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I did a search but didn't find anything about recommendations for a de-humidifier for a cellar (basement). The cellar is on the large size, and I wanted to make it function as a studio but the present weather prohibits me from staying down there for more than 1hr or so.
A friend suggested a de-humidifier to reduce the damp, dank feeling. Also I am concerned about my art supplies staying down there too long, subject to mold, I reckon, and ruin.
Any suggestions? Anything I should be looking for in particular?
If you do not hook it to a drain, get one with a big tank. We just bought one at Home Depot. Cost about $300 I think. It is the biggest one that they sell. It works fine in a =/-1800 s.f. basement. Makes a lot of heat though.
Dehumidifiers require a certain level of ambient air temperature to work effectively; if the air temps drop below 60, many will simply frost up their coils.
For a basement that might not want to keep at a constant 70 degrees, look for a unit with a frost guard feature.
If it is that dank down there you might have seepage into the basement and a dehumidifier won't solve that. You should get it dried out regardless of whether you want to spend time down there or not. Damp basements are not good for the rest of the house.
But, I have a basement and live in a summer humid climate and put a dehumidifier in there. I got a whirlpool that is rated to work down to 50 degrees. I also got one of those little water pumps for furnace condensation and some plastic tubing. A short piece of water hose connected to the tank and then to the pump. The tubing from the pump threaded thru the air conditioning hole in the foundation and outside to some plants. Plug both the pump and the dehumidifier in. Works great and I don't have to remember to empty the bucket or have it get gross. Basement stays drier too because it runs when it needs to instead of stopping because the bucket is full. It would be even easier if you have a drain in the basement.
Winter temps in my basement are about 55, summer it gets up to about 65-70 between the dehumidifier and freezer down there.
Dehumidifiers require a certain level of ambient air temperature to work effectively; if the air temps drop below 60, many will simply frost up their coils.
For a basement that might not want to keep at a constant 70 degrees, look for a unit with a frost guard feature.
That's why I recommended the Santa Fe. Our basement isn't heated and generally the temp is between 55-60. One of the Santa Fe's features is "Lower temperature operation: These have a high quality built-in defrost system designed for operation in cooler environments down to 53°F"
ETA: we also have/had water issues in the basement. We have rather high water tables in the area so it wasn't uncommon to have a decent amount of flooding in our basement. As a result, we had 3 sump pumps. We purchased the Santa Fe to help with the water issues. (We've since resolved our water problems and we're down to 2 sump pumps which are always dry...knock on wood. )
Last edited by TheImportersWife; 02-06-2008 at 07:28 AM..
We have an LG dehumidifier and it works great. We keep it near the floor drain so we don't have to empty the bucket.
Is the basement heated? Allowing some heat to blow in also will help keep the dampness down. I don't need to use the dehumidifier at all in the winter.
I do have a great deal of moisture in the cellar, and today a very rainy day, water is coming in. Although I have a drain, water stays on the floor for about one or two days. In fact, if I understand correctly, this is a flood region and I have a low-high running stream in the back yard which has been known to flood (although I have a flood barrier).
I am renting this house from friends, so some of the suggestions while excellent, are going to be beyond my willingness to put money into a house I don't own--including a ~ $3000. de-humidifer.
I may go over to one of the large home-shops in the nearby town, and see if anything is being sold that more or less meets some of the specifications recommended here and elsewhere.
Damp is not good for me, nor is it good for my art supplies--particularly mounds of expensive art paper(s).
My low temp dehumidifier was about a 10th of that $$. And I got it at one of the box stores.
But if you have water on the basement floor, you have a bigger problem than any dehumidifier can solve. The owners should be taking remediation steps for that.
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