TWELVE LITRES A DAY
The compact Arete Two, for flats and smaller homes
The MeacoDry Arete Two 12L is the compact model in Meaco’s Arete Two range: a compressor dehumidifier and an H13 HEPA air purifier in a cabinet just under half a metre tall. Solenco, Meaco’s South African distributor, sizes it for homes of up to three bedrooms, and Meaco’s manual says the same. It suits a flat, a townhouse, a damp bedroom or a holiday cottage that stands closed for weeks.
Meaco rates it at 12 litres a day at 30 °C and 80% relative humidity, and 7.5 litres a day at 27 °C and 60%. The second figure sits closer to an ordinary damp house, and it is worth having because many dehumidifiers only publish the first. For a whole house with a real damp problem, the 20L and 25L have more in hand.
Hold the air at the recommended 55% and the familiar signs of damp stop at their source: windows streaming on winter mornings, black spots spreading across the bathroom ceiling, the musty smell in built-in cupboards and the leather shoes turning green at the back of the wardrobe.
“Our fastest, most efficient dehumidifier yet.”
Meaco, introducing the Arete Two range
DEHUMIDIFIER AND AIR PURIFIER
An H13 HEPA filter in the same cabinet
Every Arete Two ships with an H13 HEPA filter that slides in behind the rear air inlet. With it fitted, the air the dehumidifier draws in, up to 140 m³ an hour on high fan, passes through the HEPA media before it reaches the coil, so dust, pollen and pet dander are caught while the moisture is pulled out.
In the months when the house is dry enough, hold the Smart Humidity button for two seconds and it switches to Air Purification Mode: the compressor stays off and the fan keeps filtering. That makes it a year-round appliance rather than one that spends summer in the garage.
The HEPA filter is a consumable. Meaco says to replace it roughly every three months, when it turns from white to grey. The dust filter in front of it is washable and lasts the life of the machine if you clean it every two weeks. Without the HEPA filter it dehumidifies only, and runs 4 to 5 dB quieter.
CHASE DISPLAY AND MEACO APP
Set it to 55% and let it work
Smart Humidity Mode starts at 55% relative humidity, the level Meaco recommends and marks with a heart on the display. Press again to step through 70, 65, 60, 50, 45 and 40%, or choose Continuous for a hard drying job. Once the room reaches target the compressor stops, the fan samples the air every 30 minutes, and the compressor restarts when humidity climbs 3% above your setting.
The Chase display shows both numbers at a glance: current humidity as bars below the line, the target circled above it. Night Mode turns the lights off, mutes the buttons and drops the fan to low, and a two-second press locks the controls against small hands.
Through the Meaco app, the same controls, the 1 to 24 hour on and off timers and the tank-full alert reach your phone over Wi-Fi, and the unit answers to Amazon Alexa and Google Home. The Arete Two range is the first Meaco dehumidifier with app control.
WHERE IT WORKS
Bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchens and the washing
For a whole house, Meaco’s advice is to put it somewhere central, such as a passage or landing, leave the internal doors open and the outside ones shut, and run it around the clock at 55%. Moist air from every room drifts towards the drier air around the unit. For one problem room, close that room’s door instead.
Smart Laundry Mode targets 35% on high fan for six hours, then switches off. Set it beside the drying rack in a closed room, open the louvre and point it at the washing. On a wet week it takes over much of a tumble dryer’s work while drawing around 155 W.
At 492 mm tall and 10.9 kg, with a carry handle and castors, it moves easily from the bedroom to the laundry. The curved back lets it stand flush against a wall, an uncommon design, since most dehumidifiers need a gap behind them to breathe.
QUIET ENOUGH TO LIVE WITH
35 dB on low, quiet enough for the bedroom
Meaco quotes 35 dB on low fan, 38 dB on medium and 44 dB on high, the quietest figures in the Arete Two range. On low it is a background hum you soon stop noticing; high fan is for laundry and fast drying with the door closed.
Night Mode is what makes it bedroom-friendly: the display goes dark, the buttons stop beeping, the fan drops to low, and when the tank fills it stops without the five-beep alert. Taking the HEPA filter out lowers the noise by another 4 to 5 dB if you would rather have quiet than purification overnight.
Like any compressor dehumidifier it sounds louder on a wooden floor than on carpet, and a clogged filter adds noise, so the two-weekly dust filter clean pays off in quiet as well as in performance.
