Whole home
MeacoDry Arete One 20L
Short answer: the Arete One 20L is our whole-home pick for a damp heated house. At 20 °C / 80 % RH Meaco’s table is 14.02 L/day, a more useful British-house row than the 30 °C headline; at 20 °C / 50 % RH it’s 5.78 L/day. It’s 618 × 366 × 272 mm and 15 kg, with a 4.8 L tank and 38–40 dB(A) published.
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The Arete One 20 L is the larger shell in the family. Dimensions are 618 × 366 × 272 mm. Weight is 15 kg. The tank holds 4.8 litres. Refrigerant charge is R290 / 65 g. Airflow is 145 m³/h on low and 160 m³/h on high. Meaco’s headline is 20 litres per day at 30 °C / 80 % RH. The more useful official row for your house is 14.02 litres at 20 °C / 80 % RH, and that’s still a strong take while the room is warm and wet. At 20 °C / 50 % RH the German-language Meaco table that accompanies this range reads 5.78 litres. At 10 °C / 50 % RH it reads 2.0 litres. A 20 L badge doesn’t exempt you from the physics.
Noise is given as 38 and 40 dB(A), a step up from the 10 L and 12 L pair but still the quiet end of 20 L compressors as published. Night mode and laundry mode carry over, with a 40–70 % humidistat. You get auto-restart, a child lock and H13 HEPA. Continuous drain is the same 12.5 mm hose you supply. Meaco also sells a separate condensate pump for the taller Arete bodies if your drain point is higher than the machine.
This is the size that makes sense when a 12 L was emptying often, or when the airer shares a kitchen-diner with the rest of the house. Laundry mode will help a closed room. It won’t dry a houseful of towels in an hour, and it’s still the wrong tool if your utility is unheated. For that room, the EcoAir desiccants are the honest spec.
The comparison that decides the money is Arete One 20 L versus Pro Breeze 20 L. Meaco wins on published noise, the extraction table, HEPA and warranty. Pro Breeze wins on tank volume (5.5 L), an included hose and the softer band. We’d pick Meaco as the whole-home card in the Best 5 because a machine that lives in your living space should be the one whose quiet figures and documentation match that room. The Pro Breeze keeps the laundry-workhorse card. If you already know you want the 20 L class and the question is app control, a DC motor and the third laundry fan speed, that step-up is the MeacoDry Arete Two 20 L. Same tank and shell, and it isn’t a Best 5 swap for this whole-home card.
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
- 20 L (manufacturer claim; 20 L at 30 °C / 80 % RH)
- Room guidance
- ~80 m² / larger home (published on UK listings; Meaco EU sheets also quote 50 m²)
- Tank
- 4.8 litres
- Published noise
- 38 and 40 dB(A) (Meaco)
- Operating temperature
- 5–35 °C
- Power (manufacturer)
- About 211–225 W at 20 °C depending on the humidity row (Meaco tables)
- Weight
- 15 kg
- Continuous drain
- Continuous drain on 12.5 mm garden hose (hose not included); Arete pump sold separately for the 18–25 L bodies
- Laundry mode
- Yes, plus night mode
- Filter
- H13 HEPA included
- Warranty
- 5 years
Best suited to
- You, if it’s a heated 3-bed (or similar) and you want one compressor for the living space and the laundry.
- You, if you’ll pay for Meaco’s table, 38–40 dB(A) and five years.
Not the right pick when
- The drying happens in a cold utility. That’s desiccant territory.
- The budget is the Pro Breeze 20 L band and the machine will live next to the airer, not the sofa.
Specification strengths
- The official headline is 20 L/day at 30 °C / 80 % RH.
- At 20 °C / 80 % RH Meaco’s table is 14.02 L/day, and that’s the more useful British-house row.
- Published noise is 38–40 dB(A).
- You get a 4.8 L tank, H13 HEPA, laundry and night modes, and a five-year warranty.
- Airflow is 145–160 m³/h, with a 40–70 % RH humidistat.
- There are castors on a 15 kg body.
Weak points on paper
- It’s 15 kg and 618 mm tall, so it isn’t a 10 L you tuck beside a bookcase.
- The hose isn’t included, and the tank still doesn’t have a handle.
- It’s still a 5 °C compressor floor.
For heated homes, see our best 5 dehumidifiers for UK homes.
Head to head
- Meaco vs Pro Breeze 20L: Which Dehumidifier to Buy (UK)
Two 20 litre compressors for a damp house and indoor laundry. Meaco documents quieter running and a stepped extraction table. Pro Breeze gives you a 5.5 L tank, a laundry button and a hose at a softer band.
Common questions
Can the Arete One 20L dry laundry?
Yes, it has a laundry mode, and Meaco’s table gives 14.02 L/day at 20 °C / 80 % RH, the kind of air you get with washing on the airer in a closed room. The tank holds 4.8 litres.
Is the Arete One 20L quiet enough for a living room?
Meaco publishes 38 and 40 dB(A), plus a night mode, which is why we’d put it in your living space rather than the louder Pro Breeze 20L.
How much power does the Arete One 20L draw?
Meaco’s tables give about 211–225 W at 20 °C, depending on the humidity. Your running cost depends on hours and your unit rate.