On Aug 6, 8:23 am, lagman wrote:
All,

I'm trying to decide whether or not to invest in a de-humidifier. I
just bought a house with a finished basement (first house I have ever
had with a basement). When we were looking at the house, I noticed
the previous owner didn't have one in the basement. I think it is
comfortable, but my wife thinks it feels too humid (we have had a
couple weeks of very humid weather).

My main concern is mold growth. I am going to put a hygrometer down
there to measure the humidity. At what level should I be concerned?
I should also mention that once our furniture gets here, it will
contain a big screen LCD TV and some stereo equipment (I'm not sure if
a humid basement can damage electronics or not).

If I do need one, is there any advantage to putting a lot of money
into one of these things? I see a 25 pint model at Lowes for $139.

Thanks,
Dan

It will help, but not be enough for any basement. But the best way to
control excessive humidity in a basement is to make sure your basement
has a cold air return back to the forced air HVAC system. This way in
the summer your AC system will be able to suck a good amount of it's
air supply from your basement and pump it up into the rest of the
house. If your AC air handler is already located in your basement, an
easy way to provide this is to simply keep your furnaces filter door
opened during the summer months. The AC will then suck a lot of air
from the basement (this wont bypass the filter BTW). This method
helps my basement more than any little dehumidifier can and keeps the
RH the same as the upstairs.