Basement dehumidifier

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No such animal. I was in the same situation two years ago. Had two older Whirlpool dehumidifiers that I bought at the same time (11 years old) and both simultaneously died at the same time. Replaced with two different makes: a Soleus Air and a Frigidaire. Like the former much better than the latter but if I get 5 years out of either, that will be saying something.
 
Hey Papa,
Don't rush to throw out your old dehumidifier. For at least the past two summers Canadian Tire had a special week where if you traded in your old dehumidifier you got $40 or $50. I am unclear on whether that was an instant rebate on a new one or if it was a bonus card (similar to gift card). I got the impression the $40 or $50 was pretty much the same as a gift card for any future purchases at Canadian Tire. That is the way the deal worked in the past. The old unit is supposed to be working and with no parts stripped. I am not sure how they test that it works, I doubt they would spend any time on it. If it looks old and like it might work that would likely be good enough.

I have an old unit I am keeping until the next trade in day. It "works" but the coil on the back got totally frozen over and stayed frozen until I unplugged it. I might fix it but I got it with my house and the thing is about 25 years old. I bought a new dehumidifier about a year ago and the new one draws about 10 times more water out of the air than the old one during the same amount of running time.

The Canadian Tire trade in day the past few years was also for window type air conditioners as well as dehumidifiers.
 
I had an oldie with a fin-less circular coil in our first house that was quiet, built like a tank aside from missing the front and back of the cabinet and condensed water like crazy. Stupidly, I left it for the new owners when we sold that house.

For the next house I went thru two cheap Sears/Kenmore units. Each died in about 1-2yrs. They were extremely loud and vibrated a lot.

Next went with a Fedders or Fredrick? Old-school looking wood-grained cabinet unit. It died in LESS than a year! I took it in under warranty and a new compressor couldn't be had for it.

Since then, I've had a digital controlled Danby unit that's been excellent. I've had this one for 3yrs now. I'd recommend Danby if you're going new.

Joel
 
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I bought a 25 litre Danby at Home Depot in 1999. It is still
running strong. If I remember correctly it was less than $200.
Square footage is similar.


LarryO


2009 Hyundai Tucson GL V6
2000 Dodge Ram Van 1500
 
Originally Posted By: JTK
I had an oldie with a fin-less circular coil in our first house that was quiet, built like a tank aside from missing the front and back of the cabinet and condensed water like crazy. Stupidly, I left it for the new owners when we sold that house.

For the next house I went thru two cheap Sears/Kenmore units. Each died in about 1-2yrs. They were extremely loud and vibrated a lot.

Next went with a Fedders or Fredrick? Old-school looking wood-grained cabinet unit. It died in LESS than a year! I took it in under warranty and a new compressor couldn't be had for it.

Since then, I've had a digital controlled Danby unit that's been excellent. I've had this one for 3yrs now. I'd recommend Danby if you're going new.

Joel


THIS!

I've had one of these for at least three years now and it works fantastically well!
 
If your humidity problems are that bad, have you considered a whole house dehumidifier? The up front costs are more, but you'll pay for it in savings from not having to run your AC nearly as much in the summer as well as having a better method for controlling humidity during spring and fall when the AC is not needed.

I sat through a conference on building energy star compliant homes and whole house dehumidifiers are now becoming part of the standard recommendation for such homes.

Should I ever need to replace the furnace in my house before we move (Lennox pulse-air from about 2001 with 93% efficiency) I plan on installing one.
 
Originally Posted By: buickman50401
If your humidity problems are that bad, have you considered a whole house dehumidifier? The up front costs are more, but you'll pay for it in savings from not having to run your AC nearly as much in the summer as well as having a better method for controlling humidity during spring and fall when the AC is not needed.

I sat through a conference on building energy star compliant homes and whole house dehumidifiers are now becoming part of the standard recommendation for such homes.

Should I ever need to replace the furnace in my house before we move (Lennox pulse-air from about 2001 with 93% efficiency) I plan on installing one.



No, our humidity problems aren't that bad, just need a little help in the basement.
 
Where are you in Canada that you are worried about dehumidifying your basement *at this time of the year*? We have already turned on our humidifier!

- Vikas
 
Originally Posted By: Papa Bear
I need a small-medium (600 sq ft) basement dehumidifier. Bought a cheap one 3 yrs ago and it quit on me.
I still have a 35 yr old unit that weighs a ton and still works but I want a more energy efficient unit that will last a while.
Any suggestions ??....


The run capacitor in the cheap unit has probably failed. Replacements are around $10 or so, I get mine from an HVAC contractor's supply.
 
Originally Posted By: Papa Bear
Originally Posted By: Bluestream
Look for a good used one..


I've got a good used one that won't die.


Yes...I meant buy anothe rused use and use two at the same time. As someone mentioned you won't need it any more this year...
 
Originally Posted By: Vikas
Where are you in Canada that you are worried about dehumidifying your basement *at this time of the year*? We have already turned on our humidifier!

- Vikas


Check the "loc" in my sig header, I can't get much more specific than that.
 
Originally Posted By: Bluestream
Originally Posted By: Papa Bear
Originally Posted By: Bluestream
Look for a good used one..


I've got a good used one that won't die.


Yes...I meant buy anothe rused use and use two at the same time. As someone mentioned you won't need it any more this year...


As I originally posted I would really like to get a newer, more efficient unit that didn't use so much electricity.
I may just continue to run the old one when required and save the $100's of dollars on new units that fail after a few years.

I bought the old unit from an old guy who got it from Sears on a Scratch&Dent sale. I bought it in 1982 and I'm not sure how long the old guy had it... still works great.
Made by Dominion Electrohome Industries Ltd. in Kitchener, ON. Canada I believe.
(If I sat the unit in the driveway and ran into it with the Uplander at say 15 MPH, the unit would still work and the van would have to be towed !!)
 
Originally Posted By: Bluestream


As someone mentioned you won't need it any more this year...


Yes, you are correct .... but if I can get a good unit on my "Christmas List" then Santa will bring it and I won't have to buy it !!
thumbsup2.gif
 
Oops, unless I put my cursor right over your loc:, I only used to see "tomato capital"!

I am surprised that since you are in the rust belt area, you still need DE-humidifier during the winter. Generally the inside air becomes extremely dry due to heating and more humidity needs to be added during these months.
 
Oops, unless I put my cursor right over your loc:, I only used to see "tomato capital"!

I am surprised that since you are in the rust belt area, you still need DE-humidifier during the winter. Generally the inside air becomes extremely dry due to heating and more humidity needs to be added during these months. I disconnect my dehumidifyer in the basement during the winter. I have whole house humidifier as a part of the hot air furnace.
 
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