I decided to buy locally, so no Bionaire or Surround unit. I got in
touch with somebody who (used to) sell the Soleus. Although it earns
excellent reviews, he said that he got a lot of returns because the
unit didn't work. Not good when you have to pay shipping; even worse
when it is trans-border; the differential between the cost and
difficulty of domestic versus international shipping seems far
greater than it was before NAFTA. *Another* downside of that
agreement.

I bought the Fedders A7DH45B2A Dehumidifier, reviews at

http://www.dealtime.com/xPR-Fedders_...s_Dehumidifier

for $cdn 250 from Home Depot. The reviewers differ as to whether
it is noisy or quiet; expectations must play a role. It is noisy,
but not in an annoying way. If it comes on in a room 15 feet away
with the door closed, I don't wake up from my sleep because of it.
Sometimes it does peculiar things, like not turning on or turning off
when the numbers say it should. Once I found it in high fan mode
with the condensor turned off. In each case I was able to fix the
problem by unplugging the unit. So the claim that it will remember
its settings after a power outage is false. The fact that it resets
by unplugging is a boon -- how else would you fix it if it got stuck
in some strange mode?

It rolls and handles well. As it is plasticky, it is also light
enough to carry (empty the reservoir first). Con: Made in China.
Con: costs a lot more in Canada than in USA. Con: Cycles on and off (
2 minutes?) frequently when near equilibrium point. Pro: numbers
nice; Con: numbers (relative humidity) aren't accurate. Pro:
pressing a single button will pause the unit for an hour when you
need quiet.

Compared to the Home Hardware Classic which I returned earlier, the
Fedders has the crucial advantage of "low temperature" (65 degrees F
or below) operation. The Fedders is less noisy, reservoir removes
from the front, removes more moisture per unit time, is Energy
starred. The only advantage of the Classic is the metal chassis,
though that makes it heavier.

I'm not going to pretend that I'm 100% happy with this purchase, but
life is a series of compromises. The condensation on our single pane
windows is considerably reduced. Now that we have the interior
moisture under control, as specified by the EnerPlan inspector, it's
time to move on to calling
for quotes on the windows. I've pretty much decided to pay a bit
extra and get sealed 2-ply low-e (high sunlight transmission version),
argon-filled units. Of the 15 window openings in the house, only
about 3 need to be operable (open-able). So on the inoperable
windows, that leaves us with 5 options:
--reglaze (replace glass only in existing sash)
--retrofit (new sash unit in existing frame)
--replace (rip out old frames entirely)
--exterior storm (don't remove old glazing at all)
--interior storm.

The old wood frames are mostly in pretty good shape. Inside, there
is lots of room and various surfaces where an interior storm could
find purchase, a good seal could be made. I'm inclined to go that
route. The energy inspector warned me that the unit closer to the
living space should always be more airtight than the unit next to the
great outdoors, otherwise you'll have condensation building up in
between. The current windows have been carefully "sealed" with 7
decades of paint, but if need be I could drill a hole at the bottom of
the sash and insert a small bit of medical tubing to allow access of
dry exterior air and, although it should never come to that, drain off
any condensation.

--
Jonathan Berry