Looking for the Best Dehumidifier

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Sting
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Post by Sting » Wed. May. 28, 2014 8:10 am

Poll of the audience!
Because I am not a air guy - or much of a control guy - I welcome your advice dehumidifiers
currently I have three 35 pint appliances one works quite well - its probably condensing at rated capacity
another is running but not producing much liquid
and the third is so old if I set it to run - it ices up

So what do you advise
= is it better [ in any way ] to run two modern 35 pint appliances of one 75 pint appliance in an uncommonly damp basement ???

 
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Rob R.
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Post by Rob R. » Wed. May. 28, 2014 8:13 am

How big is the basement? Are there drains available?

 
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Sting
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Post by Sting » Wed. May. 28, 2014 8:29 am

two floor drains
appx 900 sq ft
I have a 20 inch box fan near each to also stir up the air
basement this week began at just over 70% humidity
running the units for three days I am down to hi 60ish % so I an winning the battle with the current army - but not by much

used the same forces last year and never was able to get below 60% - would like to get closer to 50

There is still appx 100 square feet of it only dirt floor - I am old and slow so I will get it paved yet this year but >>>>........
yes I need to excavate around the perimeter of the house – spray foam [ or use 4x8 panels] from above the rim joist and down at least 4 feet below ground level and install drainage – maybe not this year yet but asap

 
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SMITTY
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Post by SMITTY » Wed. May. 28, 2014 4:35 pm

Wow that's dry! Mine gets up close to 90% in the summer ........... but you guys probably figured that anyway. :lol: :P

 
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Rob R.
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Post by Rob R. » Wed. Jun. 04, 2014 6:22 am

I would look at the electrical load of the 75 pint unit vs. the twin 35's. Seems like two units at opposite ends of the basement would keep things more even without additional fans?


 
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Sting
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Post by Sting » Wed. Jun. 04, 2014 8:55 am

Thank-you Rob for the kind reply
the 70 pint appliance went on sale so I just pulled the trigger and put two box fans in the corners
a plus is the warm exhaust blow up and its under my kitchen floor so the old boards are warm under my toes when I stumble out in the morning for my coffee :D

 
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Post by Rob R. » Wed. Jun. 04, 2014 8:57 am

What humidity levels are you observing with the new setup?

 
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Post by 2001Sierra » Wed. Jun. 04, 2014 10:47 pm

About 10 years ago I bought 3 different units returning them all but the last one. They all where noisier than hell. My family room is in the basement and you could hardly hear yourself think with it running. I kept the third one assuming all the newer ones where just garbage.
This time I went to the university library and looked in Consumer Reports. I bought the quietest one recommended in the 50 pint category, a Frigidaire FAD504DWD. Quiet and accurate settings. Set @ 50% and inside Keystoker 90 humidastat is reading 44%. They also make a highly rated 70 pint model.

 
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Sting
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Post by Sting » Thu. Jun. 05, 2014 8:01 am

Rob R. wrote:What humidity levels are you observing with the new setup?
after running for almost a week - near the unit is appx 55% but the corners are still up near 70
The 35 pint is still cooking nearby also
the drain lines from run a lot of liquid when disturbed
The drain is full of fresh liquid so its working
I may try moving the units away from the drain and using the internal buckets since I am looking at them daily anyway

 
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Sting
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Post by Sting » Thu. Jun. 05, 2014 8:04 am

2001Sierra wrote:About 10 years ago I bought 3 different units returning them all but the last one. They all where noisier than hell. My family room is in the basement and you could hardly hear yourself think with it running. I kept the third one assuming all the newer ones where just garbage.
This time I went to the university library and looked in Consumer Reports. I bought the quietest one recommended in the 50 pint category, a Frigidaire FAD504DWD. Quiet and accurate settings. Set @ 50% and inside Keystoker 90 humidastat is reading 44%. They also make a highly rated 70 pint model.
I read those were nice - but my hearing is shot anyway :oops: so after I thought this thread wasn't going to populate - I just bought the sale item


 
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Post by ramblerboy2 » Mon. Jun. 09, 2014 3:46 pm

In case anyone else is looking, I also got a Frigidaire, the 70 pint one, rated somewhere between 700-800 watts. It pulls a lot of moisture. If I leave it to drain into the built in bucket (about 2 gallons, I believe) it will fill it every 7-8 hours. I have it draining into an AC condensate pump pumping up into a drain. It gets my nasty basement down to about 50% humidity but the corners are still damp. I am probably going to buy a second one of these and put one at each end to hopefully just take care of the problem. The Frigidaire is also pretty quiet.

Rerouting the gutter downspouts helped a LOT.

Josh

 
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Post by ShawnTRD » Mon. Aug. 18, 2014 5:35 pm

I just got a Hisense dehumidifier from amazon. I think it works great. I'm not using the pump yet. But it's sucking my basement dry. :D

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00JE1KKVK?cache=43 ... mp_s_a_1_7

 
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Post by Pacowy » Mon. Aug. 18, 2014 5:46 pm

My vote would normally be to run a coal boiler with the jacket off. It did a nice job at our old house, producing a dry basement and a lot of DHW, and saving a fair amount on the electricity costs that used to accompany running 2 dehumidifiers. Might not work so well for the OP here, with his cheap NG and idle coal equipment, but it worked for us.

Mike

 
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Post by coalkirk » Fri. Aug. 22, 2014 9:05 am

Cover the dirt floor area with heavy plastic. Moisture migrates up out of the ground in vapor form.

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