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Shopper
| Using all the
Ladybug tools but with a conventional boiler
is the new Li’l Bug vapor steam cleaner at a much more affordable price
point. This is a very respectable entrant steam cleaner from
this manufacturer who always does things the right way. |
|
| My own research
in the basement of my new summer home tells
me that for the best value in dehumidifiers,
the Comfort-aire
dehumidifiers win hands down for sucking
moisture out of the air and have an auto-restart
if the units shut down because of a power
outage. And if you can automatically
drain the water out using a pump then do
yourself a favor and buy an external condensate
pump. |
|
Top
Dehumidifiers
- Most Often Asked Questions
By Bob Cobe
AllergyBuyersClub.com staff
1. The manufacturer says this dehumidifier
will cover 1000 square feet. Is this really
true?
No, it is usually about 1/2
that amount. Apparently the manufacturers feel
that if you bring the humidity level from,
let’s say, 80% to 70%, you are dehumidifying.
At AllergyBuyersClub.com we recommend the proper
size dehumidifier for you to bring the humidity
level to 50% or just under so that mold won't
grow. Our concern and goal is to prevent mold,
which is an allergen to many people.
2. What is the ideal humidity I
should be looking for in my basement?
In order to prevent mold from
growing or to put existing mold into "hibernation",
the humidity level should be at 50% or less.
However, reducing the level much below that
such as 40% is a waste of your electricity.
3. I bought a dehumidifier at a
store and it runs all the time - why?
The dehumidifier that you purchased
is probably not capable of removing the amount
of moisture in this area. If your area needs
to have 50 pints of moisture removed from it
daily and you have a 40-pint unit, you will
never catch up and the machine will run continuously.
4. I want a quiet dehumidifier
for the main part of my house - what do you
recommend?
The very
best quiet dehumidifier is the Santa
Fe RX Whole House Dehumidifier at
$1749.95. While it is pricey, it is quiet,
has a built in pump to remove the water
so that you don’t have to empty
a bucket all the time. The Santa Fe not
only uses less electricity to operate
than many smaller units but will need
to operate far fewer hours to remove
the moisture. It is a true "set
and forget" machine. It also has
a replaceable filter that unlike most
residential smaller units is actually
capable of removing particles as small
as 1 micron, which would include most
mold and pollen.
Of the lower end dehumidifiers, the
new Millennium
dehumidifiers starting at $229.95
are all fairly quiet. |
|
5. Ouch, my old dehumidifier is
costing me a small fortune in electricity.
What do you have that is energy efficient?
Almost every dehumidifier that
we sell is energy starred, but this does not
mean that it will necessarily save you money.
Properly sizing your unit so that it does not
have to run all the time is actually going
to save you the most money. A telephone call
to one of our product specialists at 888-236-7231
will give you answers as to what size and brand
would work most efficiently for your situation.
6. Do dehumidifiers raise the heat
in my house?
Yes, but this can be either
good or bad. The warmer the room, the easier
and more efficiently you can remove moisture
so the machine will have to work less. If you
have air conditioning, this added heat that
has to be removed will be mostly compensated
by the air conditioner not having to work as
hard because it is easier to cool dry air than
moist air. On the other hand depending on the
size of the room, you could raise the temperature
by 5– 10 degrees.
7. I have a second home. What happens
if we have a power outage, will the machine
turn itself back on?
| That depends
on the brand and model that you buy. Most
dehumidifiers with manual humidistat controls
will turn themselves back on. With the
electronic controls it varies. The Comfort-Aire
50 and 65 pint units will turn back
on and will continue to remove moisture
at the humidity level for which you had
set the machine. This is true also with
the Millennium low temperature units. The Delonghi
electronic units will turn themselves
back on, but will go back to the factory
default of 60% that is not sufficiently
low to prevent mold if that is your concern.
The Danby
dehumidifier will not turn back on
and needs to have the "on" button
pushed, and while it is a quiet and excellent
machine, it would not be a good choice
for a second home or if you plan to be
away from your house for extended periods. |
|
8. Can a dehumidifier cover multiple
connected rooms?
That depends on the total square
footage of all the rooms, the configuration
of the rooms, and the openness between the
rooms.
The more open the rooms are
to each other (not 3’ doorways), the
easier it is. Having ceiling fans in the rooms
to move the air would certainly help. If you
don’t have ceiling fans you can add small,
inexpensive fans in the rooms to help move
the air in these satellite rooms into the main
area where you have placed the dehumidifier.
