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Dehumidifier question
Posted on 7/9/20 at 10:16 am
Posted on 7/9/20 at 10:16 am
I am looking to get a 1,500 sq ft dehumidifier and am mainly focused on it dehumidifying my living room, but would also like one that has a hose that pumps out water so I don't have to keep emptying it. Best way to accomplish this IMO is to put it in my laundry room and have the hose drain where my washing machine drains. My question is, will this be effective in removing humidity in my living room wehn the dehumidifier is in the laundry room which is offset from the living room by a very small (maybe 3 ft) hallway provided I obviously keep the door open?
Posted on 7/9/20 at 10:35 am to scott8811
You plan on keeping it there or are you trying to do a one time thing to get rid of some moisture?
I would think it wouldn't be effective since your laundry room is pretty humid since the washing machine is in there.
I would think it wouldn't be effective since your laundry room is pretty humid since the washing machine is in there.
Posted on 7/9/20 at 10:35 am to scott8811
extremely effective.
i have a 30x35 garage that was MASSIVELY, UNCONTRABLLY humid; in the summer the back wall cinderblocks looked like someone just ran a garden hose over them. (garage is built into a hill so rear wall is underground) all summer long the garage was stifling. the first year we moved in all my tools and boxes left in the garage got ruined. everything was destroyed from the humidity i wasn't paying attention to b/c i didnt have this problem at my old house and i was busying fixing other issues around the house.
i put a $140 costco whirlpool dehumidifier on the OPPOSITE side (35' away) from that wall between the garage doors & ran the hose outside.
set it to 45% (in winter) and 55% in summer and as long as the garage doors close w/n a reasonable amount of time it keeps my garage dry as can be. i set it to 'whisper mode' but it doesn't really matter since no one lives in the garage but its pretty quiet if you put this out of the way in the laundry room.
been going strong for 3+ years now (3 summers) and i'm far more pleased than i thought i would be thinking it would have died on me by now. every once in awhile i take the filter off and blow on it and stick it back on.
the poor thing has been abused; several times its gotten kncoked against the wall and sometimes my wife stacks bleach beside it blocking the intake but it just keeps humming along.
when the power goes out and on, it returns to same 'on' mode. no need to restart it which is huge if you're out of town & the power goes out.
its amazing when i open the kitchen door to go downstairs to teh garage now and hit w/ the cool low humidity air.
eta my MiL watched our house for 10 days while we were in florida. she is a bit daft and one day she called me freaking out b/c the dehumidifer was 'broken' and 'wasn't running'. i got worried and was going over it with her checking the on/off, etc. finally i pulled up the weather for franklin that day and it said the humidity level was 41%. :/ i asked her what the dehumidier said on the unit and she said '48' and i was like 'its fine, thats below the 55 threshold so its not running' and she was like 'yeah well its going to rain later' i finally had to snapshot the weather page on my phone and text it to her.
i have a 30x35 garage that was MASSIVELY, UNCONTRABLLY humid; in the summer the back wall cinderblocks looked like someone just ran a garden hose over them. (garage is built into a hill so rear wall is underground) all summer long the garage was stifling. the first year we moved in all my tools and boxes left in the garage got ruined. everything was destroyed from the humidity i wasn't paying attention to b/c i didnt have this problem at my old house and i was busying fixing other issues around the house.
i put a $140 costco whirlpool dehumidifier on the OPPOSITE side (35' away) from that wall between the garage doors & ran the hose outside.
set it to 45% (in winter) and 55% in summer and as long as the garage doors close w/n a reasonable amount of time it keeps my garage dry as can be. i set it to 'whisper mode' but it doesn't really matter since no one lives in the garage but its pretty quiet if you put this out of the way in the laundry room.
been going strong for 3+ years now (3 summers) and i'm far more pleased than i thought i would be thinking it would have died on me by now. every once in awhile i take the filter off and blow on it and stick it back on.
the poor thing has been abused; several times its gotten kncoked against the wall and sometimes my wife stacks bleach beside it blocking the intake but it just keeps humming along.
when the power goes out and on, it returns to same 'on' mode. no need to restart it which is huge if you're out of town & the power goes out.
its amazing when i open the kitchen door to go downstairs to teh garage now and hit w/ the cool low humidity air.
eta my MiL watched our house for 10 days while we were in florida. she is a bit daft and one day she called me freaking out b/c the dehumidifer was 'broken' and 'wasn't running'. i got worried and was going over it with her checking the on/off, etc. finally i pulled up the weather for franklin that day and it said the humidity level was 41%. :/ i asked her what the dehumidier said on the unit and she said '48' and i was like 'its fine, thats below the 55 threshold so its not running' and she was like 'yeah well its going to rain later' i finally had to snapshot the weather page on my phone and text it to her.
