Dehumidifiers

[yogitunes]

its getting that time of year to pull these out and cleaned up for the season.....

I have never had to use one until last year, and my question is, Is there a specific place it should be positioned, high or low, center of the room?....can it be suspended close to the ceiling?

right now its sitting on the bench, against the wall, but freedom of air flow front to back, and a hose drains it directly into a stand pipe so I don't have to constantly empty the bucket....and its set to AUTO....although it rarely comes on, even if I set it all the way to MAX...

just wondered if theres specifics to placement of one of these, or does it not matter.....

 

[wayupnorth]

I personally dont use one as my basement is a pretty much an above ground daylight basement facing the lake, any breeze and the west. I only time I ever have a humidity problem when it is extremely humid outside and the cold water pipes from my well drip, as I have big sliding windows that are kept open during the summer for circulation and it is finished living space there. Those I do know that have them keep theirs near any source of moisture coming in and close to the floor near a drain of some sorts. All say their electric bill soars when it is on.

 

[polkanut]

I have mine sitting on the floor, and a drain hose to the floor drain.  Mine does such a good job that the coils will freeze over because the air has become too dry.  Ours is a 14y/o Gibson.  I'm tempted to borrow my parents vintage Coldspot dehumidifier this year to see what kind of job it would do instead.

 

Everyone I know has their's on the floor.

 

[mattl]

If the coils are freezing over it's not doing that good of a job - at least dehumidifying.  Most modern units have a de-icing cycle because efficiency drops dramatically when ice is present.  Drawing damp air over the large surface area of all the coils is what draws the moisture out, it the surface area is reduced because of ice  much less air passes over the coils, hence less efficiency.

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

DaveAmKrayoGuy's Dehumidifier Experience:

I have an old Kenmore dehumidifier back at my parents' house...

I suddenly realized humidity had taken over my basement bedroom & luckily my sis & brother-in-law had that one to give me...

Made little difference in the humidity level (& luckily the electric bill, too) while noisy & worried my mom that the age of it would cause a fire... (But at least it had a hose & it was near a drain...)

-- Dave

 

[verizonbear]

Dehumidifiers

I just started using the unit that was left in my basement by the previous owners, it has a 2 or 4 hour cycling program. I've had to empty the water bin one time in 3 days and it keeps the realative humidity at 50% in the basement when set on the 4 hour cycle. It's been a damp grey weekend in Maryland /DC area and it seems to work well, no hint of musky ordor in the basement

 

[xraytech]

Wehave a 30 year old General Electric dehumidifier, it has an infinite humidity control , or a constant setting, When I use it I use the constant setting so it doesnt shut off until its full, I can usually fill the pan up in just short of 24 hrs.

Unfortunately I have a small crack in the bottom of the pan now and am working on patching it.

 

[paulg]

Mine is on the floor

My dehumidifier is on the floor but my Martha Stewart book on organizing eludes to hanging it (and shows a picture too).
Who can argue with Martha?
I've always had my units on the floor and found them to be amazingly effective. I keep a simple humidistat in the basement too just to ensure the humidity is regulating and the use of the humidifier is worthwhile. I bought mine at the hardware store. Vintage humidistats NEVER WORK. My original dehumidifier was a late-model Fedders unit that was excellent. I gave it to the in-laws when their second Chinese unit crapped out. Needless to say the Fedders unit still works. I now use an OASIS unit from the 1950s that I bought unused. Works good on the floor and it drains into the floor drain.
My basement has high ceilings so I want to hang it. I'm really bad at construction-type things though.

 

[petek]

I'm using our old Oasis that dad bought way back when I was knee high so at least the late 50's. Unfortunately it doesn't have an auto shutoff on the bucket and I surprisingly have no floor drains in the basement so have to be careful. What I like about it is that it is extremely quiet and unobtrusive, I would say no more loud than a desk fan on high. Moms had bought a newer Kenmore (24 pint) a few years ago, metal cabinet still, but it's quite loud and it wasn't a big enough capacity for the size of her basement. I found a newer Kenmore at Habitat last year iirc,, plastic case etc. digital controls and it's somewhat quieter. Have it running at moms as well.

 

[mattl]

Pete, in case you didn't know there are small pumps you can drop into the drainage tank and they will pump the water up and out as needed, no overflows.  Not cheap, about $70  around here, but perhaps worthwhile.

 

[petek]

can you provide a link to what type of pump you're referring to or who sells them?

