how often do you turn on your basement dehumdifier?
Joe
it's not damp. I keep a fan running 24/7 and that keeps any musty
smells at bay. If I run my dehumdifier for an hour it gets the
humidity down to around 60. Am I ok running it about 4 times a day for
an hour each time or should I keep it running continuously? It uses
about as much energy as an air conditioner so I don't want to run it
all day unless it's absolutely necessary to keep the moisture at bay.
Rick
>
> I have a humid basement - hovers around 80 degrees on it's own - but
> it's not damp. I keep a fan running 24/7 and that keeps any musty
> humidity down to around 60. Am I ok running it about 4 times a day for
> an hour each time or should I keep it running continuously? It uses
> about as much energy as an air conditioner so I don't want to run it
> all day unless it's absolutely necessary to keep the moisture at bay.
It really is a matter of the specific basement in question. Ours leaches
a lot of moisture and if we don't run the dehumidifier 24/7 in the
summer you can just smell the mold. Well, running 24/7 in context of it
shutting itself off as it will. It's not cheap to run, but both of us
having allergies to mold I don't see a better option. All you can do is
try running it less and see if you are happy with the result - or not.
You could put it on a timer or an X-10 remote control if running down
there to turn it on and off is a hassle.
Rick
E Z Peaces
corresponds to a dewpoint of 66 F. So any time the dewpoint outside is
below 66 F, ventilation should keep your basement below 60% at 80 F.
www.weather.gov/ has all kinds of charts forecasting the dewpoint for a
local area.
If it's too hot or cold outside, a Heat Recovery Ventilator (HRV) will
bring incoming air almost to the desired temperature. HRVs are used for
bathrooms so you can vent with a minimal impact on heating/cooling
costs. A fan takes a lot less power than a dehumidifier.
Logan Shaw
Hmm, isn't that what a humidistat is for -- running a dehumidifier
(or humidifier) only as much as is necessary to keep a desired
moisture level?
- Logan
Joe
Yeah well I'm just wondering if it would make a difference if the
dehumidifier sucked all the moisture out of the air at once instead of
constantly cycling on and off all day wasting power. The humidity and
moisture in the basement are not noticeable at all but everything I
read online tells me that if you don't keep your humidity under 60
degrees mold will grow.
Logan Shaw
> Yeah well I'm just wondering if it would make a difference if the
> dehumidifier sucked all the moisture out of the air at once instead of
> constantly cycling on and off all day wasting power. The humidity and
> moisture in the basement are not noticeable at all but everything I
> read online tells me that if you don't keep your humidity under 60
> degrees mold will grow.
Interesting question. I myself was assuming that if you are going to
regulate it, keeping the humidity at a steady level might prevent mold
better than letting it fluctuate. As an extreme example, if you left
the humidity at 80% for a week and then 40% for the next week, it
seems like more mold would grow in that first week than would grow in
two weeks at 60% (but 80% and 40% average out to 60%). I'm not sure
of this; it just seems to make sense because a lot of things work that
way.
Of course you're right that shorter cycle times use a little more
electricity (all other things being equal). I know most thermostats
have an adjustable temperature swing. In principle a humidistat
could have an adjustment like that too, although I'm not sure if
it's likely that they really do. If they did, that seems to me like
it would be the best way.
- Logan
Rick
Sure, but they are still expensive to run. Dehumidifiers havn't climbed
on the "Energy Star bandwagon" yet. Even with tweaking the control on
ours all the time to make sure it isn't running more than it needs to,
it can still jump our electric bill by about 1/3 during the summer
months. I think the point the OP was making was would it still work
enough if he only had it turned on four times a day rather than letting
it do it's own thing being plugged in 24/7.
Rick
Rick
Bob F
"Joe" <joe...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1186798598.7...@b79g2000hse.googlegroups.com...
People survived with basements for hundreds and more years before dehumidifiers.
And they didn't all have mold problems. I am constantly amased at the paranoia
about mold.
"humidity under 60 degrees" - now there's a goal.
Bob
Bob F
"Rick" <rick...@rcn.com> wrote in message news:46BDF17E...@rcn.com...
If you REALLY need a dehumidifier, would you rather have an air conditioner? Why
not get cooling as you dehumidify rather than just dumping the heat back into
the basement.
Bob
E Z Peaces
less able it is to pick up the water vapor that comes in through the
walls, etc. Ventilation is the traditional and frugal way to keep a
basement dry. A Heat Recovery Ventilator helps you control basement
temperature while ventilating in cold or hot weather.
Gene S. Berkowitz
bobn...@gmail.com says...
People lived for hundreds of years in houses with no insulation and
leaky windows. There was so much natural ventilation that a house was
hardly more conducive to mold growth than the outdoors.
Today, more people live in tightly sealed boxes that may not get five
total air changes in a day, constructed with paper-backed wallboard,
multiple warm water vapor sources, and carpeting, e.g. a mold incubator.
--Gene