The prospect of changing my heating system has prompted a review of my
complete heating/cooling systems. If I don't goto central ac (because of my
inadequate duct size as mentioned in my earlier question) I will continue
running my separate ac units.
My question is this:
Right now I have a few large ac units running upstairs in the summer & those
work fine for cooling the house. In our finished basement (in a split-entry
ranch of about 2200sq ft) I have a dehumidifier as the vinyl floor sits on
concrete & gets wet when its humid. The dehumidifier does a good job of
getting rid of the humidity but dumps warm air out & thus is fighting my
attempts to cool the downstairs as well.(The downstairs is open & thus allot
of cool air naturally falls down the stairs to keep the basement fairly
cool) Would a window ac unit do as good a job of dehumidifying the basement
as the dehumidifier while cooling the room as well?

"Dick" wrote in message

Would a window ac unit do as good a job of dehumidifying the basement
as the dehumidifier while cooling the room as well?


Maybe, depends on the temperature and humidity. A de-humidifier is
essentially an airconditioner with no exhaust of the hot air. Thus, the
coil will condense the moisture and let it drain into a pan while the heat
stays in the room maintaining the same temperature. An AC unit exhausts the
heat to the outside and cools the room at the same time. As long as the AC
runs long enough it will dehumidify also. If the temperature drops so low
that the AC is not needed, you will not longer get dehumidification and may
have to run the stand alone unit.

New dehumidifiers, energy star, are very efficient. mine only heats the
basement a degree or 2 and only consumes 350 watts its 52 pint. An ac
unit may make your basement just plain cold. Actualy central air would
be as cheap to run as you window units and cool 3x better, more evenly.
Maybe minor duct upgrades could make central air workable. I had that
problem and just added one return. It was that or no AC

"Dick" wrote in message
...
Would a window ac unit do as good a job of dehumidifying the basement
as the dehumidifier while cooling the room as well?



Probably not. An AC unit will be trying to cool the air, if the room is cool
it will not run.
Have you considered that running two AC units and possibly a third, and/or a
dehumidifier, it may be cheaper in the long to put in central AC?
Greg

Yes Greg ,
I am considering adding central ac but (as is mentioned in another thread)
the main duct in the house is only 8x8 which is evidently ok for heat but
too small for ac. I would have to rip down plaster ceilings in the basement
to even get at the ducts...let alone the cost involved of replacing them.
I'll consider adding central ac only if I can use my present duct system or
somehow add to it.
In the mean time, the cooling season here in Mass is only a few months long
& if I can fine tune the system I have I'll be happy.
"Greg O" wrote in message
...

"Dick" wrote in message
...
Would a window ac unit do as good a job of dehumidifying the basement
as the dehumidifier while cooling the room as well?



Probably not. An AC unit will be trying to cool the air, if the room is
cool
it will not run.
Have you considered that running two AC units and possibly a third, and/or
a
dehumidifier, it may be cheaper in the long to put in central AC?
Greg

How humid is it outdoors? How about close the cellar door, and put in an
exhaust fan?

A window or wall AC will remove some humidity, but like the other poster
says -- as long as it's calling for cooling.



--

Christopher A. Young
Join Alt-Hvac Moderated
A free, easy to use Yahoo! group



"Dick" wrote in message
...
The prospect of changing my heating system has prompted a review of my
complete heating/cooling systems. If I don't goto central ac (because of
my
inadequate duct size as mentioned in my earlier question) I will continue
running my separate ac units.
My question is this:
Right now I have a few large ac units running upstairs in the summer &
those
work fine for cooling the house. In our finished basement (in a
split-entry
ranch of about 2200sq ft) I have a dehumidifier as the vinyl floor sits on
concrete & gets wet when its humid. The dehumidifier does a good job of
getting rid of the humidity but dumps warm air out & thus is fighting my
attempts to cool the downstairs as well.(The downstairs is open & thus
allot
of cool air naturally falls down the stairs to keep the basement fairly
cool) Would a window ac unit do as good a job of dehumidifying the
basement
as the dehumidifier while cooling the room as well?

"Stormin Mormon" wrote in message
...
How humid is it outdoors? How about close the cellar door, and put in an
exhaust fan?

A window or wall AC will remove some humidity, but like the other poster
says -- as long as it's calling for cooling.



Umm...no.

An exhaust fan will only pull in the humid air outside, and I would think
that the OP wants something that actually removes moisture from teh air.

A window unit, with true dehumidification, will also have a set of heat
strips, OR a way to divert, and mix air off the condensor to warm the air as
it enters back into the room.
Thought you were in AC...





--

Christopher A. Young
Join Alt-Hvac Moderated
A free, easy to use Yahoo! group



"Dick" wrote in message
...
The prospect of changing my heating system has prompted a review of my
complete heating/cooling systems. If I don't goto central ac (because of
my
inadequate duct size as mentioned in my earlier question) I will
continue
running my separate ac units.
My question is this:
Right now I have a few large ac units running upstairs in the summer &
those
work fine for cooling the house. In our finished basement (in a
split-entry
ranch of about 2200sq ft) I have a dehumidifier as the vinyl floor sits
on
concrete & gets wet when its humid. The dehumidifier does a good job of
getting rid of the humidity but dumps warm air out & thus is fighting my
attempts to cool the downstairs as well.(The downstairs is open & thus
allot
of cool air naturally falls down the stairs to keep the basement fairly
cool) Would a window ac unit do as good a job of dehumidifying the
basement
as the dehumidifier while cooling the room as well?