I have 2 standard freestanding units in my basement and crawlspace running 24/7. I want to get something more energy efficient, will last a while, and that’s easy to maintain. I am considering an Aprileaire dehumidifier. Based on this https://www.energystar.gov/productfinder/product/certified-dehumidifiers/results it would appear they have a high efficiency rating. Does anyone have experience with these or recommendations on solutions?
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I don’t have experience with the aprilaire, but I also have a basement that requires a dehumidifier to run all the time. I’d love to try a whole home dehumidifier but wonder if you’d have to get the upper levels of the house too dry to keep the basement at the desired humidity (since it will always be more humid down there than the rest of the house).
One alternate solution I’d like to look into long term is a heat pump water heater, which has the benefit of being more efficient than more other water heaters, plus the benefit of dehumidifying the space around it due to the refrigeration cycle it uses. This only sounds reasonable b/c my water heater is on the older side so I might have to replace it eventually anyways. Wanted to throw that out there in case it was a possibility for yourself too! Not sure how it would work for the crawl space tho.
Full-disclosure: I’ve done VERY littler research on this. Just dabbling into some google searches in my free time and work in a related field and feel mildly knowledgeable on the subject.
So, I was interested in the same thing to save energy not running the unit, but as I understand it they don’t dehumidify quite as much as a dedicated dehumidifier. I believe it only runs when I need hot water, so I’m not sure how often it would run on average for our water usage and if that would be sufficient to dehumidify the basement
The best way to be energy efficient. Is to fix whatever is constantly causing the humidity. Have you properly encapsulated the space? I’ve heard great things about Aprileaire. What unit’s are you currently using?
So, good question, the previous owner did install a vapor barrier covering the basement and crawlspace, so there is some other mitigation in place. The current unit came with the house - HOMELABS HME020031. It keeps humidity down fine, but the pump is broken, so I’d like to replace it with something that should last for a while and hopefully run a little lighter on electric cost.
It seems it has a rating of 1.9L/kwh, whereas the aprilaire is 2.3L/kwH, so I suppose about ~20% more efficient. My other thought was they seem to have a better warranty so if something fails then I don’t need to replace the whole unit.Sizing up is one way to get efficiency. Another is switching to 240volt from 120volt if your unit supports it.