Dehumidifier for my basement?

[dennis thompson]

I just bought a bungalow at the beach. It has a small basement with no sump pump or any kind of drainage in the basement. It's pretty damp & I plan to put in a dehumidier but since we are only there on weekends it will fill up quickly & stop running. Delongi makes a humidifier with a pump to pump the water out but it has terrible reviews on Amazon. So what do you think of this idea:
-put the dehumidifier up about 2 feet from the floor
-have it drain into a five gallon pail with a sump pump in it
-have the sump pump hose run through a window to the outside
Think this would work?
Any other suggestions would be appreciated
Thanks
Dennis

[Mike Archambeau]

Dennis; you can attach a garden hose to most good dehumidifiers. the hose can route to a condensate pump like the one shown here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002WKQKBO/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_3?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B0026PFJX0&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0N1BWTQZHQK8639D2K2N

You can take a piece of plastic tubing and run it from the pump to the outdoors. The pump has a float in it, so it cycles on when the water fills the small tank. A sump pump motor is way too big for this job. The amount of water that a dehumidifier removes from the air is quite small over the course of an hour.

Hope this helps.

[dennis thompson]

Mike
Thanks for the suggestion.
I must be getting senile ,I actually had one of those pumps in my basement for the air conditioning, I replaced it with piping leading to my sump pump. So the old condensate pump is sitting in my basement for a couple of years & I never thought to use it
Thanks again
Dennis

[John Coloccia]

My recommendation is don't bother with any dehumidifier that you buy at Home Depot, or any other retail outlet. They're junk, and you will end up buying a new one every couple of years, if not every year. I build instruments in my shop and keep it climate controlled to 70 degrees and 35-45% humidity. I go through a dehumidifier every year.

When the current one dies, I will cut my losses and buy a reasonable, industrial dehumidifier from Grainger or somewhere like that. At least I'll get my money's worth.

That's just my opinion based on my experience.

[Neal Clayton]

for older buildings with basements open to the crawlspace, there's usually two options.

before HVAC units, they vented the foundation to the outside air. since then, the more typical solution is to drop off of an HVAC duct and put one vent blowing out into the basement.

in short, you gotta move dry air in somehow to dry it out.

[Michael MacDonald]

I can recommend a good dehumidifier... I have used it for three years straight. No turning off. I have a short hose to a hole (really) in my tile floor an the water disappers into that. prior owners just lived with the moisture, but the basement is really comfortable.

Danby. Canadian company, I think. Not sure what model I have, but I remember the brand was hard to find in Chicago. I would buy it again... the stuff at HD is junk. Perhaps only comment is that is it a bit loud. But no where near as loud as the Goldstar I tried (and returned within one day).

[Mike Null]

Contrary to other opinions dehumidifiers from Sears, Lowe's and HD are quite reliable and will run for years. Mine is now in it's 14th year without a service call. The brand is Frigidaire but the Whirlpool, Sears, and others will give good service. Danby was built in the US. We used to build a number of products for them. I have no experience with Korean built models.

The 5 gallon bucket is not adequate if you are in a high humidity area and can only check it on week ends.

[John Coloccia]

Just as a point of reference: before I hooked up my dehumidifier to a hose, I had to empty it every day from late spring to early fall. If you're only emptying it a couple of times a week, your problems are not near what I have here in New England. My comments may not apply. I should have been more specific. My apologies.

[Leigh Costello]

I have had good luck with my Sears dehumidifier. In fact, it is currently in use at our church as it has been since last year. The dehumidifier is 12 yrs old, no problems. A hose is attached to the drain pan and is routed to a floor drain.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Do not buy an AprilAir dehumidifier unless you get an iron clad warranty with a service contract that says they will come to you to fix it.

I have two of their larger units and both have been nothing but expensive miserable worthless trouble. They source parts form third world countries using capacitors that burst and have no markings and the idiot worthless technical people will draw blanks when you call them. Huh Whaaa Wots a micro farad? Voltage what's that?

I have lost the blower motor on my largest unit. It's a fancy custom job that no engine re-builder wold touch and AprilAire wanted nearly a Grand to replace it. The Compressor pump jammed the next year. So now I have no clue what to do with it.

The smaller unit has the cap burst and no one at April Air tech (tech: snigger snigger) could even tell me if it was a start or run capacitor let alone how many micro farads or voltages it was supposed to be.

AprilAire is quite probably the most unreliable equipment out there with the single worst customer I have ever seen.

[Tim Morton]

Just as a point of reference: before I hooked up my dehumidifier to a hose, I had to empty it every day from late spring to early fall. If you're only emptying it a couple of times a week, your problems are not near what I have here in New England. My comments may not apply. I should have been more specific. My apologies.

True, in VT i could empty mine twice a day...so i just ordered on of those pumps to try and avoid that this year..hope it works.