DIYbanter - View Single Post - Dehumidifier - Runs constantly, but I would have expected it to produce more water..

willshak

on 8/13/2007 6:41 PM said the following:
I recently moved into a new house, and inherited a four year old Haier
AHD40, 40 pint dehumidifier which runs in an unfinished basement. Now
that the summer is here, the thing is running around the clock,
keeping the humidity in the basement at around 65%. I live in
Connecticut, where electricity prices are around 20 cents per k/wh.

I have tested the unit to see how much electricity it is using, and it
turned out to be around 16 kw/h over 24 hours, which, when I do the
Math, is going to set me back around $90 a month. Ouch!

The thing is, that for my 16 kw/h of electricity, the unit managed to
suck up just over 7 liters of water, which works out to be less that a
half a liter of water for every kw/h it uses. I was reading on the
energy star website, that modern dehumidifiers should be able to suck
up about 1.5 liters of water per kw/h used.

I am wondering that if I were to replace the unit for a new one, would
I get better efficiency. It would add insult to injury if I were to
shell out a couple of hundred dollars for a new unit, and still be
paying $90 to run thru the summer months.

Any thoughts from anyone would be greatly appreciated...

It's an unfinished basement. Paint the walls with a moisture barrier
paint and the dehumidifier will run less. The cost of the paint would be
less than a month's worth of electricity.

--

Bill
In Hamptonburgh, NY
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