Dehumidifier Recommendations?

[triangle]

Yes, it was installed at the same time as I had our crawl space encapsulated. Where we live, the climate is such that not protecting your crawl space is just asking for serious problems down the line.

Is that dehumidifier only for the crawlspace air? Or is it also conditioning your living space air? If only for the crawlspace did your living space still need a separate dehumidifier?

Sorry to be asking too many questions here, but I was curious about a real world example from one with a crawlspace in a similar climate. I have heard that roughly 50% of the air inside the home enters through the crawlspace. So encapsulation and getting the moisture level way down would then drop the level inside the home. Implying that a dry crawlspace and a variable speed AC unit might keep the home's humidity level in the acceptable range. But if the AC is not running often enough or the crawlspace is too well isolated then maybe separate dehumidification is still be needed for the moist climate of southeastern US.

 

[COcheesehead]

Where I live we WANT humidity. I have a humidifier attached to my HVAC system. Makes a difference. No static, wood floors don’t gap.

 

[Koolau]

I've got a couple of similar cheap hygrometers, but how do you know how accurate that is? There's a 'salt test' one can use that involves putting the hygrometer in a ziplock with wet (but not dissolved) salt. My recollection is that my cheap hygrometer came out okay, reasonably accurate from that test when I did it a couple of years ago. One cannot readily place an entire dehumidifier into a ziplock with wet salt to test the built-in hygrometer!
So I think that having a cheap testable hygrometer is a good way to go. First determine the offset from 'accurate' of the cheap hygrometer, then use that to find the offset-from-accurate for the hygrometer built into the dehumidifier. Maybe tape a little note onto the dehumifier to remind you of the offset. Mine is a bit more than 10% off, which seems like quite a bit (too much) to me.

I'm interested in the Rh% levels that people are shooting for. In my garage I'm happy if it's in the 60 - 70% range, 50% seems to me to be running the unit longer (shorter unit life, higher electric bill) than I need in order to suck up puddles of water from a wet car and to keep tools from rusting.

Depending upon how important it is to get a good result, you can buy a sling psychrometer for $60 to $75 at Amazon.

 

[YB88]

Depending upon how important it is to get a good result, you can buy a sling psychrometer for $60 to $75 at Amazon.

I hadn't thought of that, fun!
For my use, just putting some salt and a little water into a ziplock on a one-time basis is just as easy and cheaper, but that sling psychrometer takes me back. I recall quite some (too many) years ago doing Army training in Georgia in July that they would use one of those to decide just what they could and couldn't do to us on a very hot and humid day, sometimes running us through crude outdoor showers to get soaking wet to cool off --- and then right back to training.

 

[freedomatlast]

If you're looking for a great commercial quality dehumidifier, skip the big box stores and order one from Moiswell.

 

[Koolau]

I'm sure you're already aware that dehumidifiers are energy hogs. They're kinda like setting an AC unit in the middle of your floor. We were using one for a basement area and our energy bill spiked a lot. Eventually, we just opened the door to the basement and let the area "air out" naturally with the rest of the house. Not ideal but saved a lot of electricity.