9. Emptying the dehumidifier 3
times a day is driving my crazy. How can I
pump it out automatically?
| Most dehumidifiers
have a drain hole at the bottom of the
bucket from which you can continuously
drain the water. You use gravity to empty
the bucket by positioning the dehumidifier
close to a drain hole or sink so that the
water can flow downhill into this drainage
area. You might have to elevate the dehumidifier
to have the water flow downhill because
the bottom of the bucket is usually only
about 2 inches from the ground. One can
also purchase
a pump that would be positioned under
the drainage point in the bucket that would
allow you to pump the water as high as
15 feet vertically or about 100 feet horizontally. |
Condensate
Pump
for continuous drainage |
Some models such as the Comfort-Aire
allow you to set up continuous draining through
a tube that exits at the back of the machine
about 10" from the ground, which due to
this height allows you to drain to a drainage
area a short distance away or into the pump
box without having to elevate the dehumidifier.
10. My dehumidifier does not have
a digital humidistat display. How do I know
whether it is doing a good job?
| If you want
to prevent mold by bringing the humidity
level to 50%, you need a hygrometer to
measure the actual humidity in the room.
This is a measuring device about the size
of a pocket calculator that measures humidity
just as a thermometer measures temperature.
You place this device somewhere in the
room and keep adjusting the setting on
your dehumidifier until the hygrometer
measures 50% or less. (This could take
you a few days to get it to the setting
you want.) You have then calibrated your
dehumidifier to go on and off at a point
where the humidity will be maintained at
50%. We carry a very good digital hygrometer/thermometer at
$39.95 on our website. |
|
Check out all
of our dehumidifiers on our website.
Top
Portable
Air Condititioners - Most Often Asked Questions
By Bob Cobe
AllergyBuyersClub.com staff
1. When should you use a portable
AC unit?
These are best used to spot
cool smaller rooms. They can be used if you
are not able to use a window AC unit; don’t
want to lift a heavy unit in and out of your
window and destroy the paintwork; or want to
move it from room to room as needed and don’t
want to purchase multiple window units. We
find that people like them to augment inefficient
central air conditioning systems, especially
when the bedrooms are hotter upstairs. Menopausal
women find the extra spot cooling to be a real
boon.
2. What capacity portable air conditioner
do I need to buy to equal the performance of
a window air conditioner?
Since our general rule is that
a portable air conditioner will cover only
half as much space as a window unit of similar
BTU capability, you need to double the strength
of a portable unit to cover the same area.
3. Do portable air conditioners
dehumidify a room?
All air conditioners will dehumidify
a room somewhat, but often not to the humidity
level that feels as comfortable as you would
like. The reason for this is that an air conditioner
turns itself on and off depending on the temperature
that you have set and will often turn off before
the humidity is removed to the level that you
want. A dehumidifier on the other hand, turns
itself on and off depending on the humidity
level that you want to achieve and doesn’t
care what temperature you have set. We often
sell humidifiers to "coastal" people
where their homes might be a comfortable 72
degrees, but the humidity still remains high.
4. Are portable air conditioners
energy efficient?
It depends on the brand and
model, but many are not. You will save the
most money by properly sizing your unit so
that it doesn’t have to work as long
or as hard as a small unit might.
5.
What is your best recommended portable
air conditioner and why?
Our best unit is the ARP
1200 EX 12,000 BTU unit at $899.95 and it has a double hose which helps
cool the room faster.
6. Do I have to vent these air conditioners to the outside?
Yes, you always have to get rid of the heat that these produce
while cooling the air. |
|
7. Can I increase the length of
the exhaust tube that comes with the machine?
No, the manufacturers correctly
determine the hose length and adding to it
makes it more difficult for the air conditioner
to remove the hot air. You need a smooth and
easy exhaust flow or backpressure will develop
which would reduce the efficiency of the machine.
8. The installation diagrams show
the exhaust hose exiting horizontally. Can
I install this vertically to exhaust into a
ceiling?
This would not be a good idea
because you would either have to lengthen the
hose, which we don’t recommend, or raise
the unit on a table so that the hose would
reach. Additionally, since the exhaust air
is carrying the moisture out along with the
hot air and exhausting to a ceiling, this could
produce condensation of this moisture above
the ceiling.
Editor's Note:
As mentioned at the top of
this newsletter, portable air conditioners
with either 8000 or 9000 BTU are now on sale
starting at $464.95 – save up to $350
off the retail prices! Great for spot cooling
an apartment or home, the TD
8K Portable with manual controls and the RA
9KE with electronic keypad are easy to
move from room to room. While supplies last!
Check out all
of the portable air conditioners on our website. |
