High Capacity Dehumidifier (for Basement)

[Jonathan Grobe]

Currently I have a 50 pint Walmart dehumdifier in my basement which runs all the time, consequently using hundreds of dollars a year in electricity--yet still doesn't keep the humidity level as low as I would like (right now it is 64%). While the house is fairly small, it is old and the basement has numerous cracks in the walls and floor--which I don't have the energy to fix.

What I am wondering about is the extent to which a better dehumidifier would help with both improving the humidity level and the electricity cost (by only running part of the time).

Any experience, advice on models...?

Thanks.

[Stormin Mormon]

Some of the newer dehum have rotary compressors, which use less electric. But, in any case, they do use a lot of power. Many times, I've been able to help a dehum by taking it apart, and cleaning it. More power consumtion when dirty.

Do you have the dehum about three feet off the floor? Is there a fan or two circulating air to the dehum?

[jamesgangnc]

There are a lot of professional ones that get used in damage remediation. They are expensive though. A guy here had a couple on craig's list that he still wanted a bunch for. I tried to lowball him on one but he wasn't budging. Frankly I think you are not going to save any phonominal amount by having a higher capacity one, it may run less but will use more power when it does run. Plus the lower you get the humidity the more water you will draw into the space if it is not well sealed. Think about it, you lower the hunidity to 40%, that just makes it easier for water to evaporate into the air. Get some tubes of caulk and then a couple cans of concrete sealant you can apply with a pump sprayer. I'm guessing you have block walls down there? If you can't do it, find a local high school kid and hire him for a weekend. Just tell him waht to do.

[ransley]

How low do you want the humidiy, does it feel damp. The reason I ask is all the analog humidistats I have need calibration yearly, digital are a bit better but 65% is probably not acurate and could be off by

10% either way. How old is your unit, if its not Energy Star rated on the unit and more than 5 years old you will save money running a new unit.

[trader4]

[e-mail]...

The largest home type ones I've seen are 70 pints. Good chance you could replace the 50 with a 70 and still have it run all the time. It takes energy to do condense the water so there is some relation between energy in and amount of water out. The newer units in general do use less energy to remover the same amount of water, so if the old one is 10+ years old, you might be better off with a new one. However lots of people have told me that the old one lasted forever and the new ones tend to last 4-5 years. Also, to get the humditiy down to 50% you may need two units and with two placed in seperate areas they could be more effective than one large unit.

[A. Baum]

That's not a large capacity. 50 pints in 24 hours. About 6 gallons. I've had a basement so damp after a drenching rain and clogged gutter that my 60 pint had to be emptied 4 times in 24 hours and it had a 2 gallon tank on it before I got tired of dumping it every 6 hours and put a hose on it. I would consider a 50 pint unit a medium sized unit.

{hvac removed]

[Grumpy]

Hi Jonathan From your name I can tell if you are male or female but that does no matter You have been giving lots info one that you must consider that your basement is well seal and you don't have seeping water in through the floor that is you biggest culprit to Humidity

50 pints capacity that seems to me to be very large Dehumidifier, What are doing with water that is picked up? make sure that you are disposing of that water using hose that minimizes contact with air, If you have open reservoir put some type of cover over it, anything that you can reduce water contact with air will help. Use of close drier in basement also brings humidity in. "Caution" Gas fire hot water heater or furnace they need air to work properly so make sure when you seal you do not create vacuum in your basement. Good luck!!!