Dehumidifiers have become consumables lately - they don't last, and you can't repair them.

But I'm considering getting one with an extended warranty. Has anyone had luck with these? Do they pay off on the failed unit, or does it end up costing me more to ship it somewhere than to buy a new one?

On Monday, May 13, 2019 at 4:10:12 PM UTC-4, TimR wrote:
Dehumidifiers have become consumables lately - they don't last, and you can't repair them.

But I'm considering getting one with an extended warranty. Has anyone had luck with these? Do they pay off on the failed unit, or does it end up costing me more to ship it somewhere than to buy a new one?

I've shared my story here several times. Needed a new one, did research
online and found one online that was a good deal, I don't remember the
exact price, might have been like $140 with shipping. I also went to
the local appliance dealer, PC Richards and they had the same unit.
So we negotiated. They offered something like $160 with an additional
2 year warranty. Normally I don't like extended warranties, but when it
was just $20 more than the online deal and knowing that these units don't
last I said yes. Good thing, because sometime in year two, it quit.

So, I go back and of course it's not as simple as you'd hope. They no
longer have the same unit or a similar one of the same capacity. That
they did have was maybe 20% higher capacity. So, I had two choices.
One was leave the failed one for repair and they have no idea how long
that will take. The other was to hand over about $30 for the higher
capacity unit, which I did. So, it definitely turned out worthwhile
for me. I'd look at what the warranty costs and evaluate if it makes
sense, knowing these things fail pretty quickly.

On 5/13/2019 4:47 PM, trader_4 wrote:
On Monday, May 13, 2019 at 4:10:12 PM UTC-4, TimR wrote:
Dehumidifiers have become consumables lately - they don't last, and you can't repair them.

But I'm considering getting one with an extended warranty. Has anyone had luck with these? Do they pay off on the failed unit, or does it end up costing me more to ship it somewhere than to buy a new one?

I've shared my story here several times. Needed a new one, did research
online and found one online that was a good deal, I don't remember the
exact price, might have been like $140 with shipping. I also went to
the local appliance dealer, PC Richards and they had the same unit.
So we negotiated. They offered something like $160 with an additional
2 year warranty. Normally I don't like extended warranties, but when it
was just $20 more than the online deal and knowing that these units don't
last I said yes. Good thing, because sometime in year two, it quit.

So, I go back and of course it's not as simple as you'd hope. They no
longer have the same unit or a similar one of the same capacity. That
they did have was maybe 20% higher capacity. So, I had two choices.
One was leave the failed one for repair and they have no idea how long
that will take. The other was to hand over about $30 for the higher
capacity unit, which I did. So, it definitely turned out worthwhile
for me. I'd look at what the warranty costs and evaluate if it makes
sense, knowing these things fail pretty quickly.


I would also suggest making the purchase with a credit card that
provides a full, extended warranty that kicks in after the
manufacturer's warranty expires.

The only extended warranties I've ever paid for were for big ticket
items like a HD flatscreen television or refrigerator - both of which
were well over $2k purchase price.

Oh, and the extended next day on site repair/replace warranty from Dell
for my son-in-laws computer network for his dental practice. There are
certain things that are mission critical and that system is one of them.
For the security and peace of mind that warranty provides, the cost is
really nominal over, I think, a four or five year term.

On 5/13/19 4:10 PM, TimR wrote:
Dehumidifiers have become consumables lately - they don't last, and you can't repair them.

But I'm considering getting one with an extended warranty. Has anyone had luck with these? Do they pay off on the failed unit, or does it end up costing me more to ship it somewhere than to buy a new one?


I've purchased two extended warranties in my life and was phucked both times.Â* I've learned my lesson so I'd never buy another one.

Anyway, the typical $200 dehumidifier lasts about three years so they average out to ~$70/yr.Â* I just buy a new one when they puke.

