Dehumidifier reccomendations?

[jharkin]

Anybody got a recommendation for a Dehumidifier that wont crap out a day after the warranty expires?


Im on my second failing Frigidaire 70pt. they tend to get the best reviews on Amazon and the appliance sites, however my first one failed after 3 years (freon leak, icing up). The standard warranty was up but if you push them there is a separate longer warranty on the "sealed system" (compressor and coils) and I managed to get it replaced.

Now the warranty replacement is failed at 6 years and this time I am going to be on my own dime getting a replacement. Not sure I want to roll the dice with Frigidaire AGAIN.


This is going in an old damp stone basement so it needs to be large capacity (70pt), as efficient as possible would be nice and reasonably quiet.

 

[jb6l6gc]

Is it running 100% of the time. You may want to look at a commercial/industrial unit instead of the cheapo homeowner types just for longevity sake. It'll cost more upfront but will probably do a better job, have better air filters which are common hvac type of some sort, and be better suited for your application.

 

[jharkin]

I left a kill-a-watt on it for a week once and calculated about a 30-40% duty cycle in spring during wet season. It runs less in winter. Not toooo bad considering since the space is small (about 700ft2 basement).

What brands and where am I looking at commercial units? I need to figure if its worth the premium price or better to just eat the $200 every 5 years for a new consumer grade unit.

 

[begreen]

Sorry you are having issues. Our Frigidaire 70pt is 5 yrs old and still going strong. It does duty in the fall and winter to keep humidity (and mold) down in our greenhouse.

 

[blades]

Basement- almost always need to have one with a defrost cycle on/in it otherwise it freezes up and then freon system goes south. Dry-Eaz is one, Phoenix , Atlantic for a couple more.. You want a unit with a hot gas defrost auto cycle in it. Commercial units run about a grand on up.

 

[jharkin]

Commercial units run about a grand on up.

And therein lies the rub. Since I seem to get about 5 years out of a $200 homeowner unit, I would need to keep the commercial unit 25 years to break even. And I doubt I will be in this house much more than 5-7 more years.

Probably gonna roll the dice on another cheap one...

 

[maple1]

And therein lies the rub. Since I seem to get about 5 years out of a $200 homeowner unit, I would need to keep the commercial unit 25 years to break even. And I doubt I will be in this house much more than 5-7 more years.

Probably gonna roll the dice on another cheap one...

Does it actually get any water out of the air in the winter?

I used to use one, on occasion, in my basement in the fall after I put my wood in, if the wood got caught in the rain without a chance to dry off good before it went in. It seemed to do good in late summer temps, but once fall got to setting in & temps went much below 20c down there, it didn't do much at all and was a waste of electricity at that point.

 

[Dix]

Home owner type dehumidifiers are made by a few companies only, and rebranded with a few extra bells and whistles for brand identification. each manufacturer / brand sets it's warranty terms, which can widely wary.

I've had an LG 50 pt capacity unit down in the basement for 5 years, and it's still going strong. It has (had?) a 5 year sealed system warranty, which is pretty good considering the warranty terms of other manufacturers. I have an Haier in a lower upstairs level, also with a 50 pt capacity for 4 years and it's going strong as well. But guess what? They are the same machine, take the same replacement parts, and Haier gave 3 years on the sealed system. Serial numbers will tell you who the real manufacturer is, easily checked on the internet. And will include date code info on the serial number.

If you go the home owner model route, check warranty terms for the biggest bang for your buck.

I know that LG will send a new AND / OR REFURBISHED () unit if the sealed system fails with in the warranty period direct to the consumer when the service center declares the unit with a sealed system leak. Not sure about Haier's policy. When I was in appliance repair / service, we weren't Haire authorized.

 

[Ashful]

Been thru a half dozen Frigidaires and Whirlpools, and have pretty much decided they all suck. My latest is this, for which I have high hopes, but it's only been installed 9 months, now. I love the built-in pump, so I could get rid of the condensate pump that sat next to my old one.