 

[retro-man]

The pumps he is referred to are sold at lowes or hd. they are small blue boxes that you can pipe the drain water directly into this pump since it has a housing built into it. It has a float valve in it that starts it automatically when it reaches about and inch from the top. They use these alot on gas furnaces and built in humidifiers. All drainage goes into this pump mounted on the side of the furnace and gets discharged into a drain or out a window. The output hose is about 1/2 inch and you can get this hose at the same store.
As far as location goes I have read that humidity travels on its own in a house or basement. So if you have the dehumidifier at one end of the basement the moisture will travel to the unit on its own. I have mine on the floor above a floor drain and it works wonderfully. Do not have it on yet since I turned the furnace back on a few days ago and the heat takes care of it at this time of the year.
Jon

 

[countryguy]

I built a wooden base, about 4 inches in height on which the dehumidifier sits. The bathroom in the basement has a shower which is never used so I just routed the drain hose from the dehumidifier bucket to the shower. Now I don't have to worry about emptying the bucket.

Gary

 

[mattl]

Pete, not great reviews, but we have a Whirlpool version in our store in Flint.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_98771-57366...ifier+pump&N=0&langId=-1&storeId=10151&rpp=24

 

[drewz]

Is it true if you have forced air hvac system that if you cut a hole in the return air duct in the basement this will pull in the air and dehumidify the air when running the a/c in the summer?

 

[gansky1]

I have a Frigidaire dehumidifier I bought in 1998 when we moved into this house. It had been vacant through the winter and with clogged gutters, the spring rains overflowed into a window well and made the basement wet. That Frigidaire is loud, but it works well. I've never hooked it up to a hose-drain as I usually place it in the center of the basement, a fair distance from the floor drain and I don't want to trip over the hose snaked through the rooms. I haven't started it yet this year, it's very dry and so far haven't needed it but it's early in the season so it won't be long. Mine moves quite a bit of air so I don't think elevating it above floor level would do much good, other than to make it louder.

 

[petek]

Here's the old Oasis 50ish years young

 

[iheartmaytag]

I have a Whirlpool that was left in the house by the previous owners. I only have to use it a couple of times a year. Spring, before the A/C is turned on and Fall between Cooling and heating.

It pulls quite a bit out of the air, about 4 to 6 gallons a day if I get the bucket dumped. When the air handler is running for A/C or heat there is enough air movement that the dampness doesn't seem to be a problem. I have an open basement with the air return in the family room there so the HVAC takes care when it's running.

As for as electricity usage, I estimate about the same as running a small window A/C unit. I really don't notice too much on the bill when it is in use.

 

[paulg]

OMG ! That is the same OASIS

That's the same unit I have!
All I did was change the cord to a grounded variety. Yup, no auto-shutoff but so long as the hose goes to the floor drain nobody cares.
I bought it for.. eight dollars at the Salvation Army. Cord had rotted but inside it was clear it has never seen a day of use. Not bad! Built like a tank and quiet.

 

[retro-man]

to paul and petek
I had the same humidifier in another house years ago. It ran great and quiet. No auto shutoff either. The problem I ran into with mine was when it shut off it would not restart the compressor. you had to wait about 2 hours with it off then it would restart. It got disposed of long ago.
Jon

 

[iheartmaytag]

I wanted to add:

Though My unit is on the floor, I could see where having it higher may be more efficient as warm moist air tends to rise. Then again, the cooler damp air in the basement may be lower. With the fan circulating, it almost seeems like it doesn't matter.

 

[paulg]

Retro

Will keep my eyes and ears open for that symptom. Thanks.

 

[gansky1]

should have knocked on wood!

It's been humid here the last couple of days and it doesn't take long for the basement to feel stuffy so I rolled the '98 Frigidaire out of the closet and tested it out. No fan. Compressor comes on, can hear the gases roiling, but no fan.

After what seemed like a hundred and twelve screws, I got the wrap-around side and top panel off and the plastic front grill. Did a good cleaning and dribbled oil on the shaft as near as I could to the bearing, there are no oil ports it's a completely disposable motor. I need to poke around and shop for a replacement motor, it's running for now but don't know if it will make it through the season. May be able to get the part from Electrolux but will hope for a quieter option.

 

[joefuss1984]

humidity

What is the normal range for humidity in the living quarters of the house?  We are having great window weather in Arkansas right now but its also very humid so the house feels kinda muggy/damp?  

 

[mattl]

In the main part of the house I like it about 50% - give or take.  The best I can do in the basement is the 60% range.