CaCl 2 -containing composites have been prepared by depositing the hydrated salt (by incipient wetness impregnation) on three different silica-aluminas with various Si/Al ratios. The surface area and porosity of all the samples were determined by N 2 -adsorption at -196°C, and their water sorption properties were investigated by thermogravimetry linked to differential scanning calorimetry (TG-DSC) in order to determine the quantity of adsorbed/desorbed water and the related heats. The heat released and the quantity of adsorbed water were found to depend on parameters such as the silica-alumina pore diameters, the Si/Al ratio, and the presence of accessible CaCl 2 active phase. The short-term stability of both supports and composites has been also checked by performing successive hydration-dehydration cycles. The sample with the lower Si/Al ratio provided the highest heat per surface area of material, and the heat released per mol of water increased with the amount of Al 2 O 3 present in the samples. The deposition of CaCl 2 positively acted on the quantity of heat released during the water sorption, and the composite with the higher alumina content (75 mass% Al) showed the largest heat released per m 2 of material (2.4 J m -2 ) compared to those containing 25 and 13 mass% Al (1.4 and 1.2 J m -2 , respectively).