What are the pros and cons of a whole-house dehumidifier vs. individual models in the rooms that need it?
And of the whole-house models, has anyone had any experience with the Wave system (which is more a ventilating than dehumidifying device)?
Having had both, I would vote for the whole house solution. I admittedly have lost track of what a dedicated whole house system costs but I would guess it would compete with purchase and maintenance of several room-sized. Besides, unless you can drain the individuals to convenient floor drain or similar solution, they will keep you busy dumping the buckets. We Have two pretty hefty portables in the museum where I volunteer and during spring and summer we dump about two gallons from both daily; and sometimes dump twice a day.
RonB
I don't understand the question, apparently.
My central air unit is a whole house dehumidifier. That's the way it is supposed to work. However, as a refinement, I wired an April-Aire humidistat in backwards, so that it "makes" on humidity rise rather than fall, and inserted it into the red wire of the thermostat.
Now, instead of trying to achieve a certain temperature, it gets to a level of comfort and shuts off. After all, a humid
73 degrees can be uncomfortable, and a drier 83 degrees can be comfortable.Since doing it this way, my wife doesn't wake up with a dry nose in the morning. And our utility bill dropped. Far better than trying to compete against that fusion reactor in the sky during the day.
If you run the whole house furnace fan, a one room dehumidifier becomes whole house. The dehumidifier also adds heat to the home, each one.
Greg
use a condensate pump into a drain? that's what I did @ my house... there's no real problem with drainage, seepage, etc. but the natural humidity of the area (DC-land) is such that even with the A/C running the inside can become a tad more humid than desirable in the summer, esp. in the cooler basement. So I put a portable 50-gallon dehumidifier in the basement and ran a condensate pump into the deep sink, humidity in house is now 100% self regulating. (also have humidifier for winter - forced air gas furnace) with minimal fiddling or maintenance remains @ ~55% RH year round.
I did do a lot of taping of exposed ductwork in basement to keep it from getting too cool in summer... didn't notice any diff in utility bills but it is more comfortable now
nate
Depends on your speciifc problem and location. Both solutions have merits.
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