Dehumidifiers

[mattl]

Thanks to Paul -turquoisedude I discovered my dehumidifier was a fire risk and recalled.  This is the SECOND unit I've had with that issue.  The first was a Maytag I paid a lot of money for and got a few $$  this time I'm getting $96 which is better, but not enough to pay for full replacement.

 

At this point I'm at a loss as to which unit to replace it with.  I live in an area with natural springs and without the dehumidifier my finished basement will quickly creep up to 90%+ humidity.  I keep it at 50-55% during the summer, and the unit runs 605 of the time, costing $30+ /mo.

 

It appears there are 2 or 3 manufacturers all in China, so there is little to choose from.  I have no idea where to turn for recommendations, CR is pretty much worthless these days, there is all kids of unverifiable info online so I'm open to suggestions - any good units out there?

 

[turquoisedude]

Matt, I feel your frustration!  I had bought a couple of units that were recalled back when I still owned a rental property (with a very damp basement) that wound up getting trashed also, however the last one I bought in 2012 was an LG and it is still going strong.   In fact, when I sold the rental house, I kept the dehumidifier and we are using it at the house in St-Lib.   It was a bit more expensive than the other units, but at least I haven't LG units get recalled.  

 

[circlew]

Matt and Paul

You may want to consider the Oasis dehumidifiers, which are made in Poland, rather than Asia. I'm sure they aren't cheap, but would probably be more economical in the long run. Link to co. website below.

http://www.oasis.ie/products/dehumidifiers/all-models/

 

[mieletag]

I bought 3 of the Oasis dehumidifiers. One has been running near constantly for the past 3 years, no problems whatsoever. If you follow the link, the last post with the six photos is one of mine taken apart. Built just like dehumidifiers of yesteryear.

Dehumidifier Hell: 2.5 Million Recalled Due To Fires

Well, kids, check your brands. 2.5 million dehumidifiers made by Gree with these brand names have been recalled due to a 400% increase in the number of units reported overheating and/or starting fires. These were sold in stores and online between January 2005 and August 2013. I purchased...

www.automaticwasher.org

 

[petek]

Still using my dads Oasis which he bought when I was about 5 or 6.. some 55 years ago.  Thing is in this house the basement is really dry as our neighborhood is built on sand so it doesn't run much.. It's whisper quiet as well, other thing is it doesn't have auto-shut off.. you can connect a garden hose to it if you want the water to go directly down a drain. 

 

Have you looked in a Habitat for Humanity store or other thrift.. ours sometimes has vintage dehumidifiers for sale along with newer plasti-crap ones. 

 

 

 

[mattl]

Funny thing is 4 or 5 months ago I was at a Goodwill and came across the same dehumidifier we had when I was a kid.  A Kenmore Coldspot 30 in a brown steel cabinet with the brown louvered front.  It had an aluminum coil system that often froze up.  It was $20 and I considered buying it, but recalled the freeze ups. Plus it was noisy as hell.  Now I wish I had picked it up.
 
It was this model...

http://https//www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibQoI7IvbQs

 

[dustin92]

I have a few extra older ones if you wanted to make it a road trip... All work well, just don't need 5 of them! I can post pictures if you're interested.

 

[mattl]

Hmmm -

What have you got???

 

Kind of on the fence.  New, used, old, what.  I'm thinking of a stop gap, and look for a used Oasis.  Busy wrapping up the house I've been working on, need to get it listed...

 

[dustin92]

I have a 70's Montgomery Wards 32 pint, a 1997 Magic Chef 25 pint (still all metal) and a 70's Whirlpool 14 pint. I do know the humidistat on the Whirlpool is bad and I haven't run the M.W. enough to know. Works fine but doesn't shut off.

 

[mattl]

Thanks -- but all too small.  The 50 pint model I have/had occasionally had a hard time keeping up.  It typically runs 60+% of the time.  Been thinking of going bigger -70 pint models.  I even see 90 pint models out there.

 

Right now I pulled the door off the bottom of the furnace and am running the fan from time to time to suck out the moist air, but all it's really doing is drawing warm moist air from upstairs down.  Was bidding on a unit on one of the local auctions sites but people went nuts, selling price was half of a new unit and it was untested.

 

[dustin92]

I've seen them as big as 115 pint! Not sure what brand but menards is carrying them. We are running a 30 pint SoleusAir and a VERY old (guessing 40's or 50's?) Carrier in our basement right now. Not sure of the pints per day on the Carrier but it pulls around a gallon per day. Draws less than 3 amps and runs quiet as a mouse so can't complain too much. Our SoleusAir is going on 4 years now I think? Just after the recalled ones were pulled anyway and it's been perfect, running almost 100% of the time, still pulls 2 tanks a day.

 

[warmsecondrinse]

I have 2 30-pint units, a highly rated GE and a Danby. The Danby is noticeably quieter regardless of what kind of surface it's placed on. The GE is too noisy for the bedroom and can get very loud depending on the flooring.

I can get the models numbers if you want. IIRC Danby offers just one model with different capacities. The GE came from my local homo-LESS Homo Depot and the Danby from eBay.

Jim

 

[warmsecondrinse]

Oh, thanks for the info, Mieletag. if I buy another one I'll check out Oasis. It's always good to support the home country

 

[abcomatic]

What do you all think of Frigidaire? I have 2 that I run in the basement. I bought these 3 years ago. Are they ok or are they a fire hazard? Thanks, Gary

 

[lorainfurniture]

UD701KOG3

This lg model is good. You definitely want a new one as the older units are pretty costly to run

 

[philr]

I have an old Oasis in my basement, keeping the humidity at around 42-45%. It's rebranded as a Kelvinator. Back then, they were still manufactured in the United States.

 

[circlew]

Frigidaire

Gary, I have a Frigidaire that I've had about 4 years or so, and haven't had any problem with it. Some of that particular model had been recalled, but mine wasn't in the serial number range included. I'm thinking the manufacturer was Gree. Some Frigidaires are made by Midea, and a portion of those have been recalled.

 

[norgeway]

The old ones

Will be safer...Metal cant burn, and in the long run they will cost less because you wont have to buy a new one every 5 years.

 

[mattl]

Part of me says just use the one I have.  It's 8 years old and has not had an issue.  I wonder what the fire hazard with these is.