Dehumidifier?

S

SpudMan

Experienced
My basement is now showing humidity levels between 57 and 60. This seems to high. Have others had this issue? If so, any recommendations for a dehumidifier, hopefully one that isn't too noisy!
 
You can buy one of those Hisense or whatever Chinese dehumidifiers from Lowes or Home Depot or Walmart and it will last exactly the warranty period plus one day.

Or you can spend a little more and get an Aprilaire. Unfortunately there is no warranty unless installed by a licensed installer.
 
FractalAudio said:
You can buy one of those Hisense or whatever Chinese dehumidifiers from Lowes or Home Depot or Walmart and it will last exactly the warranty period plus one day.

Or you can spend a little more and get an Aprilaire. Unfortunately there is no warranty unless installed by a licensed installer.
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Thanks, I will research the Aprilaire.
 
Just make sure you get one big enough for the space you are using it in or it’s going to run all the time. I have two that I bought from Amazon years ago that are plumbed via a garden hose to my sump pump pit, no more having to remember to dump the tank. Basement stays 45-50% throughout summer in Southern CT.

My basement is a bit more than half finished (about 700 square feet of it), I have one out in the finished space over by the washer/dryer and one in the storage/utility space (about 450 square feet). They are about the level of a window AC unit.

Speaking of AC I may buy one or two for the main level to help my AC, it’s constantly spitting out water in the summer.
 
My basement read 73% relative humidity when i got my gauge, bought a dehumidifier (would need to check the brand) i dump it once a day to maintain 50% ish. Dries right out in the winter of course..
 
Budda said:
My basement read 73% relative humidity when i got my gauge, bought a dehumidifier (would need to check the brand) i dump it once a day to maintain 50% ish. Dries right out in the winter of course..
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Geez, that is high. My 57 to 60% feels very humid.
 
I get mine from costco because they will only last like 2-3 years. Itll turn on but one year it just will become an expensive fan and never actually engage the condensor. Ive been "returning" the a dehumidifer to costco about every 3 years. They credit me the purchase price and i go grab a new one.

but those only will help one space..barely a full basement, wont do anything for your entire house. Thats a larger issue that revolves around your home, the enviorment, the hvac system and more.
 
SpudMan said:
My basement is now showing humidity levels between 57 and 60. This seems to high. Have others had this issue? If so, any recommendations for a dehumidifier, hopefully one that isn't too noisy!
Click to expand...
Too high for what, drying fruit? Electronics? Look at a weather map and you'll see the extremes from low 10's% to 100% (rain) across the country. It depends on where you live and what the weather is doing & how well sealed your house is. I had some water issues after rains once and got a dehumidifier to manage that but once I fixed the issue it was stable between 55-65% because it was mostly a closed area. If you have big swings, you probably have a problem but your baseline seems like a non-issue to me unless you're getting mold somewhere. Your gear can handle that humidity no problem. If it varies a lot then a humidifier is only a band-aid and something is causing the swing.
 

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Androo said:
Too high for what, drying fruit? Electronics? Look at a weather map and you'll see the extremes from low 10's% to 100% (rain) across the country. It depends on where you live and what the weather is doing & how well sealed your house is. I had some water issues after rains once and got a dehumidifier to manage that but once I fixed the issue it was stable between 55-65% because it was mostly a closed area. If you have big swings, you probably have a problem but your baseline seems like a non-issue to me unless you're getting mold somewhere. Your gear can handle that humidity no problem. If it varies a lot then a humidifier is only a band-aid and something is causing the swing.
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I meant too high for comfort in that room.
 
Vhalen50 said:
I get mine from costco because they will only last like 2-3 years. Itll turn on but one year it just will become an expensive fan and never actually engage the condensor. Ive been "returning" the a dehumidifer to costco about every 3 years. They credit me the purchase price and i go grab a new one.

but those only will help one space..barely a full basement, wont do anything for your entire house. Thats a larger issue that revolves around your home, the enviorment, the hvac system and more.
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I will check out Costco for sure.
 
I just checked and they are Toshiba.

I have a cheap digital thermometer/hydrometer in the family room, here is this week with them set at 50%. When summer kicks in I’ll lower it to 45%
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Domct203 said:
I just checked and they are Toshiba.

I have a cheap digital thermometer/hydrometer in the family room, here is this week with them set at 50%. When summer kicks in I’ll lower it to 45%
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This year for some reason my humidity level in the basement seems higher than in previous years. Not sure why?
My thermometer/hydrometer shows 60% right now.
 
FractalAudio said:
You can buy one of those Hisense or whatever Chinese dehumidifiers from Lowes or Home Depot or Walmart and it will last exactly the warranty period plus one day.

Or you can spend a little more and get an Aprilaire. Unfortunately there is no warranty unless installed by a licensed installer.
Click to expand...
We got an Aprilaire whole house dehumidifier and run my house at a constant 72F and 50% RH. It wasn’t cheap but it was worth every penny.
 
stink said:
We got an Aprilaire whole house dehumidifier and run my house at a constant 72F and 50% RH. It wasn’t cheap but it was worth every penny.
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You already had the forced hot air ductwork, right? How many rooms?

Where did the decimal point go in the final cost, if you don't mind me asking?
 
Dave Merrill said:
You already had the forced hot air ductwork, right? How many rooms?

Where did the decimal point go in the final cost, if you don't mind me asking?
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It was a direct add-on to our current HVAC system, all we had to do was tap into the already installed ductwork. We had about 3,900 sq.ft, 5 bedrooms, 3.5 bath. The total cost was around $5k back in June 2017. We sold the house last February but this was the size:

https://shop.aprilaire.com/products/aprilaire-e080-80-pint-dehumidifier
 
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stink said:
It was a direct add-on to our current HVAC system, all we had to do was tap into the already installed ductwork. We had about 3,900 sq.ft, 5 bedrooms, 3.5 bath. The total cost was around $5k back in June 2017. We sold the house last February but this was the size:

https://shop.aprilaire.com/products/aprilaire-e080-80-pint-dehumidifier
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Thanks for that info.

Our big issue is that the existing heat is forced hot water, so i really doubt central anything is going to be feasible, much less economical.

A smart guy might work out something for my basement studio maybe, which is all i really need. It's cinder block walls, with no obvious vent to the outside, but I'm not an expert on such things.

I should find an installer, see what they can dream up.
 
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