This post was edited on 7/9/20 at 10:46 am
Posted on 7/9/20 at 10:45 am to CAD703X
quote:
i put a $140 costco whirlpool dehumidifier on the OPPOSITE side (35' away) from that wall between the garage doors & ran the hose outside.
Good to hear, but it is in the same room and it seems, if I'm reading it right, that there are no walls involved in between the dehumidifier and what you are targeting.
I should probably be a bit more detailed. To accomplish running the hose into where the washing machine drains, the dehumidifier will have to be tucked away in the corner of the laundry room. So it will basically be behind a wall to the three foot hall that leads to my living room, but there will be no closed doors in the way. Basically, is it going to pull humid air from the living room, through the hallway and into the dehumidifier in the corner of the laundry room....bearing in mind the area of these spaces is far less than 1500 sq ft.
Posted on 7/9/20 at 10:49 am to scott8811
i still say you're fine.
good thing about costco is if it doesn't work, return it in 6 months.
the whisper mode makes about as much noise as a small window ac unit. i don't even notice it when i'm working in the garage.
and you're right, there are no walls but if you pull the humidity down to 45% in the laundry room (very easy already being indoors) it will pull the humidity down in the other room too.
remember my garage is almost 1,000sft, has NO HVAC so its always hot during the day, its full of CRAP including 2 vehicles (one is an escalade) between it and the rear wall and when the doors open that 93% outdoor humidity gets blasted into it constantly.
eta buy a $20 digital hydrogometer(sp?) to put in the living room and keep an eye on the levels after you put the dehumidifier in.
good thing about costco is if it doesn't work, return it in 6 months.
the whisper mode makes about as much noise as a small window ac unit. i don't even notice it when i'm working in the garage.
and you're right, there are no walls but if you pull the humidity down to 45% in the laundry room (very easy already being indoors) it will pull the humidity down in the other room too.
remember my garage is almost 1,000sft, has NO HVAC so its always hot during the day, its full of CRAP including 2 vehicles (one is an escalade) between it and the rear wall and when the doors open that 93% outdoor humidity gets blasted into it constantly.
eta buy a $20 digital hydrogometer(sp?) to put in the living room and keep an eye on the levels after you put the dehumidifier in.
This post was edited on 7/9/20 at 10:53 am
Posted on 7/9/20 at 10:51 am to CAD703X
Thanks! yea my ecobee which is in that hallway is currently reading my average humidity at about 60% sometimes higher. I'm just sick of my AC running at 72 sometime even 70 and as soon as it cuts off I feel stifled. I would just blast the fan and be fine, but my wife hates the fan on high so hoping this does the trick
Posted on 7/9/20 at 10:54 am to scott8811
quote:
yea my ecobee which is in that hallway is currently reading my average humidity at about 60% sometimes higher. I'm just sick of my AC running at 72 sometime even 70 and as soon as it cuts off I feel stifled.
disregard my eta then
i am 100% with you. my house is miserable at temps over 72 as well and i know the humidity levels are at like 65% so i may buy a second one myself and try putting it somewhere out of the way in the house and see if that helps.
wife hates me when i raise the indoor temp to 73
eta you may have helped me by posting this thread. i don't know why the thought of adding a second dehumidifier INSIDE the house hadn't occured to me before.
This post was edited on 7/9/20 at 10:58 am
Posted on 7/9/20 at 11:10 am to CAD703X
I'm searching for one now and will try to come back and update how it works
Kinda tough finding one with a pump and not just a gravity drain for a good price... Looks like Imma have to spedn about $250-300 so it better work lol
Kinda tough finding one with a pump and not just a gravity drain for a good price... Looks like Imma have to spedn about $250-300 so it better work lol
Posted on 7/9/20 at 11:26 am to scott8811
I think you are fine. It is a pain to empty and lately it has been everyday.
Just start it in the laundry room and record your humidity levels in the living room. If it isn't enough then move it or get a smaller on for the living room for some help.
Costco had some on sale recently.
Just start it in the laundry room and record your humidity levels in the living room. If it isn't enough then move it or get a smaller on for the living room for some help.
Costco had some on sale recently.
Posted on 7/9/20 at 11:46 am to scott8811
quote:
Thanks! yea my ecobee which is in that hallway is currently reading my average humidity at about 60% sometimes higher. I'm just sick of my AC running at 72 sometime even 70 and as soon as it cuts off I feel stifled. I would just blast the fan and be fine, but my wife hates the fan on high so hoping this does the trick
What CFM/ton is your AC blower set to?
Posted on 7/9/20 at 12:27 pm to notsince98
quote:
What CFM/ton is your AC blower set to?
Notsince98 is on to something here. With as hot as it is and HVAC running a good part of the day you should not be experiencing high humidity issues in the home if the HVAC is sized properly and air flow though the evaporator coil is proper. In hot/humid climates air flow in HVAC is often set at 350 CFM per ton to better lower humidity (remove latent heat). You could also have a leak in the air return ductwork/penlum (if located in the attic) pulling in additional hot humid air from the attic to the HVAC air handler. There can additional HVAC factors factors in play.
