Anyone use a dehumidifier?

[geno]

Circuit bend it!

The sky is the limit...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AklKy2NDpqs&

That looks like it would be loads of fun to mess with!

 

[bobdole369]

In this thread we will obey the laws of thermodynamics!!!!

If it's about electricity costs, I really doubt I'll be disappointed. Last time I checked my AC is connected to a dual 30A circuit. I know that doesn't mean it's drawing 60 amps, but I'm willing to bet that it's drawing quite a bit over 30 amps between the condenser pump, inside air circulating fan, and the outdoor condenser coil fan.

You'll have a net increase of at least 2k btu/hr cooling requirement on top of what you pay in your main A/C unit, plus the cost of running the dehumidifier, which Ruby so eloquently put - is about a 1/4 hp motor.

 

[bignateyk]

Why the hell would you substitute your AC for a dehumidifer? A dehumidifier is basically the same thing as an AC unit, except it vents all the hot air back into your house, and actually heats it up.

Just get a more energy efficient AC unit. A good dehumidifer isn't going to use less energy than a good window AC unit.

 

[fleabag]

Why the hell would you substitute your AC for a dehumidifer? A dehumidifier is basically the same thing as an AC unit, except it vents all the hot air back into your house, and actually heats it up.

Just get a more energy efficient AC unit. A good dehumidifer isn't going to use less energy than a good window AC unit.

or better yet, try to make the house more energy efficient by getting better insulation, sealing up the house (caulking for example)), and making sure appliances are properly venting out of the house. You'd be surprised how often I see dryers either clogged up with lint in the exhaust pipe, the pipe is crushed, or they're venting inside of the house instead of outside of the house.

 

[Sea Moose]

or better yet, try to make the house more energy efficient by getting better insulation, sealing up the house (caulking for example)), and making sure appliances are properly venting out of the house. You'd be surprised how often I see dryers either clogged up with lint in the exhaust pipe, the pipe is crushed, or they're venting inside of the house instead of outside of the house.

i you caulk up the doors, how are you gonna leave?

 

[God Mode]

LG. I had a flooding problem in my old house and the LG were the only ones that worked well + didn't break.

 

[Colt45]

I wish that I lived somewhere where a dehumidifier would be a good idea. Brutally dry around here, esp. in winter

 

[TwiceOver]

Just be sure to get one with auto on/off. I wasn't paying attention and the fan in mine runs all the time with the actual dehumidification (SP?) part kicking on and off.

The one my parents use kicks on when needed and then turns off completely when the humidity level is decreased.

Even with the extra bit of heat, there is a noticable difference in temp (cooler) in my basement with the dehumidifier running.

 

[fleabag]

i you caulk up the doors, how are you gonna leave?

you don't caulk the doors but you do put weather stripping or replace old weather stripping. If your house is older than the 1980s, there are definitely places where the efficiency of the home can be improved. I saw one house made in the 50s that had absolutely no insulation ANYWHERE, had high ceilings and is too expensive to heat in the winter or cool in the summer. A well made newer home is air tight which helps a lot with heating costs, however a common oversight is that they don't have an air handler that brings in fresh air from the outside when needed, leading to a build up of harmful particulate matter and emissions from things like carpets or even drywall.

 

[TwiceOver]

you don't caulk the doors but you do put weather stripping or replace old weather stripping. If your house is older than the 1980s, there are definitely places where the efficiency of the home can be improved. I saw one house made in the 50s that had absolutely no insulation ANYWHERE, had high ceilings and is too expensive to heat in the winter or cool in the summer. A well made newer home is air tight which helps a lot with heating costs, however a common oversight is that they don't have an air handler that brings in fresh air from the outside when needed, leading to a build up of harmful particulate matter and emissions from things like carpets or even drywall.

Should also note that if you don't have a way for your house to "breathe" you'll get a buildup of mold on anything that gathers condensation. Even turning on the bathroom fan a few times a day is good for a completely sealed house.

 

[Born2bwire]

Why the hell would you substitute your AC for a dehumidifer? A dehumidifier is basically the same thing as an AC unit, except it vents all the hot air back into your house, and actually heats it up.

Just get a more energy efficient AC unit. A good dehumidifer isn't going to use less energy than a good window AC unit.

It's a comfort issue. You can generally be more comfortable at a higher temperature when there is less humidity. Also, when it comes to removing humidity, a dehumidifier is going to be more efficient than an air conditioner. So if he can get by with a fan and a dehumidifier, it could be more efficient than running his air conditioner.

