For years we have been using portable dehumidifiers in the basement between May and September. This weekend I fired up the current one only to note a return to the common pattern: the compressor runs but there is no hot air exhaust or condensation because the tubing has corroded and allowed the refrigerant to escape.
Over the last 10 years we've had perhaps 5 such units down there, making the average lifespan ~ 2 years. Reading online reviews from actual customers, it seems that for everything manufactured after the millennium this is the usual pattern. And they all die in the same way.
We have usually been buying the most accessible brands; LG or the LG-manufactured Kenmore units sold at Sears. Once Sears replaced a unit when their repair depot deemed it to be beyond repair.
It occurred to me that perhaps we're buying the wrong brand. Web sites that review these units seem to recommend Fridigaire, Danby, GE, or Whirlpool. But then I read reviews from actual owners, and there are similar complaints. Now most units are warranted for only a year, and the cost of an extended warranty pretty much could be better spent on simply buying a new unit every 2 years.
Are there ANY 70-pint portable dehumidifiers that last beyond 2 years, or at least have a longer factory warranty?