Basement Dehumidifier

[CADplans]

I would buy any fifty year old wood grain, steel housed dehumidifier on sight. No interest in the five or ten year plastic junk, with unecessary computers, electronics, remote controls and so forth.

My older dehumidifier was purchased used in 1979,, and still works perfectly. I think I paid $10 for it at a yard sale.
It was replaced because the plastic drip tray became old and cracked,, I made a new tray out of stainless steel.
No telling how old that thing is,, but, it works great,,,

If I blow a 12 inch desk fan at the dehumidifier,, it will double the amount of water it takes out of the air,,,

 

[zzvyb6]

Do you have whole house air conditioning ? What can help is to install switchable ducting to suck the (damp) air out of the basement. This works for the hot months. In the winter, a regular dehumidifier ought to slove the problem. As mentioned, add some heat (wood burners pump lots of air out of the house and often result in a dry area.

In my place, it takes a while to pull all the humidity out of the surrounding basement floor, walls, structure, etc. If you have a laundry down there, seal it off or move it upstairs. You also need to keep the access to the basement closed. As warm, humid air cools, it sinks and water vapor condenses on to surfaces.

Check your gutters, too. A lot of moisture comes in thru short gutter downspout runs. Longer runs away from the house and steeper grading to get better runoff.

 

[N80]

To answer some questions: Regarding price I have been looking at units from Honeywell and Aprilaire all in the $1000 price range. Reviews suggest that they work great while they work but it seems a lot of folks get no more than about 3 years out of them. The Aprilaire units have a 5 year warranty but only if professionally installed. The problem with that, in my opinion, is that installation pretty much involves plugging it in. Paying a pro to do that is idiotic.

dstig1, good thought mounting the unit up high and letting it gravity feed into the old washing machine drain. That will be easy.


dlctg, I have thought about coating the interior of the basement many times but every time I research it something puts me off. I'm assuming that even just the materials are expensive even if I do it myself. I would only really need to do the front half of the basement since that is the only part where the water seeps in. I get some water under the 'garage' door on the back side but that is a gutter problem not a seepage problem. I did go to the link you provided and I am curious now. Wondering about price though. However, even if I do this I still think a dehumidifier would be useful so I may end up doing both since the relative humidity is really high here in the summers anyway.

zzbyb6, that is an interesting thought. The ducting in the basement is nearly as old as the house. Round and square galvanized. On two of the cold air returns coming down from the first floor there are open vents that have been covered up with cardboard for my entire life. I bet if I remove that cardboard then basement air will be drawn into the HVAC unit (which is in the basement) and help dry the air. I may give that a try.

In regard to a dehumidifier not running in the winter months that will probably not be an issue. It is generally drier here in the winter plus with that ancient leaky ductwork and no insulation in the first floor subfloor the basement stays reasonably warm.

 

[kenmac]

just my 2 cents. I wouldn't return basement air into my A/C system from a basement, and have the A/C system blow this basement air into my living space.

I too have issued with water seeping through my concrete floor.
My A/C unit (ah) is installed in that basement area. There's no way I would pipe return air from my basement and circulate it in my home.

I intend to remove everything from my basement, pressure wash the concrete floor and try one of the commercial epoxy sealers to hopefully prevent water from seeping up through the concrete.
Until then. I will run my cheap HD dehumidifier

 

[dlctcg]

just my 2 cents. I wouldn't return basement air into my A/C system from a basement, and have the A/C system blow this basement air into my living space.

I too have issued with water seeping through my concrete floor.
My A/C unit (ah) is installed in that basement area. There's no way I would pipe return air from my basement and circulate it in my home.

I intend to remove everything from my basement, pressure wash the concrete floor and try one of the commercial epoxy sealers to hopefully prevent water from seeping up through the concrete.
Until then. I will run my cheap HD dehumidifier

If your basement is already bare concrete you can pressure wash it... but more importantly you should acid etch the floor & then neutralize it prior to putting any coating in it.... I again will recommend you look at Sani-Tred... this is a product that has worked over & over for us on projects....

 

[lennyzx11]

Do you have whole house air conditioning ? What can help is to install switchable ducting to suck the (damp) air out of the basement. This works for the hot months. In the winter, a regular dehumidifier ought to slove the problem. As mentioned, add some heat (wood burners pump lots of air out of the house and often result in a dry area.

In my place, it takes a while to pull all the humidity out of the surrounding basement floor, walls, structure, etc. If you have a laundry down there, seal it off or move it upstairs. You also need to keep the access to the basement closed. As warm, humid air cools, it sinks and water vapor condenses on to surfaces.

Check your gutters, too. A lot of moisture comes in thru short gutter downspout runs. Longer runs away from the house and steeper grading to get better runoff.

Another one in Vermont.
100 years old stone and concrete huge basement. It used to fill up about 6 inches with rain water when I first got it.
I run a GE dehumidifier at 60%. Largest one they had at Home Depot. Sets on a small table next to the sump and gravity drains into the sump cistern. The table keeps it above any possible flood zone.

The absolute best thing I did was to add gutter extensions and repair the leaking gutters to take the water away from the foundation.
It stays dry now, even with a high water table.

 

[mikester]

If you have an old electric water heater consider buying a Heat Pump Water Heater. You get all the benefits of the dehumidifier plus the waste heat goes into heating your water.

 

[KennyG]

I think the basement humidity issues are very specific to the location and house. I have a large house with a walk-out basement. When I bought it we had water running down the basement walls in humid weather. I installed an air to air HX ventilator to pull air from the basement and bring outside air into the first floor. I added air returns in the basement ceiling to increase the A/C dehumidification (but we only run A/C 10 to 15 days a year) and to provide circulation in the winter when we run a wood stove in the basement. Finally, I added a dehumidifier in the basement that is drained to the sump pumps. It's one I got was a hOmeLabs from Amazon : Amazon.com - hOmeLabs 3, Sq. Ft Energy Star Dehumidifier for Large Rooms and Basements - Efficiently Removes Moisture to Reduce Likelihood of Mold and Mildew -. It's been working fine for about 9 years now.

Besides a dehumidifier, I think you should try to maximize air circulation.

 

[fruitcakesa]

If you have an old electric water heater consider buying a Heat Pump Water Heater. You get all the benefits of the dehumidifier plus the waste heat goes into heating your water.

X2 on this

 

[kenmac]

If your basement is already bare concrete you can pressure wash it... but more importantly you should acid etch the floor & then neutralize it prior to putting any coating in it.... I again will recommend you look at Sani-Tred... this is a product that has worked over & over for us on projects....

I will look into that product. I know I need to PW the area and know it needs attention.I just have to get around to doing it.

I would never pipe return air from a humid basement (that is not being used as a den, etc,) into my HVAC system, and have that air circulated throughout the living space.
You could end up with some very Bad air quality for your living space