Right...but the byproduct of the unit operating...is heat.
I mean, if it works for you and it's not bad...then that's great!
Maybe the real small units don't put out as much heat (or not as noticeable), but I have a larger floor unit that puts out a good deal of heat, because they all have a compressor running in order to "pull" the moisture out of the air...so they do emit heat. Not a big deal with cooler outside temps...but I tried running my unit in a spare room one summer...and while it did remove a lot of moisture...the amount of heat it left behind was not a good trade-off.
For my studio...I have a wall vent that is part of the central AC for the building.
An air conditioner will do the same thing a dehumidifier does...and it usually vents the hot air outside or pulls it out of the room via its return system.[/QUOTE
Guess it depends where your using it. My house has central air and my basement is typically the coolest place in the house. But the AC doesn't do enough to keep it quiet dry enough. So the dehumidifer does the trick and it is still waaay cooler than the rest of the house. I've seen people running window AC units in their basement windows. If you have the window to accomodate it where it won't be partially submerged in heavy rain, that might do the trick.