On Mon, 13 May 2019 13:10:07 -0700 (PDT), TimR
wrote:

Dehumidifiers have become consumables lately - they don't last, and you can't repair them.

But I'm considering getting one with an extended warranty. Has anyone had luck with these? Do they pay off on the failed unit, or does it end up costing me more to ship it somewhere than to buy a new one?


In the past several years I have only had one dehumidifier that lasted
a little over two years. All the rest have failed in the first or
second year. So I purchase them now at Lowes, with the two-year
extended warranty (which extends the factory 1-year providing a total
of three). Lowe's has now replaced three for me, with no hassle. This
is the only product for which I buy a warranty.

-dan z-


--
Someone who thinks logically provides
a nice contrast to the real world.
(Anonymous)

On 5/13/2019 4:10 PM, TimR wrote:
Dehumidifiers have become consumables lately - they don't last, and you can't repair them.

But I'm considering getting one with an extended warranty. Has anyone had luck with these? Do they pay off on the failed unit, or does it end up costing me more to ship it somewhere than to buy a new one?


Extended warranties always benefit the seller, not the buyer. The few
that I have bought never paid off on any of them.

In article , lcgh-
says...

In the past several years I have only had one dehumidifier that lasted
a little over two years. All the rest have failed in the first or
second year. So I purchase them now at Lowes, with the two-year
extended warranty (which extends the factory 1-year providing a total
of three). Lowe's has now replaced three for me, with no hassle. This
is the only product for which I buy a warranty.



Just about everyone I have talked to has only gotten two to three years
out of the dehumidifiers if that long.

I never had one, so do not undestand why they do not last. They are
just air conditioners or refrigerators in a sense. Those last for many
years.

Ralph Mowery writes:

In article , lcgh-
says...

In the past several years I have only had one dehumidifier that lasted
a little over two years. All the rest have failed in the first or
second year. So I purchase them now at Lowes, with the two-year
extended warranty (which extends the factory 1-year providing a total
of three). Lowe's has now replaced three for me, with no hassle. This
is the only product for which I buy a warranty.



Just about everyone I have talked to has only gotten two to three years
out of the dehumidifiers if that long.

I never had one, so do not undestand why they do not last. They are
just air conditioners or refrigerators in a sense. Those last for many
years.

I've got one I use to keep the basement dry.
A Sears model, at least 20 years old.
Works fine.

--
Dan Espen

On Tue, 14 May 2019 11:19:24 -0400, Dan Espen
wrote:

Ralph Mowery writes:

In article , lcgh-
says...

In the past several years I have only had one dehumidifier that lasted
a little over two years. All the rest have failed in the first or
second year. So I purchase them now at Lowes, with the two-year
extended warranty (which extends the factory 1-year providing a total
of three). Lowe's has now replaced three for me, with no hassle. This
is the only product for which I buy a warranty.



Just about everyone I have talked to has only gotten two to three years
out of the dehumidifiers if that long.

I never had one, so do not undestand why they do not last. They are
just air conditioners or refrigerators in a sense. Those last for many
years.

I've got one I use to keep the basement dry.
A Sears model, at least 20 years old.
Works fine.


I'm on my second one, after about 25 years ..
It's used in the basement during the summer months only.
no central A/C
John T.

On Tuesday, May 14, 2019 at 10:57:19 AM UTC-4, Ralph Mowery wrote:
In article , lcgh-
says...

In the past several years I have only had one dehumidifier that lasted
a little over two years. All the rest have failed in the first or
second year. So I purchase them now at Lowes, with the two-year
extended warranty (which extends the factory 1-year providing a total
of three). Lowe's has now replaced three for me, with no hassle. This
is the only product for which I buy a warranty.



Just about everyone I have talked to has only gotten two to three years
out of the dehumidifiers if that long.

I never had one, so do not undestand why they do not last. They are
just air conditioners or refrigerators in a sense. Those last for many
years.

