Dehumidification in hot, humid weather

[SailinAway]

Based on advice here I did add a dehumidifier upstairs and on very hot days I run it and the air conditioner at the same time. Electric bill has been very high this summer, but the upstairs is finally livable.

I'm happy with both of these units I bought this year:

Basement: Frigidaire 35 pints. https://www.homedepot.com/p/Frigidai...33W1/312539821

Upstairs: GE 22 pints. https://www.homedepot.com/p/GE-22-pt...22LA/315445853 Pretty noisy, so don't plan on running it in your bedroom at night.

I had to get a lighter unit for upstairs to be able to carry it up the stairs. I assume a basement would be more humid than the upstairs, hence the higher capacity bucket for the basement. I empty each bucket once a day and that seems sufficient to keep the humidity at around 50%.

The biggest concern with these machines is the high number of reviews that say they last only a couple of years.

[mswlogo]

Originally Posted by SailinAway

Based on advice here I did add a dehumidifier upstairs and on very hot days I run it and the air conditioner at the same time. Electric bill has been very high this summer, but the upstairs is finally livable.

I'm happy with both of these units I bought this year:

Basement: Frigidaire 35 pints. https://www.homedepot.com/p/Frigidai...33W1/312539821

Upstairs: GE 22 pints. https://www.homedepot.com/p/GE-22-pt...22LA/315445853 Pretty noisy, so don't plan on running it in your bedroom at night.

I had to get a lighter unit for upstairs to be able to carry it up the stairs. I assume a basement would be more humid than the upstairs, hence the higher capacity bucket for the basement. I empty each bucket once a day and that seems sufficient to keep the humidity at around 50%.

The biggest concern with these machines is the high number of reviews that say they last only a couple of years.

Those reviews are right. Gosh I bought so many of those POS dehumidifiers.
A friend of mine had the same problem and found one of those old ones with the big exposed coil on the back being thrown out. Super inefficient but damn thing keeps running.
I even bought an $800 commercial one and that died too. But they did warranty it and sent a brand new one, I sold it sealed as new.

[TiltonBB]

Originally Posted by SailinAway

I had to get a lighter unit for upstairs to be able to carry it up the stairs. I assume a basement would be more humid than the upstairs, hence the higher capacity bucket for the basement. I empty each bucket once a day and that seems sufficient to keep the humidity at around 50%.

The best solution would be even better if you didn't have to monitor it and dump the bucket. I have seen them connected to drain into a reservoir with a pump and float that will empty automatically. Amazon has one:

https://www.amazon.com/Little-554435...NsaWNrPXRydWU=

I have a friend who hooked up a boat bilge pump in a bucket with a 12 volt battery on a trickle charger to accomplish the same thing.

You only need to run the drain hose outside or into a sink and then you can forget about it. You won't need to empty the bucket again.

[JEEPONLY]

Originally Posted by TiltonBB

The best solution would be even better if you didn't have to monitor it and dump the bucket. I have seen them connected to drain into a reservoir with a pump and float that will empty automatically. Amazon has one:
You only need to run the drain hose outside or into a sink and then you can forget about it. You won't need to empty the bucket again.

I once saw a display where the homeowner pumped the water up from the basement and out to what looked like a pretty sprinkler showering plastic flowers in the side-yard. Pretty clever/cute.