Not discouraging you (OP) from getting a portable dehumidifier to solve your problem, even if temporarily, but it’s possible your HVAC might need tweaking to better remove humidity - I think that’s what notsince98 is getting at.
Posted on 7/9/20 at 12:31 pm to notsince98
quote:This. If you are able, turning down the blower speed on your HVAC will be far more effective at drying the air than a small dehumidifier. If you are complaining about humidity on the really hot days, your HVAC is probably oversized and needs to run longer.
What CFM/ton is your AC blower set to?
If you still want a single room unit and don't want to buy an expensive one, put it on a stool, boxes, or step ladder as a test. If you like it, build a shelf it can sit on so you can use a gravity drain.
Posted on 7/9/20 at 12:37 pm to scott8811
quote:
Kinda tough finding one with a pump and not just a gravity drain for a good price... Looks like Imma have to spedn about $250-300 so it better work lol
costco carries the danby w/ pump for $139 i think. im going to go by there this afternoon and pick one up to try out.
Posted on 7/9/20 at 12:38 pm to scott8811
You should be fine. When I got new ac units at my last house the ac guy suggested getting only one of them two stage because that one alone would reduce the humidity throughout the house. The air will always seek balance so once the laundry room is dry enough it will eventually pull the humidity from surrounding areas trying to balance it at the right level.
Posted on 7/9/20 at 12:43 pm to notsince98
quote:
What CFM/ton is your AC blower set to?
I have no idea how to check or set this
ETA: went home for lunch and humidity was actually almost 70%!!!
This post was edited on 7/9/20 at 12:49 pm
Posted on 7/9/20 at 1:12 pm to slacker00
quote:
turning down the blower speed on your HVAC
never freaking heard of this before.
off to google...
Posted on 7/9/20 at 2:16 pm to CAD703X
quote:
never freaking heard of this before.
off to google...
The basics are the slower the air moves across the coil, the less the air can warm the coil. This means the coil temp drops. As the coil temp drops it increases the latent cooling load on the system. Latent cooling is the part of the cooling cycle that is removing the water from the air. The more latent cooling you are doing (water removal) the less sensible cooling your system will have and vice versa.
EDIT: In general, 350CFM/ton is the LOW limit of CFM requirements but you can go lower than that in some setups.
This post was edited on 7/9/20 at 2:17 pm
Posted on 7/9/20 at 2:39 pm to scott8811
quote:
I have no idea how to check or set this
ETA: went home for lunch and humidity was actually almost 70%!!!
There is something not working or set right with your HVAC if RH is truly at 70% - oversized tonnage, undersized ducts, blower speed to high, return side duct leakage ...... A properly sized and functioning HVAC should be able to maintain RH at 50% during the summer with long HVAC run times. Mine does it’s probably a 1/2 ton oversized for my house.
The air handler for your HVAC will have a blower performance chart that provides estimated CFM at different blower settings at different static pressures. Problem you’ll have is knowing what the total external static pressure is and that really needs checked by an experienced HVAC tech with a manometer. If you decide to have your system checked by a HVAC tech, who ever you call, ask if they have a senior tech on staff that can do this.
For example, If blower speed was set too low in order to help lower humidity it could cause the evaporator coil to freeze up, so this why it’s best to have this checked/adjusted by a professional.
Now as a DYI shot in the dark you could put a more restrictive high MERV air filter in your return grill (temporarily) to help reduce air flow to the evaporator coil to see if that helps lower humidity and if it does then you know you have a air flow issue that needs to be addressed.
Order yourself a humidistat like this from Amazon. They are pretty accurate and can be calibrated. I have a couple. Sometimes the humidity readings from thermostats are off by a good bit - you should have at least one other instrument to check your humidity.
Posted on 7/9/20 at 3:26 pm to scott8811
Instead of looking for one with a pump, buy your own condensate pump. This one works like a champ as my dehumidifier gravity drains into it. Pumps through a wall upstairs into my AC drain line.
FYI, if you have a really humid room it may take weeks before a dehumidifier will finally get the residual water out of the room (especially if it has carpet) and not run 100% of the time.
FYI, if you have a really humid room it may take weeks before a dehumidifier will finally get the residual water out of the room (especially if it has carpet) and not run 100% of the time.
This post was edited on 7/9/20 at 3:28 pm
Posted on 7/9/20 at 3:54 pm to RoyalWe
Just an FYI but the Dehumidifiers produce heat as they are a motor running. Some, and likely the cheaper ones, can get pretty hot. Not like burn you hot or anything, but if its in a small room like the laundry or its next to your AC return, it may be something to consider.
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