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blksheep

Basement Dehumidifiers...

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I bought a SoleusAir  GL-DEH-70F-2 last year for my garage.....

 

Thing has been pumping water non-stop .....    I was very wary after reading reviews on all Dehumidifiers..... seems they all crap out after a short time.

 

This one is going strong....   

 

Was not cheap.... $ 249.00

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got an old clunker at a garage sale maybe ten yrs ago for $5 and just keeps on sucking out the moisture, works great. Only pia is it has a gallon bucket that needs to be humped up and out, nowhere to drain into.Having a drain is key. Only use it in summer, the boiler for our heat keeps the basement warm and dry otherwise.

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I have a LG 45 pint stand alone for 6 years with no issues. Has a hose connection to attach hose to for draining. It's pretty quiet too. It's real similar in looks and specs to the LD451EGL but is an older model. Since I don't have a drain near by, I've been carrying the bucket around to drain it almost daily with this humidity. Does anyone think a small condensate pump would work like the one you'd see on a high efficiency furnace/AC unit? I was thinking that I could run a drain hose from the dehumidifier into pump and then pump it outside through a small 1/2 inch hose like on my furnace. These pumps seem to have a float in them to turn them on and off when the water gets at a high level.

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I have a LG 45 pint stand alone for 6 years with no issues. Has a hose connection to attach hose to for draining. It's pretty quiet too. It's real similar in looks and specs to the LD451EGL but is an older model. Since I don't have a drain near by, I've been carrying the bucket around to drain it almost daily with this humidity. Does anyone think a small condensate pump would work like the one you'd see on a high efficiency furnace/AC unit? I was thinking that I could run a drain hose from the dehumidifier into pump and then pump it outside through a small 1/2 inch hose like on my furnace. These pumps seem to have a float in them to turn them on and off when the water gets at a high level.

 

Yes did exactly that years ago and works great!

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The consumer ones do not last very long in my experience as well.  I have a Fridigaire unit in my basement that's piped to an automatic condensate removal water pump which pumps the water through a long 1/2" hose to my utility sink.  The condensate water pump has a check valve so the water does not flow back down into the pump.  It pretty much runs full time during the summer and maintenance free.  

 

I have to look into the Costco warranty next time! 

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Something else to consider is a hybrid water heater if yours is currently electric.  Basically it uses a dehumidifier to draw heat out of the air and dump it into the water in the tank saving from having to use the heating elements.  In the process it also extracts the humidity from the air exactly like a dehumidifier that gets plumbed / pumped to a drain.  When our water heater goes that's what replacing it.  If I have to run a dehumidifier I might as well capture the heat and use it.

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I went through several Frigidaires and Maytags (IIRC) that woudl crap out affter 1-2 years.  I now have an LG (60 or 70 pt I beleive) that has been in service for years.

It has an anti-ice feature that seems to work pretty well--others would ice up when the temp dropped much below 60.

 

I have it mounted on a high shelf and gravity drain to the washing machin drain pipe.  Although I am sure a condensate pump would work well.

Only problem I had with this is that when I first hooked up the hose drain the bucket filled up after a few days.  Took me a few minutes to figure out that the condensation pan was not properly slanted toward the drain pipe outlet, and some of the condensate would overflow on the opposite side.  I had to put about 1/8" of shim under the right side to tilt it enough and alleviate this issue.  After that I have not had any issues.

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You should figure out the relative and specific humidity and volume of the room to be dehumidified. Get one that will pump enough pints per day to keep it at the humidity you want. A LGR one will probably be your best option but if you have a very cool damp basement a desiccant might work and be more cost effective as it does not use refrigerant. Just make sure you buy one big enough for the space. I work for servpro and I've come across a lot of dehus that don't do anything because they are in spaces too large or humid for them to be effective.

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FYI - The "30 pint" or "70 pint" designation is how much water it is capable of removing from the air, not how much it holds. I put a 30 pint in my basement and it made a huge difference, but in hindsight I probably would be better off with a larger model as this one seems to run almost constantly.

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