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I can tell you that Therma-Stor really stands behind their warranty. I owned an Ultra-Aire 98H dehumidifier, also made by Therma-stor, that I bought from Sylvane. After a few years it quit dehumidifying the air and I called Therma-Stor service support. They paid to have it shipped back to the factory for service and found that the evaporator developed a leak and it lost all of it's refrigerant. They replaced the evaporator at no cost and shipped the unit back to me, but after several months it had the same issue again. Instead of shipping the same unit back to the factory again, they sent me a brand new Santa-Fe model which is a rebranded Ultra-Aire and it's been working fine without any issues. Not many companies stand behind their product like that anymore.
Well, I spoke too soon. The Santa Fe Advance90 has stopped working after 4 years. Looks like a refrigerant leak either at the coil or somewhere else in the system. Before this, I had a Siera Global Watchdog 900 that lasted for 2 years before developing a refrigerant leak and before that, a Titan XG90 again lasted barely 2 years before developing a surprise.....refrigerant leak.
The 6 warranty for the Santa Fe Advance90 includes parts only, and 2 year parts and labor. I also have to ship it to Missouri and pay trucking freight costs which is a few hundred dollars and has a 2 months lag time. Hardly anyone works on dehumidifiers here except maybe ThermoDirect on Trademark Dr.
They did offer to sell me a brand new Santa Fe Advance90 for $645 or something compared to the $1900 new on the site so we'll see what to do.
All of these dehumidifiers are really junk, even the "crawlspace" rated ones. Someone said Aprilair makes their evap coils out of a different metal, so maybe that helps.
Well, I spoke too soon. The Santa Fe Advance90 has stopped working after 4 years. Looks like a refrigerant leak either at the coil or somewhere else in the system. Before this, I had a Siera Global Watchdog 900 that lasted for 2 years before developing a refrigerant leak and before that, a Titan XG90 again lasted barely 2 years before developing a surprise.....refrigerant leak.
The 6 warranty for the Santa Fe Advance90 includes parts only, and 2 year parts and labor. I also have to ship it to Missouri and pay trucking freight costs which is a few hundred dollars and has a 2 months lag time. Hardly anyone works on dehumidifiers here except maybe ThermoDirect on Trademark Dr.
They did offer to sell me a brand new Santa Fe Advance90 for $645 or something compared to the $1900 new on the site so we'll see what to do.
All of these dehumidifiers are really junk, even the "crawlspace" rated ones. Someone said Aprilair makes their evap coils out of a different metal, so maybe that helps.
Ouch! The gods read what you wrote and decided to smite you... I got 'smited' as well. See next post.
Well, I spoke too soon. The Santa Fe Advance90 has stopped working after 4 years. Looks like a refrigerant leak either at the coil or somewhere else in the system. Before this, I had a Siera Global Watchdog 900 that lasted for 2 years before developing a refrigerant leak and before that, a Titan XG90 again lasted barely 2 years before developing a surprise.....refrigerant leak.
The 6 warranty for the Santa Fe Advance90 includes parts only, and 2 year parts and labor. I also have to ship it to Missouri and pay trucking freight costs which is a few hundred dollars and has a 2 months lag time. Hardly anyone works on dehumidifiers here except maybe ThermoDirect on Trademark Dr.
They did offer to sell me a brand new Santa Fe Advance90 for $645 or something compared to the $1900 new on the site so we'll see what to do.
All of these dehumidifiers are really junk, even the "crawlspace" rated ones. Someone said Aprilair makes their evap coils out of a different metal, so maybe that helps.
Sorry to hear about your issues with the Santa Fe unit. I agree with you that most dehumidifiers are junk but the Santa Fe is still my top choice. Aprilaire has their share of gremlins too, so it's all a crap shoot regardless of brand. $645 for a brand new Santa Fe doesn't sound unreasonable and would be hard to beat if you bought something different at full price.
So to conclude my crawlspace experience.... the workmen from Shamrock came out last Friday. I wfh, and had set up my laptop etc to work from Father's house while work was being done... Long story short, the workmen ripped out the fiber-optic cable that runs from a wall inside the house and then goes thru a hole in the floor to drop to the crawlspace and then emerge out of one of the vents and then hook up to the att box on an outside wall of the house.
