Dehumidifier where fan is NOT always on - Is there such a thing?

[gregz]

My LG does have duty cycle. 2 or 4 hours. The humistat setting still works in that mode.

Greg

[Mike]

You can, but it won't be some $200 POS from China. Take a look at the recent recall. Practically every dehumidifier is made by Gree in China.

Anyway, I have an Aprilaire 1710 that runs the fan for 3 minutes about once an hour to check the humidity. If the humidity is OK, it shuts down for another hour. If not the compressor runs until the set point is reached. It's not the kind of thing you would put in the living room, but it is built like a tank and gets the job done.

[Art Todesco]

I just bought a new Frigidaire which was paid for, by the refund on the old GE (Gree MIC). The Frigidaire fan shuts off, however, because there is wetness inside the unit, it will fire up again as the moisture evaporates and make the humidity go up inside the case. It keeps going on and off, ad nauseum. The Frigidaire is very quiet compared to the old Gree. The digital humidity control is a dismal failure. Besides the problem above, if you set it to 45% it will lower the humidity to somewhere in the 40s. If you set it to 50%, it will hold it to about

55% ... What's this all about? Anyway, I have ordered an outboard humidity controller, but it hasn't come yet. I'll see how that works?

[Mike]

Well, I went through 2 Frigidaires and 1 GE before biting the bullet and getting the Aprilaire. Collectively, those 3 lasted about 15 months in total (9 months, 3 months and 3 months) before freezing themselves into a brick.

The instructions said they controlled to +- 5%. Initially, I took that to mean 5% of the reading. In practice, it turned out to mean a swing of 5% to either side on the setting.

[trader_4]

I think extended warranties are almost always a bad idea. But I think they should be considered in the case of dehumidifiers. When I went to buy one about 3 years ago, I had an online price that I was using to negotiate with at the local appliance store. The guy finally made me an offer, where it was about $35 more, but he his deal included an extended warranty. Sure enough, it failed during the extended period. And of course, when I went to get it honored, they didn't have the same model, only one that was 10 pints a day larger in capacity. So, I wound up paying another $30, but it was still an overall good deal.

Given that a lot of these fail at 2 or 3 years, I think an extended warranty is worth at least considering.

[Ann]

replying to Paul, Ann wrote: Did you find a dehumidifier that turns off. I am looking for one too, the manufactures think we believe in gold at the end of a rainbow.

[clare]

Every one I've ever owned shut off the fan when the compressor shut off, and over the last 45 years I have owned quite a few, and only bought one new. I think I got ALL of the rest for free - possibly bought one or two at garage sales.