Dehumidifier or just run A/C?

[spacelord]

I know I will need to dehumidify my basement.
Some people have recommended just running the A/C. Are dehumidifiers so inefficient that its better to A/C the entire house?

I live in Michigan where I really only need the A/C for a month or so of hot weeks per year.

 

[dug777]

a/c then...

 

[spacelord]

but basement humidity can go fairly high starting in Spring, ending in Fall...

 

[sharkeeper]

If you need humidity control in a cooler environment then dehumidification is necessary. If it's hot and humid use A/C.

Many people have damp chilly basements this time of the year and running the A/C is not effective at all.

Remember a dehumidifer is nothing more than an airconditioner with the evaporator and condenser in series so there is no change in temp. (well they do heat due to compression but I'll leave the physics for another day.)

 

[SagaLore]

Originally posted by: spacelord
but basement humidity can go fairly high starting in Spring, ending in Fall...

Then why not just setup an air exchange to the outside. Does your basement have any ground windows?

 

[spacelord]

Windows are mostly all blocked in.
A HAC guy told me to just use the A/C, but that would definately result in the rest of my house freezing cold.

I will just purchase and run a dehumifier, which I will turn off during the hot season.

 

[d3n]

The humidifier makes it so that your A/C doesnt have to be set lower in order to feel comfortable.

 

[Codewiz]

Or you could just run the fan unit on your A/C. It will move the air around and prevent build of humidity in the basement.

 

[slag]

I've lived in my house for 3 years and just recently purchased a 50 pint dehumidifier at an auction for $40.00.

WOW.. I set it to middle (not too dry, not too wet, and on whisper mode, and in one day it filled up.

Now it takes about 3 days to fill but its amazing how much humidity we have in our basement. Between my computers and this dehumidifier, I can definitely tell the air is warmer down there, but its not a bad thing at all.