 

[Modular]

Why the hell would you substitute your AC for a dehumidifer? A dehumidifier is basically the same thing as an AC unit, except it vents all the hot air back into your house, and actually heats it up.

Just get a more energy efficient AC unit. A good dehumidifer isn't going to use less energy than a good window AC unit.

A window AC is out of the question in my situation. The reason being that we don't need more cooling, we need de-humidification. The house is regularly 72-75 degrees on moderately hot days. An AC unit won't cycle enough to draw out the moisture.

try to make the house more energy efficient by getting better insulation, sealing up the house (caulking for example)), and making sure appliances are properly venting out of the house.

We're working on that now. The house was built in the mid 60's and has no, (seriously NO) insulation in the walls and had about 4 inches of blown in in the attic. The first project we tackled was disposing of the blown-in, making sure the vapor barrier was in good order and laying out bats of r-38 insulation. It made a huge difference in not only the energy efficiency of the home, but also the comfort level. We're having a contractor come in to blow foam into the walls this summer, which should make a huge difference as well.

Finally, it's not that I have nothing to do; everything I've read online says that the appropriate humidity level for a home in the summer is between 40 and 50%. Not only that, but it is much more comfortable when the humidity is lower and comfort is my main concern..

 

[fleabag]

Should also note that if you don't have a way for your house to "breathe" you'll get a buildup of mold on anything that gathers condensation. Even turning on the bathroom fan a few times a day is good for a completely sealed house.

Even for houses that are only partially sealed, mold can easily still be an issue. Only suggestion I have for this is opening a window in the bathroom to vent it out or keeping the door to the bathroom open so that it equalizes with the rest of the air in the house.

We're working on that now. The house was built in the mid 60's and has no, (seriously NO) insulation in the walls and had about 4 inches of blown in in the attic. The first project we tackled was disposing of the blown-in, making sure the vapor barrier was in good order and laying out bats of r-38 insulation. It made a huge difference in not only the energy efficiency of the home, but also the comfort level. We're having a contractor come in to blow foam into the walls this summer, which should make a huge difference as well.

Finally, it's not that I have nothing to do; everything I've read online says that the appropriate humidity level for a home in the summer is between 40 and 50%. Not only that, but it is much more comfortable when the humidity is lower and comfort is my main concern..

Doesn't it get cold up there in chicago? Why didn't you opt for something more extreme like R-50? In Northern California, for new buildings, the minimum is like R38, so I'd expect you should be using significantly more insulation up there. Is your attic properly venting in the summer? If your attic doesn't vent, then it could trap heat which while good in the winter, is bad in the summer and can cause mold buildup.

Do you have insulation underneath your floors? What about the walls? Do you have any places inside of the house that get "drafty"?


Check out this site for tips on improving the energy efficiency of your home. It's very comprehensive and it informed me of things that should be done that I previously wasn't aware of.

http://www1.eere.energy.gov/consumer/tips/insulation_sealing.html

 

[lurk3r]

Costco has some that look good.

I've got the beast out of Costco, it runs 24/7 in the summer, been going for at least 4 years.

 

[bobdole369]

A window AC is out of the question in my situation. The reason being that we don't need more cooling, we need de-humidification. The house is regularly 72-75 degrees on moderately hot days. An AC unit won't cycle enough to draw out the moisture.

You've got one of the most annoying situations in HVAC. Too much cooling. This (besides price) is a reason some GC's undersize the unit for the dwelling, realizing that 95% of the time the unit is enough, just on the hottest, most miserable days it won't keep up, BUT it will run around 50% duty on most summer days. This will remove more than enough humidity to retard mold growth.

One possible fix is to use a different, or design your own thermostat. I'd use an Arduino and a relay or SSR. Take your own temp and DP readings and cycle the thing yourself. Where you know that 5 minutes of run brings the temp down, split that up into 5x 1 minute runs over 10 minutes.

 

[Jeff7]

That's exactly the issue. We haven't gotten above 78 on the warmest days of the year here (that's about 3 days straight of 95+ outside). I knew going into this that the unit would pump warm air into the house (just like a fridge), but to be honest, I'll take 78 degrees and 40% humidity over the usual 72 degrees and 55-60% humidity we've had. It's hard to justify running the AC at 70 degrees just to dry out the air

Alright. Well, give it a shot.

It's a comfort issue. You can generally be more comfortable at a higher temperature when there is less humidity. Also, when it comes to removing humidity, a dehumidifier is going to be more efficient than an air conditioner. So if he can get by with a fan and a dehumidifier, it could be more efficient than running his air conditioner.