So, <poof> all internet and associated devices (alarm system, nest temp control, and my work for the day) depending on wi-fi were out of commission until today when att tech came by.
It was easy to figure out the problem once I saw that the PON light on the wall box inside was off = no device found to receive signal.
I went outside and stuck my head in the crawlspace- sure enough, the fiber optic cable had been, mistakenly I am sure, pulled from inside the house and was lying on the ground. This happened within 30 minutes of their arrival.
Today, Att was going to bill ME for the time/new cable and that little thingy at the end of the cable until I 'informed' on Shamrock. Now att is billing Shamrock directly and I know it will be at least 200/300 (I know those little thingys at end of cable are pricey). I'm sure the workmen informed Shamrock b/c I told the workmen what they had done. And so I don't feel guilty about informing on Shamrock cause I would have thought the least they could do was to call and say 'sorry 'bout that.'
Unfortunate error on the workmen's part.
But other than that, a well-done job-- NO, no, I meant a horrible job, gods, a horrible, nightmare job.
Last edited by herringbone; 06-05-2023 at 07:53 PM..
1. Shamrock: Tack up falling insulation, seal up all vents with foam blocks, remove old vapor barrier and debris, install new 6 mil plastic vapor barrier, install NXT watchdog 85C dehumidifier. ~ $3000
2. Livegreen: Seal and insulate crawlspace with 10 mil poly on ground (over new 6 mil poly) with all seams overlapped and taped, R-10 closed cell foam board mechanically attached to foundation walls (over poly). All penetrations in band sealed with fire rated spray foam and band insulated with GreenGuard certified R-19 insulation. Crawlspace door insulated and weatherstripped. Foundation vents insulated with Thermax foam board and air sealed with spray foam. As applicable, LiveGreen will remove and dispose of floor insulation., hand scrub mold / biological growth with Shockwave 8310 Fungicide/Disinfectant, and add a supply line of air installed in ductwork as a drying mechanism. ~ $3800
I’m not a fan of the dehumidifier idea (increased electrical costs, maintenance costs $150/yr, costs of eventual repairs, noise, etc). I ended up going with Livegreen and the crawlspace looks so much better now than it did before. Time will tell if I see any cost savings or how well crawlspace humidity will be mitigated. I will eventually purchase a hygrometer with a wireless sensor to monitor conditions throughout the year. As far as the “supply line vent” in the crawlspace, it’s the same size as a typical dryer exhaust vent and has flaps to keep it closed when the HVAC system isn’t running. It’s small enough that (in theory) it shouldn’t affect the HVAC load to a noticeable degree. My HVAC system is 10 years old anyways so if it dies quicker I’ll end up having a two stage or variable speed heat pump installed.
1. Shamrock: Tack up falling insulation, seal up all vents with foam blocks, remove old vapor barrier and debris, install new 6 mil plastic vapor barrier, install NXT watchdog 85C dehumidifier. ~ $3000
2. Livegreen: Seal and insulate crawlspace with 10 mil poly on ground (over new 6 mil poly) with all seams overlapped and taped, R-10 closed cell foam board mechanically attached to foundation walls (over poly). All penetrations in band sealed with fire rated spray foam and band insulated with GreenGuard certified R-19 insulation. Crawlspace door insulated and weatherstripped. Foundation vents insulated with Thermax foam board and air sealed with spray foam. As applicable, LiveGreen will remove and dispose of floor insulation., hand scrub mold / biological growth with Shockwave 8310 Fungicide/Disinfectant, and add a supply line of air installed in ductwork as a drying mechanism. ~ $3800
I’m not a fan of the dehumidifier idea (increased electrical costs, maintenance costs $150/yr, costs of eventual repairs, noise, etc). I ended up going with Livegreen and the crawlspace looks so much better now than it did before. Time will tell if I see any cost savings or how well crawlspace humidity will be mitigated. I will eventually purchase a hygrometer with a wireless sensor to monitor conditions throughout the year. As far as the “supply line vent” in the crawlspace, it’s the same size as a typical dryer exhaust vent and has flaps to keep it closed when the HVAC system isn’t running. It’s small enough that (in theory) it shouldn’t affect the HVAC load to a noticeable degree. My HVAC system is 10 years old anyways so if it dies quicker I’ll end up having a two stage or variable speed heat pump installed.