Whynter RPD-501WP Energy Star Portable Dehumidifier with Pump, 50-Pint

If you're still emptying your dehumidifier manually, you're a sucker! Set up an auto drain, already.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[mwhitnee]

Been thru a half dozen Frigidaires and Whirlpools, and have pretty much decided they all suck. My latest is this, for which I have high hopes, but it's only been installed 9 months, now. I love the built-in pump, so I could get rid of the condensate pump that sat next to my old one.

Whynter RPD-501WP Energy Star Portable Dehumidifier with Pump, 50-Pint

If you're still emptying your dehumidifier manually, you're a sucker! Set up an auto drain, already.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Totally. I have a setup in which I bought a separate pump from my basement humidifier that pumps straight up, across the ceiling, then back down into a drain pipe. It obviously has a check valve in it. Completely out of the way, never drain the pan anymore. Mine is on 24/7 so that was the only way to go for me...

 

[semipro]

Funny, I think our heat pump water heater has been the best dehumidifier we've had.

 

[mwhitnee]

Funny, I think our heat pump water heater has been the best dehumidifier we've had.

My next water heater will be the energy-saving dehumidifier type for sure, and its probably coming soon. I bet it will really help with the electric bill twice over, once for the water heater electric costs and again for decreasing the amount my dehumidifier is on...

 

[Ashful]

I'm not sure if I have remaining headspace in my electric service to run a HPWH. What's the draw of a large HPWH? We're at 8100 sq.ft. on only 200A service, with about 14-15 tons of summer AC, so we're spread pretty thin.

 

[sloeffle]

My folks have had a Danby dehumidifier for awhile and have been pretty happy with it.

I switched over to an A.O. Smith HPHW last year. One of the best decisions I have made. I should have my money back in another 6 months or so. Mine costs me around $6 - $10 a month to make hot water vs $55 for a resistance type hot water heater. In the summer time, it provides free dehumidification for the basement.

 

[Ashful]

Been thru a half dozen Frigidaires and Whirlpools, and have pretty much decided they all suck. My latest is this, for which I have high hopes, but it's only been installed 9 months, now. I love the built-in pump, so I could get rid of the condensate pump that sat next to my old one.

Whynter RPD-501WP Energy Star Portable Dehumidifier with Pump, 50-Pint

If you're still emptying your dehumidifier manually, you're a sucker! Set up an auto drain, already.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I should update this. Whynter unit came with a 12 month warranty, and died promptly in month 13. I guess I should've listened to the reviews.

This one was a compressor failure, so no recovery.

 

[Hogwildz]

I got one of these off ebay 11 years ago for $16.00 + $16.00 shipping. Was a deal of a price. Not that cheap in stores.
Only have to replace filters at $17.99 each year.
Never had a problem with it. Handles a 2666sf house

http://www.sears.com/kenmore-humidifier-with-14-gallon-daily-output/p-03215420000P

 

[woodgeek]

I'm not sure if I have remaining headspace in my electric service to run a HPWH. What's the draw of a large HPWH? We're at 8100 sq.ft. on only 200A service, with about 14-15 tons of summer AC, so we're spread pretty thin.

I've got the 80 gallon AOSmith HPWH, and it pulls 600-900W running the compressor, less than 4A at 240V. The backup element is the same as a conventional, but I think it never runs both at the same time, since they want to retrofit on existing electric HWH wiring.

But its 7' tall.

 

[Ashful]

I think that when I make the inevitable switch to a hpwh, my best bet may be a separate ashp on a pedestal next to my boilermate, keeping my oil-fired boiler as the backup. Unfortunately, I'm told I'll have to get used to less-hot water, and all units I've seen so far want me to replace my inlet dip tube with a restrictive coaxial tube, so it's still a no-go for us.

Our regular daily usage is not that high, but with guests in the house there are occasions we could be running 3 showers + 2 dishwashers + clothes washer + random sinks all simultaneously. Our current water heater has 3/4" inlet and outlet, coming off a 1" softener, and we're already struggling on pressure balancing in the shower without a balancing spool in the mixing valve.