Q) What does a dehumidifier do?
A) A dehumidifier takes moisture out of the air by sucking in moist air on one
side, moving that air over some ice cold tubes that causes the moisture
to collect on these tubes and then drip into a bucket or tube, and
pushing the dry air out the other. This dry air then mixes with
the moist air making it a little drier, which in turn is pulled
into the unit to become drier over and over again.
Q) What size dehumidifier do I need?
A) Sizing Rule of Thumb for most areas except coastal is:
Up to 400 square feet: 25 or 30 pint
Up to 800 square feet: 40 pint
Up to 1000 square feet: 50 pint
Up to 1300 square feet: 65 pint
- For coastal areas the square foot coverage will be reduced
as much as 50%.
- All of these figures are based on an 8’ high ceiling.
So if the height is 10’, then add 25% more to the square
footage and if 12’ high, then add 50%, etc.
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Q) How much will my dehumidifier be able to
lower the humidity?
A) That will depend on a lot of things. Most importantly, the temperature
in your room will determine the minimum humidity level you will
be able to achieve. With most dehumidifiers the air comes out at
around 30% humidity. At 70 degrees and higher it is possible to
reduce the humidity to 35% to 40%. As the temperature goes below
70 degrees and down into the 50’s this will rise to 60 %.
If the humidity reached is not as low as you want, you can heat
the room or raise the dehumidifier off the floor where it is coldest.
Since heat rises the air temperature will be higher as you elevate
it towards the ceiling.
This will enable you to further lower the humidity.
There are other factors affecting how low you can bring the humidity
level, such as the size of the area you are dehumidifying, construction
of the room, and the area of the country where you live.
Q) What do you mean by 30 pint, 50 pint, or
65 pint dehumidifiers?
A) That number tells you approximately how many pints on water it
can remove in 24 hours.
Q) What is a low temperature dehumidifier?
A) It is designed to operate at temperatures below 65 degrees. If
the temperature drops to 65 degrees or below, the water will freeze
on the condenser coils in the dehumidifier and either heat up and
shorten it’s life, or cause it to cycle on and off as the
water melts and quickly freezes without removing any moisture from
the air. (Note – the Comfort-Aire
low temp dehumidifiers are our category winners for the best
low end value machines).
Q) How do I know what the humidity level
is in the area I want to dehumidify?
A) You can use a hygrometer to measure the humidity. It is like
a thermometer, but reads humidity levels and not temperature levels.
We sell them and some units have hygrometers built into them.
Q) At what humidity level should I keep the
room?
A) We recommend 50% or just below because mold will not grow below
50%.
Q) What happens if I try to keep the room
at 40% or 35%?
A) You will be wasting money on electricity. And you usually cannot
dehumidify much below 40%.
Q) What is an adjustable humidistat?
A) A dial or digital input that allows you to set the machine to
dry the air to the level you choose.
Q) What happens if I buy too small a unit?
A) The unit will operate continuously and probably not dehumidify
down to 50% to prevent mold.
Q) Won’t it still make the room feel
more comfortable?
A) Yes, but it won’t prevent mold from growing because the
humidity may stay above 50%?
Q) Will I be wasting money if I buy too large
a dehumidifier?
A) Not necessarily. The unit will shut off more quickly and it gives
you a margin of safety.
Q) How much will it cost to run?
A) We can’t tell you. It depends on how much moisture you
need to remove and how long it needs to run to achieve your desired
level?
Q) Should I turn off the dehumidifier in the
winter?
A) If you want, but if you do leave it on it will work whenever
the humidity rises should there be a leaky pipe or a quick thaw
of the snow outside.
Q) How large is the water collection bucket?
A) Usually between 15 and 20 pints regardless of the capability
of the unit.
Q) How often will I have to empty the bucket?
A) That depends on how much moisture you have in the room and how
low you want to dehumidify.
Q) Does that mean that if I have a 65 pint
unit with a 20 pint water bucket, that I will have to empty it more
than once a day?
A) Yes, if you have that much moisture in the room.
But you won’t have to empty at all if you set up constant
drainage using gravity or an auxiliary pump.
Q) Can the bucket overflow?