Yeah, really. Just about any temperature with high humidity is uncomfortable.
If it's much below about 65F, then it feels colder than it actually is. And of course, if it's warm, it just feels grossly hot.
In dry air, I can easily tolerate up to 85F, depending of course on my activity level.

 

[Squisher]

Dehumidifiers are great for basements because the air is somewhat contained because of the lack of air flow. Using one in a normal living space will require closing up the house to contain the dehumidified air and you'll probably want to run some fans on low just to feel comfortable.

Personally, I'll take hot humid fresh air over anything coming from an A/C, but don't tell my wife I said that.

 

[Number1]

I have been using this for a year and a half in the basement in the summer. It is loud but it does the job. I have a hose hooked up to it an runs to the outside so I never have to empty the bucket. It is hard on electricity and heats up the room quite a bit.

Whirlpool 70-pint Dehumidifier

There are quite a few reviews on the Canadian Tire web site, check it out.

 

[Modular]

Doesn't it get cold up there in chicago? Why didn't you opt for something more extreme like R-50? In Northern California, for new buildings, the minimum is like R38, so I'd expect you should be using significantly more insulation up there. Is your attic properly venting in the summer? If your attic doesn't vent, then it could trap heat which while good in the winter, is bad in the summer and can cause mold buildup.

Do you have insulation underneath your floors? What about the walls? Do you have any places inside of the house that get "drafty"?

I should have clarified: we put R38 as the first layer, then crossed back over it (in runs of the opposite direction) with R13. Total was R51 for the attic, which is plenty. We do have plenty of venting up there and I made sure to add in those soffit breathers as we did the job. We probably have too much venting to be honest, but I'll take that over too little any day.

As I posted before, we have no insulation whatsoever in the walls or the floor. The house was built on a slab, so there's not too much that can be done about that. The walls are going to be foamed in within the next month, so that should make a significant difference in both insulative properties as well as air exchanges.

It is hard on electricity and heats up the room quite a bit.

What constitutes hard on electricity for you? Are we talking $25-50 a month, or are we talking more like $75-100?



Thanks for all the replies and tips! Keep them coming!

 

[Squisher]

...The house was built on a slab, so there's not too much that can be done about that...

There is a carpet padding that provides a little R value (4.5). It's called Enviro-cushion when it's exclusively sold locally here in Detroit by Fairway Tile and Carpet. I'm sure there are other distributors in other areas but it might be called something else and considering it has an exclusive distributor here in Detroit, it's possible that there will be only one store locally in your area that sells it and when you go to any random store and ask they'll likely tell you that they never heard of such a thing.

http://www.fairwaycarpet.com/enviro.htm

 

[Rubycon]

RE: hard on electricity.

Of course we all know what is meant but it reminds me of someone swinging a sledgehammer trying to beat up little electrons.

(the hammer is too big and the force too weak)

 

[Modular]

There is a carpet padding that provides a little R value (4.5). It's called Enviro-cushion when it's exclusively sold locally here in Detroit by Fairway Tile and Carpet. I'm sure there are other distributors in other areas but it might be called something else and considering it has an exclusive distributor here in Detroit, it's possible that there will be only one store locally in your area that sells it and when you go to any random store and ask they'll likely tell you that they never heard of such a thing.

http://www.fairwaycarpet.com/enviro.htm

That's actually pretty neat. Since the carpet is going to be replaced at some point in the near future, I'll be sure to add this underneath it. Thanks!

 

[Chaotic42]

Boy are you going to be disappointed.

No joke. I think that at full blast mine used 1150W or something like that. Of course, it was removing about 40 pints (19L) per day from the air. It's loud as hell too.

I just ended up forking over the $5000 for a new central unit which could handle humidity better.

 

[Number1]

I should have clarified: we put R38 as the first layer, then crossed back over it (in runs of the opposite direction) with R13. Total was R51 for the attic, which is plenty. We do have plenty of venting up there and I made sure to add in those soffit breathers as we did the job. We probably have too much venting to be honest, but I'll take that over too little any day.

As I posted before, we have no insulation whatsoever in the walls or the floor. The house was built on a slab, so there's not too much that can be done about that. The walls are going to be foamed in within the next month, so that should make a significant difference in both insulative properties as well as air exchanges.




What constitutes hard on electricity for you? Are we talking $25-50 a month, or are we talking more like $75-100?



Thanks for all the replies and tips! Keep them coming!

$25 to $50.

 

[Analog]

Lg ftw