This site explains it:
http://quietlycrushingit.com/reviews...ier-long-haul/

Higher pressures than formerly plus cheapest possible manufacturing.

On Tue, 14 May 2019 08:01:33 -0400, Biff Tannen
wrote:

On 5/13/19 4:10 PM, TimR wrote:
Dehumidifiers have become consumables lately - they don't last, and you can't repair them.

But I'm considering getting one with an extended warranty. Has anyone had luck with these? Do they pay off on the failed unit, or does it end up costing me more to ship it somewhere than to buy a new one?


I've purchased two extended warranties in my life and was phucked both times.* I've learned my lesson so I'd never buy another one.

Anyway, the typical $200 dehumidifier lasts about three years so they average out to ~$70/yr.* I just buy a new one when they puke.

I'm on my third in 36 years - the first two were used ones I got for
nothing and they both lasted me more than 10 years. I sold them - in
operating condition, at garage sales - the first when I found a newer
one on the curb, and the last when my wife wanted a white one with a
bigger bucket and I found what she wanted on sale at Canadian Tire.
That new one is now somethiing like 10 or12 years old and has been
totally trouble free. The first two were both Electrohome - made
right here in Kitchener Ontario - the current one is a GE AGH40LJ -
made in China.
If I remember correctly I replaced the fan motor on one of the
electrohomes - about $15 - and I got about $30 for them when I got rid
of them.

On Tue, 14 May 2019 10:57:10 -0400, Ralph Mowery
wrote:

In article , lcgh-
says...

In the past several years I have only had one dehumidifier that lasted
a little over two years. All the rest have failed in the first or
second year. So I purchase them now at Lowes, with the two-year
extended warranty (which extends the factory 1-year providing a total
of three). Lowe's has now replaced three for me, with no hassle. This
is the only product for which I buy a warranty.



Just about everyone I have talked to has only gotten two to three years
out of the dehumidifiers if that long.

I never had one, so do not undestand why they do not last. They are
just air conditioners or refrigerators in a sense. Those last for many
years.

It's because nobody puts out enough cash to buy a decent one. I
haven't gotten less than 10 years out of one yet. All 3 have been
decent quality units - and they run all summer and in the winter when
my wife hangs clothes in the laundry room. They ARE in a clean
environment. If you let the coils get coated in lint and crap I guess
they would fail - I used to clean the coils on the electrohomes every
2 years or so - have not cleaned the GE yet

On Tuesday, May 14, 2019 at 10:43:14 PM UTC-4, Clare Snyder wrote:
On Tue, 14 May 2019 10:57:10 -0400, Ralph Mowery
wrote:

In article , lcgh-
says...

In the past several years I have only had one dehumidifier that lasted
a little over two years. All the rest have failed in the first or
second year. So I purchase them now at Lowes, with the two-year
extended warranty (which extends the factory 1-year providing a total
of three). Lowe's has now replaced three for me, with no hassle. This
is the only product for which I buy a warranty.



Just about everyone I have talked to has only gotten two to three years
out of the dehumidifiers if that long.

I never had one, so do not undestand why they do not last. They are
just air conditioners or refrigerators in a sense. Those last for many
years.

It's because nobody puts out enough cash to buy a decent one. I
haven't gotten less than 10 years out of one yet. All 3 have been
decent quality units - and they run all summer and in the winter when
my wife hangs clothes in the laundry room. They ARE in a clean
environment. If you let the coils get coated in lint and crap I guess
they would fail - I used to clean the coils on the electrohomes every
2 years or so - have not cleaned the GE yet

IDK, when I was last looking a few years ago, the price range wasn't
that big, they were ~$150 among recognized brand names. I didn't
see one that cost $250 claiming to last longer. Also, you can get
air conditioners for $100 and I don't see people claiming that they
only last two or three years. But IDK, haven't bought any of those.
Bottom line, I'd do extra research before buying one, make sure to
look at reviews on Amazon and elsewhere online.