Dehumidifiers

[jfcasey]

So I bought a house recently and discovered I have a very damp basement. It's about 1000 square feet and already has a working sump pump but I'm still getting moisture to the point that I'm getting small puddles on the low spots of the floor.

Looking to get a dehumidifier but torn between a 50 and 70 pint unit. Drainage will be handled by the sump pump so I'm not worried about having to deal with the built in buckets. My concern is would a 70 pint unit just chew up a lot of power to do the same job a 50 is capable of?

According to some manufacturer charts a 40 pint would be sufficient but I know they like to inflate claims to sell units.

Anyone got any experience with this? I'm only trying to keep my basement dry and not the whole house. I'm looking at frigidaire units if that helps.

 

[macgyver37]

I have a 65 pint LG that just quit this spring, but that is another story, anyway, the energy useage was not noticeable to me. Well under $10/month if even that. Well worth the expense for keeping things nice and dry.

If you set it to a certain humidity level it will only run until it reaches that point, so the larger capacity just gives you the ability to get rid of it quicker and or take care of large volume of humidity over time. I would guess that the energy useage would be very similar over time if not the same.

 

[jfcasey]

That's good to hear! I was thinking it would be just like running an ac window unit based of how they work.

 

[Temaweaver]

Larger units are more efficient. I don't run one instead I pulled the filter door off my air handler. The air circulation dropped my humidity level.

 

[troyks]

40 pints is plenty for a very damp 1,000 sq. ft. space, you could go as low as 30 pints and still be golden. I wouldn't spend a lot on a bigger unit or more features, dehumidifiers these days with their cheap compressors using R410 seem to last a few years at most, so a sufficiently sized cheap unit is your best bet.

 

[dogdog]

dunno, I have a 70 pint running now still feel it is not good enough.... it did extract about 2 bucket full of water a day.... that is about 8 gallon or so I think.....

 

[Sarki]

Lots of recalls on dehumidifies with defects that can result in a fire so whichever you decide on be sure to run the make/model info on saferproducts.gov.
I've investigated many fires that were the result of a faulty dehumidifier, not always an older unit. Do a search and you will see what I'm talking about.

 

[dogdog]

I have two of these one of them still in a box the other gets a work out for past two or three years ..... it's not on the list or at least couldn't find it in the link saferproducts.gov not sure if that is good thing or bad..... works great but no bells or whistles...... such as remote / or drain pumps build in etc...

Frigidaire FAD704DWD

 

[volleyball]

Larger units are more efficient. I don't run one instead I pulled the filter door off my air handler. The air circulation dropped my humidity level.

That is a bad idea. Yo don't want your unfinished space supplying air to your finished spaces.

I say get a 40 pint and see how it works. If it isn't enough, get a second and put in the other side of the basement. You don't A/C your house from just 1 window.
Drylock the walls, fixing the grading outside and you should find 1 is more than enough.

 

[787B]

If you get a dehumidifier that's too small it will burn up more electricity as will have to run much longer. Smaller ones are also not Energy-Star rated meaning they are less efficient.

My garage is my basement, covering 900 sq ft. The slab is uninsulated, no vapor barrier, cracked, and a bit thin. The walls are uninsulated, no vapor barrier cement block. I use a dehumidifier for 3 seasons set at 60%. I started with a 50 pint and now have graduated to a 70 pint. IMHO 30-40 pint is not nearly big enough unless you have vapor barriers, which it sounds like you don't.

My first 50 pint non-energy-star LG lasted two years. Next 65 pint energy-star LG lasted 5 years. Now I have a 70 pint Hisense from Lowes just over a year old that is doing a fine job.

One thing I don't like is most new dehumidifiers are top-discharge. I want mine to blow across my garage to circulate the air, not just blow it at the ceiling. So I took a 10x4" to 6" register duct boot and made it front discharge.

 

[67CarGuy]

I like your modification, 787! I have a similar basement, although mine is fieldstone walls, rather than block. But either way, no vapor barrier, no insulation, etc. I've been looking around GJ at some other dehumidifier threads, and the 70 pint Frigidaire keeps coming up. I may pull the trigger on one before the month is out...

BTW, your avatar wouldn't happen to actually be *your* 787B, would it? If so, ever take it to Hunt Valley Horsepower?

 

[787B]

I like your modification, 787!

Thanks. Here's the newer 50-pint I'm using on the main level. I modified it to be side-discharge. Four holes, four zip ties, no permanent modifications to the dehumidifier should it poop the bed and I need to make a warranty claim. Won't pass the wife test, but I don't have one of those. It would pass in a basement, I'm sure.

BTW, your avatar wouldn't happen to actually be *your* 787B, would it? If so, ever take it to Hunt Valley Horsepower?

I WISH! If I owned an actual 787B I would be a whole lot richer and much more handsome. Unfortunately I'm not rich or pretty, so I don't have one. Never been to HVH - can't get out of bed that early on a Saturday.

 

[gdh33]

Look at the efficiency of the unit (kwh/pint or what ever it is) usually larger units use less energy per pint removed. Like someone else said, set the humidity you desire on the unit and only runs when needed. So it would be cheaper for electricity and should last longer (run less) if you get a larger unit. Just my thoughts. I bought a 90 pint unit, fridgidare.

 

[blind]

I bought a friedrich 70 pint over a smaller unit because of the better efficiency. It however will run for a few minutes and hits the set humidity level and cuts off. Then a few minutes later and only a few percentage points above the set humidity level, it will start back. It was cycling so much that I decided to let it run 24/7. It's a little over a year old and sounds terrible. I'm expecting it to die at any point but it's sounded this way for months.
I'm not sure if it's due to oversizing for my basement or too sensitive to humidity change. My 40 pint did not over cycle and would still run but the fan died at 10 years so I thought it was smarter to invest in a new dehumidifier than a $50 fan.