Seems like Shamrock has good reviews, but they want to go with a Watchdog dehumidifier? Those things are junk - had 2 from that brand and both had refrigerant leaks after 1 year, 1 at the coil and 1 near the compressor junctions. Neighbor's Watchdog lasted 2 years. Santa Fe and Aprilair are the best bets but not perfect.
This remote sensor hygrometer is great, it tracks temp, humidity, dewpoint and many other things on graphs, daily, weekly and yearly plots:
1. Shamrock: Tack up falling insulation, seal up all vents with foam blocks, remove old vapor barrier and debris, install new 6 mil plastic vapor barrier, install NXT watchdog 85C dehumidifier. ~ $3000
2. Livegreen: Seal and insulate crawlspace with 10 mil poly on ground (over new 6 mil poly) with all seams overlapped and taped, R-10 closed cell foam board mechanically attached to foundation walls (over poly). All penetrations in band sealed with fire rated spray foam and band insulated with GreenGuard certified R-19 insulation. Crawlspace door insulated and weatherstripped. Foundation vents insulated with Thermax foam board and air sealed with spray foam. As applicable, LiveGreen will remove and dispose of floor insulation., hand scrub mold / biological growth with Shockwave 8310 Fungicide/Disinfectant, and add a supply line of air installed in ductwork as a drying mechanism. ~ $3800
I’m not a fan of the dehumidifier idea (increased electrical costs, maintenance costs $150/yr, costs of eventual repairs, noise, etc). I ended up going with Livegreen and the crawlspace looks so much better now than it did before. Time will tell if I see any cost savings or how well crawlspace humidity will be mitigated. I will eventually purchase a hygrometer with a wireless sensor to monitor conditions throughout the year. As far as the “supply line vent” in the crawlspace, it’s the same size as a typical dryer exhaust vent and has flaps to keep it closed when the HVAC system isn’t running. It’s small enough that (in theory) it shouldn’t affect the HVAC load to a noticeable degree. My HVAC system is 10 years old anyways so if it dies quicker I’ll end up having a two stage or variable speed heat pump installed.
If you actually monitor the humidity levels I think you will find a dehumidifier is necessary to maintain consistent humidity levels. Humidity levels can fluctuate very rapidly and while the supply line vent may be good for introducing fresh air into the encapsulated crawlspace area you will still get humidity level fluctuations. A dehumidifier specifically targets and maintains consistent humidity levels. I have two of them and they aren't excessively noisy and their power consumption is within reason compared to the consequences of not having them.
It sounds like you got a reasonable deal from Livegreen, but I hope there was no undetected water seepage through the foundation walls because once inside the water has no where to drain out. Due to substandard 1970's construction methods (or the bricklayers were drunk), the foundation walls on my house leak like swiss cheese during heavy rains so I can't just cover it up with sheet plastic without providing a path for water to drain away. I didn't realize how bad it was until I started digging to install a French drain and sump pump. The water is contained now but I have to use dimple mat on the foundation walls to allow a path for any water seepage to run down into the French drain and out through the sump pump. I've had crawlspace contractors tell me that no contractor would have done a better job installing the French drain than I did because it took a lot of time and hard physical labor, and for them time is money.
Crawlspaces affect interior air quality as well. I have three sealed crawlspaces with limited ventilation between them but only the main space had a dehumidifier. I added two more units and now the rooms above them are comfortable without having to run the AC excessively. So I'm actually saving electricity since the new dehumidifiers use a fraction of the power the AC does.
I thought of something else - my previous crawlspace person kept saying to "just keep the air moving down there" to avoid problems, but he didn't have any suggestions other than the dehumidifier for that.
What if I add a metal commercial fan down there? Strategically placed with the Santa Fe Advance90 dehumidifier to definitely move the air around? Additional electricity cost would be minimal. Crawlspace is approx 2500 sq ft.
The dehumidifier should be enough to circulate the air as well. A fan that size will be loud enough to hear from inside the house if the crawlspace is less than 3ft high
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