in the box.
- MeacoDry Arete One 12L vs Arete Two 12L: what changes for a UK flat
It’s two MeacoDry compressors in the same 12 litre class for your heated UK flat. Both keep a 2.5 L tank, H13 HEPA and a five-year warranty. Arete Two adds the app, a timer, a louvre and a DC motor with a third fan speed. Extraction at everyday indoor conditions stays in the same band.
Common questions
Is the MeacoDry Arete One 12L good for a bedroom?
Yes, if it’s for a heated bedroom where you want the damp kept down overnight. Meaco publishes 35 and 38 dB(A) for the 10 L and 12 L, and there’s a night mode. Here’s the catch: it isn’t one for a cold garage, because below about 5 °C a compressor barely pulls any water out.
How much moisture does the Arete One 12L actually pull in a UK flat?
The carton headline is 12.18 L/day at 30 °C / 80 % RH. At 20 °C / 60 % RH Meaco’s table is 5.23 L/day, and that’s the everyday heated-flat figure we’d plan on. At 10 °C / 60 % RH it falls to 1.95 L/day. Shop the cooler rows, not the carton.
Arete One 12L or Arete Two 12L?
We’d pick the One if you want the same 12 L class without the app and the third fan. We’d pick the Two if you’ll actually use Wi-Fi scheduling or the faster laundry fan (listed at 44 dB(A) on high).
What does the Arete One 12L cost to run?
Meaco publishes 151 W at 20 °C / 60 % RH. That’s several times less draw than a desiccant on economy for a heated-room job. What it costs you still depends on how many hours you leave it on, and on your unit rate.
Can the Arete One 12L dry laundry?
Yes, it has a laundry mode. With a 2.5 L tank it suits a small load on the airer in a closed room; for big weekly loads we’d step up to the Arete One 20L or the Pro Breeze 20L.
Will the Arete One 12L work in a cold room?
It’s a compressor, so extraction falls as the room cools: Meaco’s table drops from 5.23 L/day at 20 °C / 60 % RH to 1.95 L/day at 10 °C. For an unheated room we’d look at the Meaco DD8L or EcoAir DD3 desiccants.
How much power does the Arete One 12L draw?
Meaco lists 151 W at 20 °C / 60 % RH. Your running cost depends on how many hours you run it and your unit rate.