A) No. Almost every unit has a float switch to shut off the unit
when the water rises to a certain level.
Q) How will air conditioning affect the dehumidifier?
A) If the area they want to dehumidify has air conditioning, then
it will almost double the coverage of the dehumidifier.
Q) Can I mount this in the wall between 2
rooms?
A) Yes. It may not be as efficient as if it were in the same room.
If you mount the dehumidifier in a wall, the moist air is pulled
from one room and the dry air is pushed into the other, so you will
have to leave the doors open between the rooms for air circulation
or have a large gap under the door.
Q) Can I place the dehumidifier in a cabinet?
A) No. Some units produce a fair amount of heat that could cause
a problem, and they need maximum airflow around them.
Q) How much heat do they produce?
A) It is partly a function of how long the unit needs to run to
achieve a humidity level you want to attain.
In a large room or basement might be 3 or 4 degrees,
but in a small room or a closet it could raise the temperature by
3-8 degrees.
Q) Won’t that heat make my air conditioner
work harder and longer?
A) No. It is easier to cool or heat dry air than air with moisture
and so the air conditioner will work less.
Q) Can I have windows open while I dehumidify?
A) No, or you will be trying to dry the air outside of your house.
Q) If I leave the cellar door open will it
dehumidify the upstairs?
A) Only an insignificant amount. Better to leave it closed.
Also, if you have the windows open you will be trying to dehumidify
the outdoors in addition to the upstairs. Therefore, it is recommended
to keep the cellar door closed.
Q) Can I use an air purifier at the same
time I’m using the dehumidifier in the room?
A) Yes, neither will affect the other.
Q) Does a dehumidifier cool the room?
A) No, it actually adds heat, but it will feel much more pleasant
because the air is drier.
Q) Which side is the bucket on? Or which side
does the air come out?
A) The bucket will be on the side where the air is pulled in. Drawing
from the front means front bucket.
(Note: Our Comfort-Aire and Millennium dehumidifiers have front buckets; the Delonghi
dehumidifiers have a rear bucket.)
Q) Do I need to place the dehumidifier in
the center of the room?
A) Placement does not have to be in the center of a room, but placing
it near the middle would be helpful. Since humidity will equalize
itself in an air space it is not absolutely necessary for it to
be located in the middle of the room.
Q) Can I dehumidify more than 1 room?
A) No, if the connecting doors are shut.
Yes, but not as well as a unit in each room. The room in which the
unit is placed will become the driest. The dehumidification process
can be helped by using a small fan ($7 -$10) to move the air out
of the back of these satellite rooms.
Q) Does the dehumidifier filter help clean
the air that I breathe?
A) Not really. The filter is used to prevent dust from getting on
the cold coils and reducing efficiency.
Q) How often should the filter be cleaned?
A) Check it monthly in the beginning to find out how often it needs
to be cleaned and then clean accordingly.
Q) How do I clean the filter?
A) Remove it according to the instruction manual, and then wash
it under faucet using low pressure or rinse it out in the sink.
Try to wash the particles back out instead of forcing them through
the filter.
Q) What can happen if I don’t wash the
filter?
A) The clogged filter will restrict the airflow and reduce the efficiency
and could cause it to overheat which will shorten the working life
of the unit.
Q) What is your “whole house”
Santa Fe dehumidifier?
A) It is a commercial quality home unit that can remove up to 86
pints of water/day and has a built in pump. It is very quiet and
uses only 5.3 amps of power. You can place it in a central area
of a home and use it with either the doors between the rooms left
open or with a lot of space under the doors.
Q) How does your
Santa Fe basement dehumidifier work?
A) It is also industrial grade and can remove up to 106 pints/day
with a drain tube to remove the water. A pump is optional as is
a duct kit to allow ducting into multiple rooms. This ducting from
room to room can be as simple as dryer hose or PVC pipe. It can
be used freestanding, or add ducting to it to duct into multiple
rooms, or be tied into a central air/ heating system’s ducting.
AllergyBuyersClub.com has an extensive range of residential
and commercial dehumidifiers and a great deal of information
about each one which we invite you to explore before calling our
dehumidifier experts at 1-888-236-7231. See our dehumidifier
selection guide for more useful buying information.