MADE FOR SOUTH AFRICAN POWER
Built for 220–240 V, and back on after load-shedding
This is the 220–240 V, 50 Hz model Solenco brings in for South Africa. Meaco puts its power use at 155 W, measured at 27 °C and 60%, about 0.16 kWh for each hour the compressor runs, which is a light load for a home inverter and battery. Many dehumidifiers on overseas marketplaces are 110–120 V US models that need a step-down transformer here and carry no local warranty.
Auto-restart brings it back on in the mode you set when the power returns, so a scheduled outage doesn’t leave the house undried until someone notices. For a holiday house or a garage, a garden hose on the side spout lets it drain continuously instead of stopping when the 2.5-litre tank is full.
It runs on R290, a natural refrigerant with a low global-warming effect. Meaco covers the Arete Two for five years against manufacturing defects, Solenco looks after that warranty in South Africa, and we log and follow up any claim with Solenco on your behalf.
The Arete Two in operation
Meaco’s own introduction to the Arete Two range: the Chase display, the app and the H13 filter, in under two minutes.
Arete Two 12L specifications
| Model | MeacoDry Arete Two 12L (Solenco code MeacoDryArete2-12LSA) |
| Extraction rating | 12 L/day at 30 °C and 80% RH; 7.5 L/day at 27 °C and 60% RH |
| Humidity setting | 40–70% in 5% steps (55% default), or continuous |
| Modes | Smart Humidity, Smart Laundry (35% target, 6 hours), Air Purification, Night, child lock |
| Airflow | 80 / 100 / 140 m³/h on low / medium / high |
| Noise | 35 / 38 / 44 dB on low / medium / high; 4–5 dB lower without the HEPA filter |
| Operating range | 5–35 °C |
| Filtration | Washable lifelong dust filter plus H13 HEPA filter (replace about every 3 months) |
| Drainage | Tank with float shut-off, or continuous drain through a 12.5 mm garden hose (hose not included) |
| App | Meaco app over Wi-Fi; Amazon Alexa and Google Home |
| Power cuts | Auto-restart in the previous mode |
| Placement | Can stand against a wall; not for rooms under 4 m² |
| In the box | Dehumidifier, H13 HEPA filter, right-angle hose adaptor, instruction manual |
Meaco’s full instructions are in the Arete Two 10L and 12L instruction manual (PDF), hosted by Solenco.
How the Arete Two 12L sits against the alternatives
The MeacoDry Arete Two 20L and 25L are the same design in a taller 618 mm cabinet with a 4.8-litre tank and up to 255 m³ an hour of airflow. They extract 20 and 25 litres a day at 30 °C and 80%, against the 12L’s 12, for 230 W and 290 W. The 12L answers with the lowest noise in the range, 35 dB on low against 38 and 40 dB, and a cabinet light enough to carry. For a flat, a bedroom or a three-bedroom house in a reasonably dry area, the 12L is the right size; for a bigger or damper house, step up.
The GMC 40L is a different class of machine, rated for 40 litres a day at the same 30 °C and 80% test point and suited to a basement storeroom with standing damp. In a lived-in home the 12L gives more back: an H13 HEPA filter and a purification-only mode, where the GMC has a washable air filter and no HEPA; roughly a quarter of the power draw, 155 W against 610 W; 35 dB on low against the GMC’s under 47 dB; and a five-year warranty against two years.
For drying out a building after a flood, or a commercial space, the Solenco 85L Heavy Duty is the tool. If the house isn’t damp and you only want cleaner air, the Solenco 803 air purifier adds activated carbon for odours and is rated for rooms of 34 to 60 m².
Questions we are asked about the Arete Two 12L
Up to 12 litres at 30 °C and 80% relative humidity, and 7.5 litres at 27 °C and 60%. The first is the standard rating point for this class, useful for comparing models; the second is closer to a typical damp South African house in winter. In a cool room it removes less, as every compressor dehumidifier does.
Solenco and Meaco agree on this one: up to a three-bedroom house. In practice it does its best work in a flat, a townhouse or one problem area of a bigger home, such as a bedroom wing or a damp ground-floor room. For a whole four-bedroom house, or a damp coastal one, the 20L or 25L is the better fit.
Yes. The H13 HEPA filter supplied in the box sits behind the rear air inlet, so whenever it is fitted, all the air the unit moves is filtered, up to 140 m³ an hour on high. Air Purification Mode runs the fan with the compressor off for the drier months. It has no carbon stage for odours or cooking smells; for that, a dedicated purifier such as the Solenco 803 air purifier is the better choice.
