Basement humidity level / percentage ?

[Ashful]

I have 2 frigidare dehumidifiers that are complete garbage, inside of two years.. I bought one for my main basement and another for a small room in my basement. They both stopped running and showed an error code, in two years time. I think my parents still have the same dehumidifiers from when I was a kid. Isn't being green great?? They use a lot less energy when their not working properly. That's $400 right down the crapper.

My line of work often has me working alongside refrigeration engineers and technicians, and so when one of my refrigerators would malfunction, their brains were right there ready for me to pick for information. To condense the issue of the EPA’s influence on residential refrigeration appliances, which would include dehumidifiers, down to one simple concept: They have vastly reduced the amount of refrigerant used in an appliance of a given class and size. The result is that, because the refrigerant tends to condense and pool into the coldest part of the system, the pump sometimes starves and either temporarily fails to cool, or eventually completely fails due to lack of lubrication. The classic scenario is the garage refrigerator which fails to cool when the garage gets cold, all of the refrigerant is pooled outside the ice box in the condenser, and the constantly-running starved pump actually conducts heat to the evaporator, which in turn turns your refrigerator into an easy-bake oven. Do this a few times, and it will cost you more in groceries than the price of a new refrigerator.

I haven’t specifically asked about dehumidifiers, but having had several stop working on cold days in my basement, and then magically recover when it gets warmer, I suspect they must have a similar issue.

 

[tadmaz]

FWIW, my small Danby dehumidifer from Menards is from 2013-ish and is doing great.

I fixed a gutter issue a couple years ago but I am suspecting that it take a few years before my storage area underneath my concrete porch will stop getting humidity? Soil several feet down probably still has more moisture than it should? One of these days I will rent a FLIR as well.

 

[firefighterjake]

I had a bad experience with a over-the-range GE microwave.

The original microwave wasn't bad . . . but after six or seven years it finally gave up the ghost. The handle had broken on it before that, but I fixed this with a bit of super glue.

When looking for a replacement microwave I figured I would go with a GE microwave -- same make, similar model . . . just an updated version. My thinking was I would be able to use the same mounting hardware.

That was my first mistake. Mounting hardware was just a bit different . . . just enough so that I had to drill new holes in my cabinet.

Here's my review I posted at Lowes . . .

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Only two days in . . . so this review isn't all that comprehensive in terms of how well this microwave works, how reliable it is, etc.

The good: I can tell you it is similar to our old GE microwave and the vent is much, much quieter and the light is much, much brighter. Nice improvements over the old microwave.

The question: The verdict is still out on the door as it feels a bit flimsy. In the store I noted that both of the GE models' doors did not open/close as nicely as other makes/models on display. On our old GE microwave the handle broke and the paint peeled on the door, so I'm watching this model carefully.

The bad (i.e. the installation): To be honest while I often read reviews, I rarely write them . . . especially on something like a microwave. However, I felt compelled to write this review as my wife and I have never had such a challenging time installing this microwave.

I should mention that we are not professionals, but we have remodeled much of our house, including doing a complete renovation in the kitchen (doing pretty much everything but installing the granite counter tops). I would like to think we are not complete idiots when it comes to working on something like this, but this project proved to be a very long and frustrating experience.

First off, why would GE build a microwave with a different mounting bracket from their older models? One of the reasons we purchased a second GE microwave was in the hopes of re-using the same bracket so we could avoid more work and more importantly avoid drilling more holes in the cabinet. Unfortunately, the new microwave/bracket's tabs and bolt placement were off by a bit which meant the old bracket had to come down and the new bracket installed. Next time we may just as well go with any brand if one cannot re-use the same bracket. As it is, we ended up having to use washers with the cabinet bolts since two of the three holes were literally one inch from the old holes and didn't leave a lot of wood to support the weight of the microwave.

The template: I don't know if we were reading this wrong, but we read and re-read the directions to use the template for a recessed cabinet mount and no matter what we did the template would not match up. In the end, the template proved to only be useful to light a fire. We finally gave up and took detailed measurements with a tape measure to figure out where to drill the holes.

Even simple things like installing the charcoal filter on this microwave was a challenge. I thought for sure I was going to snap the plastic grill on the top as it came out only after I applied quite a bit of force. It was here that my wife wondered why GE didn't simply ship the microwave with the filter already installed. Meanwhile, I was wondering a) why the picture in the directions showed a location of a screw where there was no screw and b) what was the engineer of this microwave thinking when they came up with a design where you have to remove three cabinet bolts, tip the microwave towards you, remove two screws and then pry off the grill piece to change a filter every six months or so (seriously . . . the directions recommend you do all this to change out the filter).

I'm not sure if GE has a quality control program in place or if someone was simply having a bad day. Since we don't have ductwork we needed to rotate the blower motor to set it up as a recirculating system. Not a problem. Removed the cover. Removed the screws. Rotated the blower motor and then went to re-install the two screws . . . only to discover one of the screw holes was literally twice the size as the screw. I checked and re-checked, thinking perhaps I was supposed to put in a larger screw . . . or maybe I was supposed to use a different screw location. Nope. This still boggles my mind as to how this slipped through.

Finally, microwave was installed. Plugged in . . . and that's when I noted two "ripples" in the sides of the microwave. Now, to be frank, it's not a huge deal to me. I am a function over form sort of guy, but I guess you could say this was simply the last straw that made me decide to write this review.

In hindsight, at least in terms of the installation and first impressions, I wish we had waited and ordered a different make/model. We opted to buy this GE since it was in-stock and we were hoping to re-use the same bracket. Maybe I'll be pleased and this microwave will last a very long time . . . but I am not holding my breath. Next time I highly doubt we'll be buying a GE based solely on this challenging installation and first impressions of the microwave.

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The good news is that we installed it in June of last year and it's still working.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

I had the same experience with a magic chef same model a few years newer. Holes were just off enough that they were too close to the old holes. I figuered if i got a better quality Micro range hood i wouldnt have to change it out so often.

 

[Sodbuster]

I had the same experience with a magic chef same model a few years newer. Holes were just off enough that they were too close to the old holes. I figuered if i got a better quality Micro range hood i wouldnt have to change it out so often.

Lol, we have a toaster oven that is at least 25 years old. The handle broke, so my wife wanted a new one. I used epoxy to repair the handle and it's held ever since. She still cranks about it, and wants a new one, but I tell her, "does it make toast?" works the same as a new one.

 

[tlc1976]

My basement is bare concrete floor and block wall. Water seeps in slowly during summer and fall at the base of the walls so there is a water channel on the perimeter that leads to a sump pump.

I keep it at 45-50% which is about as low as it goes. Makes it hard for spiders and things to want to visit. I’ve gone without one and once it gets to about 70% the pipes start dripping and all my books and papers start getting moist. Which would probably turn to mold if left like that.

I keep the door and windows closed otherwise I’m essentially dehumidifying the outside which is a losing battle. With it closed up it stays nice. It adds maybe $20 to my bill but I’m also not running the pellet stove and extra lights so it’s a wash. In the winter it never runs.

When I moved in there was a soleus that was on its last leg. Going by the date of manufacture it lasted a year and a half. I then spent $200 on a ge from Home Depot which also lasted a year and a half. Each time the coils rusted out. So this time I got a danby from abc warehouse for $200 plus $60 for a 5 year warranty. So if I stay on my track record I’ll get a free one long before warranty is up. And if it lasts 5 years then I’m still 3 units ahead. A win win. So far it’s been just over 2 years and it’s still running fine as it did kick on a bit a week or two ago when it got warm.