Dehumidifier question

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 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.

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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.

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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.

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.

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What CFM/ton is your AC blower set to?

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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.

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.

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.

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turning down the blower speed on your HVAC

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never freaking heard of this before.

off to google...

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I have no idea how to check or set this

ETA: went home for lunch and humidity was actually almost 70%!!!

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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.

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.