Replace the HEPA filter roughly every three months, when it turns from white to grey. Replacement H13 filters for the 10L and 12L are available in South Africa through Solenco, and we can order them for you.
Meaco quotes 35 dB on low, 38 dB on medium and 44 dB on high. In Night Mode the display goes dark, the buttons are silent, the fan drops to low and the tank-full alert doesn’t beep, which is what most people want overnight. Removing the HEPA filter makes it another 4 to 5 dB quieter.
Yes. A right-angle hose adaptor is stored in the lid of the water tank. Push it onto the spout on the left-hand side and connect a standard garden hose with a 12.5 mm inside diameter, which isn’t included; we sell the Meaco Arete hose. The hose has to run downhill without kinks, because the water drains by gravity.
It restarts on its own when the power comes back, in the mode and humidity setting you left it on. At around 155 W it is also a modest load to run from a home inverter and battery.
It works between 5 °C and 35 °C. In a cold room the coil defrosts from time to time and the dehumidifying light goes out while it does, which is normal. Below 5 °C or above about 40 °C it shows a warning code and stops. Below about 45% humidity it collects little water, because there is little to collect.
It warms it slightly. The dried air passes over the warm side of the refrigeration circuit before it leaves the unit, which is welcome in winter. In summer the moving air can feel cool, the way a fan does, but it doesn’t cool the room.
For the whole house, somewhere central such as a passage or landing, with the internal doors open and the outside doors and windows shut, set to 55% and running around the clock. For one damp room, put it in that room with the door closed. It can stand against a wall, but don’t box it in with curtains, and keep it out of rooms smaller than 4 m² and away from open flames, because the R290 refrigerant is flammable. After delivery, leave it upright for six hours before switching it on.
Meaco gives the Arete Two a five-year manufacturer’s warranty against defects, handled in South Africa by Solenco. It doesn’t cover parts that wear in normal use (the dust filter and its case, the HEPA filter, the hose adaptor and wear on the water tank) or damage from opening the unit, neglect or non-genuine parts. Keep your EcoHub invoice as proof of purchase, and clean the dust filter every two weeks, since Meaco says skipping it can void the warranty. If something goes wrong, contact us and we log and follow up the claim with Solenco on your behalf.
Why Buy From EcoHub
Backed locally
Every unit carries its official South African distributor’s warranty and after-sales service.
Made for South African power
Correct 220–240 V models supplied through the local distributor, not grey imports built for other markets.
Delivered to your door
Free delivery across South Africa on orders over R1 000. Large commercial units travel by courier.
Sized to your space
Advice on choosing the right purifier or dehumidifier for your room or building, from a specialist store helping South Africans since 2012.
Very impressed with both the MeacoDry Arete Two dehumidifier and air purifier and the service from EcoHub SA.
The unit was delivered within 24 hours of our order confirmation, which was excellent service.
We are using the MeacoDry Arete Two in our master bedroom with an adjacent bathroom, and the performance has been excellent. It removes a surprisingly large amount of moisture from the air and has made a noticeable difference to the room. The added air purification function is a great bonus, helping to keep the air feeling fresher and cleaner. It operates efficiently and is ideal for keeping humidity under control, particularly with the bathroom adjoining the bedroom.
A very good quality product combined with fast and efficient service from EcoHub SA. Highly recommended!
Thank you, Harry, for such a detailed review. It’s great to hear the MeacoDry Arete Two is performing so well in your master bedroom and that you’re already noticing a real difference in the humidity. The combination of dehumidification and HEPA air purification is particularly useful in spaces like this.
We’re also very pleased that the delivery and service from EcoHub met your expectations. Thanks again for the recommendation and for taking the time to share your experience.
Regards,
Dylan
Excellent speedy delivery. Good looking unit, performing well and quietly.
Great fast service. Thank you
Great product and fast, efficient delivery.
Customer service from Ecohub was faultless and efficient.
The Meaco product seems effective, but the noise level wakes one up at night, even though machine placed in corridor ten yards away from bedroom…
Will have to employ ‘ Night Mode’ during those hours !
Thanks Carel, and thank you for the feedback. We’re glad to hear you found our service efficient and that the MeacoDry Arete Two is performing well. For overnight use, we’d recommend switching to Night Mode, which reduces the fan speed and dims the display for quieter operation while sleeping. Thanks again for taking the time to leave a review.