I've gone through three ** dehumidifiers. Each has failed and the company is finally refunding the purchase price under the original five-year warranty. Now I need to find one that will sit on a shelf and work relatively continuously to dry out my perpetually damp basement. When the old one was working, it did ok. I drain it into a sink and it pretty much runs continuously at 45 % setting. Any recommendations as to a good sturdy unit? TIA
If it is running constantly, you probably should buy one with a larger capacity to reduce the duty cycle. It will last longer and do a better job.
Have you had a basement pro come look at the basement and see if there is something cheaper than the de-humidifier-of-the-month to lessen the humidity?
It might be cheaper to just keep de-humidify-ing. But I went through a lot of sump pumps before I got smart and buried a pipe that exits down the hill from the house.
BTW- I've got a used de-humidifier that worked last time used it. If you know where Niskayuna is, you can come pick it up.
Jim
yeah address why humidity is so high. too often people install glass block windows and those tiny vents arent up to providing air circulation in the summer espically if the home lacks AC..
people often install sump pumps where a drain to daylight can do the job far better and not have a flooded basement in a power outage.
look for issues like clogged gutters and poor downspout drain lines......
a computer muffin fan for exhaust is used by a buddy in hs basement in the summer, it solved his high humidity troubles
There are commercial units. They cost 3 or 4 times as much. Those companies that "rescue" your house after a flood or whatever use them. A guy getting out of that business had a couple on our cl but he still wanted $300 apeiece and I couldn't get him down.
If there's anything you can do to get the water away form the outside of your house it would probably help. Also put a vapor barrier sealant on your basement walls.
Michael,
Check out the review section of the Home Depot website or something like epinions.com. There do seem to be some brands that hold up better over time.
Like any piece of HVAC equipment it's important to size it correctly. If it runs all the time and doesn't do the job then the capacity isn't enough. However don't go too big as it's the on-off cycles that are tough on them. Newer models seem to run the fan continuously and are more efficient. (Probably still pretty expensive, but that's the price of a wet basement.)
I'm taking care of my wife's uncle's house about 5 hours away. Last month the Realtor called and said the basement was really wet. I brought up our 20-year old GE 40-pint model, ran it for a day and it brought the humidity down into the 50's. There was mold on the floor and a few areas of standing water with humidity in the 70's. The water table is really high and they've had a wet year so far. The sump pump runs frequently even during the Minnesota winter. The good news is that the well will never run dry. I'll see if the dehumidifier is still alive later this month.
Some basements are just built in the wrong place.
dss
Chop the door off your fridge, add a big fan, done... ;-)
I like your idea of pipe burying as I have a French drain but no sump and back wall of basement is fully exposed and it's downhill from there. Do you have any specifics on doing this through my block wall or who should I look to hire?
I just got a small dehumidifier as rarely (3 times in 35 years) with the hurricane rains I got a slightly wet basement and figured if I did not dehumidify it would get dank as it has in the past. Been nearly a week, basement seems bone dry but humidifier works constantly which makes me think I should have bought a bigger one.
Your basement is too moist for a consumer grade unit to survive running
100% of the time...You have been improperly locating the dehumidifier on a shelf so as to be convenient for you to drain -- this is not the correct location for a dehumidifier unit, it should be located on the floor far enough from walls or large obstructions like furniture or piles of basement stuff so that air can properly be circulated by the fan built into the unit...
From what I have observed you contributing to this newsgroup, it is clear that you need an industrial dehumidifier unit in your situation...
~~ Evan
An industial dehumidier for a home basement? Yeah, the ones they sell today don't last as long as they used to. Same as with most other new appliances. Still, if he gets even 3 years out of one, I'd bet it's more cost effective than getting an industrial one. You don't even know if the one he has is one of the larger units. If not, just getting it sized and located correctly could mean that it no longer runs continously.
Have a GE 65 pint model here that runs nearly continously. It's about 16 months old now. Cost $175 and I took out the extended warranty for 5 years that cost $60. Normally I don't think extended warranties are worth it, but in this case I think it was a good deal.
Get one with a built-in pump (or buy an external condensate pump such as
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