Actually my "laundry room" is in fact half the basement, and is
connected to the remainder of the basement by an open doorway. Even if
I were going to put a new door in, it would either be louvered or have a
vent panel in it because there is no cold air return from the other side
of the basement, and all the gas-fired appliances are in there. The
comments are appreciated, though.

I do think the A/C may help because it will be circulating the air,
which was not possible before (had a heat-only thermostat which wouldn't
allow the furnace fan to be controlled separately.) I may also try
simply running the fan by itself when it's warm but not hot upstairs.

How could one tell without running a dehumidifier whether it's suitable
for use in a basement or not?

nate

Joseph Meehan wrote:
I offer no answer, but just a few ideas. Air circulation with air
from the rest of the home or outside may be a good part of your
solution. Newer units are more efficient. Note: not all dehumidifiers
are suitable for basement use. I suspect that may be part of the
problem you are having with your current one. Take a look at it after
it has been running a while. Do you see frost build up on the coils?
If so you likely have a unit that is not suitable for basement use.
Also the frost likely will make it noisier. Make sure those coils are
kept clean and there is good airflow to the unit. If it is in the
laundry room, it is not going to dehumidify the rest of the basement as
well as if it were more centrally located. You may need a new location
of fans to move the air around more.

"N8N" wrote in message
...

Hi all,

got a fairly old (1940's) house with a basement that tends to get
humid in the summertime - no visible water intrusion, it just gets
damp. I assume because it stays nice and cool down there and the hot
air from outside has a lot of water in it that just can't stay when
the air cools off. I have an old dehumidifier that came with the
house, but I don't think it's doing a whole lot - it runs a lot, but
the container never seems to get full. I suspect that this is wasting
a lot of electricity, plus it's loud. (the door is missing to the
laundry room, so if I'm trying to sit in the other room and watch TV I
have to turn the volume up when it kicks on.) I suspect I should just
buy a new one, any particular recommendations on brands? Quiet would
be my first concern, efficiency second. I may not need it at all once
it gets warm as we have central A/C installed (which we didn't last
year) but there are still a couple months where it is warm/humid that
I probably won't use the A/C.

thanks

nate





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