The fire have any insight on a dehumidifier worthy of purchase? Got a town home with a basement that stays damp.

If possible I would just air condition the basement. The dehumidifiers aren't much use. Physics will be on your side with A/C, plus you will be adding fresh air.

I have been running a dehumidifier in my basement every spring through fall for the past 35 or so years. In that time frame I have probably purchased and later disposed of maybe 8 or 10 of them. I had to buy a new one this spring, and I can honestly say this one is the best one I have ever had

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Toshiba...Operation-Function-TDDP5012ES2/310365942

Get one with a pump

Dumping that reservoir every 24 (if you got it bad) is another chore to keep up. You’ll have an alarm or the well will just transducer out and shut down.

Definitely get one that you can plumb to a drain.

I have had several in the last ten years. I have had different brands. I usually shy away from extended warranty, but I highly recommend it with this appliance. It seems the average life is about fifteen months.

I have been buying mine at Lowe’s. If I am not into the extended warranty, they refund it.. Just make sure you buy a new plan.

I have been running a cheap Danby for two years. No issues what-so-ever. Go figure.

I never buy extended warranty’s generally but if this is the case...

Just buy a $35 condensate drain pump and dump into it. Buy some clear , cheap tubing and run it from the pump to the home exterior

I was looking at doing that, but then discovered that they make dehumidifiers with built in pumps!

Moved into a new house last September. Basement was damp, no floor drains or sump. Picked up a dehumidifier at Lowes with built in pump (Hisense brand I think, not home right now to check). Ran the drain tube up into the washing machine drain/trap that is about 6 ft up from the floor. Its been running continuously since last Sep, works great. Specs claim that it will pump up to 14 or 16 ft lift - haven't needed to test that. Occasionally have to empty dump the reservoir manually if door has been open to garage a lot and humidity high, but not often, maybe every three weeks during this last Jun, Jul.

I bought a nice one 7 years ago at the home depot, want to say it's a fridgidaire. Mounted it on a sturdy shelf above a utility sink and cut a segment of hose to drain into the sink. I set it to 60% humidity and it just sits on all year. Doesn't run much from Nov to April, but kicks on a bunch when it isn't those months. Works great.

Agree... buy a mini-split on line and save money on electricity in the long run... quiet and comfortable.

If you get a smaller one it will be quieter and you can let it run 24/7 provided you can hose it to a floor drain.

A few years ago I was in the market for a couple.
I read what reviews that were available from sources that weren't selling them. There wasn't much reliable at the time and a few were fire hazards. So, whatever you want to get, I'd check those review lists of dozens of users each model first.

I use one that has a metal case and is decades old. It uses lots of power though. Yard sales would be my guess for anything with a heavy metal structure. Plug in and test it first if you're fortunate to find one.

Another way.......cheaper,better.....and few will believe it. But it’s physics

2 elbows and 4” PVC

A GOOD computer fan.

Fan on the floor and blow the air out the top, out a window. Real coarse screen to keep critters out at the exit. Seal around the exit.

Nothing to empty. Will DRY a basement. And a lot less electricity. Run 24/7. That computer fan has a long life.

Someone try it to prove me wrong and then Thank me.

It works.

Growing up in the mtns of Va with a basement we stubbed a 1" hole through the wall connected pvc to the dehumidifier and out the hole. Ran 24/7. No more dank, musty basement. Before doing this the 5 gallon water container had to be emptied every day...a big pain in the....butt.

Don't buy the department store junk. Get Aprilaire dehumidifier. You can run duct work for the unit and tie it into the furnace duct if you want to circulate air better. It can also just pull from the space without ductwork or sit the unit in a mechanical room and run duct to the area you want to condition. Either sit the unit on a box and run the drain to con pump or locate unit by a floor drain. You may need to order the unit through an HVAC company or check to see if Aprilaire sells online.

I'm on my 4th one. Brand doesn't seem to matter much. First one lasted 5-6 years. Second one lasted a couple years. 3rd one stopped in less than a year but was under warranty and they replaced it. The replacement is still going after a year. The second and third had the internal pump to empty and were of different brands but of the same design and construction. Obviously they were sourced from the same Chinese mfg.

I have a Frigidaire that keeps my place in Aleutian Hell comfortable. It's the largest one Amazon would ship up here. The reservoir holds about 3gals. Depending on weather and time of year I may have to empty every 24hrs. During winter cold snaps when the RH is fairly low, I can run it several days without dumping the reservoir. It is set up for running a drain line, but I'm not going to do that until I move it up north in less than a couple years.

The only downside is it's constantly battling with my humidors.

I use my heat pump in the basement on dehumidify. It works awesome on a large basement with mostly exposed concrete floor.

Before spending a lot of money or installing systems, etc., Might want to try a product named Damp Rid.

It works well and is trouble free. Just change it out when saturated. Get it at Walmart or Home Depot.

I had a considerable amount of stuff in storage at a storage place in non temp controlled stalls. Louisiana, high humidity, wide temperature variations and absolutely zero mildew or mold.

This stuff works and is excellent to use on hangars in closets, gun safes, etc.

Keep it simple.

I have that set up without a fan.
I guess you are mounting the fan directly to the intake?
The reason I ask is that you said Fan on the floor.

The opening is on the floor and the computer fan sits in that intake. On the floor.
A wordsmith I’m not. Lol

Yeah. Unless you have water running in. It will work. Even then it keeps the air dryer

I have cases of that stuff listed in the classifieds for sale. A better product than damprid. But it would not be the solution at all for this basement.

Sounds like a good simple idea... makes good sense.

A coil would work faster and remove more water but if the problem is minor your solution makes a whole lot more sense than a mini-split... and it is pretty much free to try.

I run a small computer fan inside of my deep freezer. Overfilling a modern stand-up freezer will have hot spots and cold spots that's the reason I run the fan.

We’ve been using a Frigidaire for about 4 years, so far so good.....and it does remove the humidity! memtb

I'm not going to try to prove you wrong at all. I'll try to prove you right and follow your advice.
I'm no electrician, but will take an educated guess that this set up will be safer when left unattended than some options.

Thank you very much for sharing. ☕ 🙂 👍

Most folks don’t believe you can do it as easily as PVC and a fan.

The electric dehumidifier can cost $200 a year in power bills alone.

But it’s physics

Cash I’m not sure of the square footage of his basement but I had rented two stalls that were 10’x20’ each and open to each other overhead. I just swapped out the Damp Rid gallon buckets every 5-6 weeks and it worked well.