Whole house dehumidifier

[Anonymous]

Has anyone had one of these installed in a not-new house? How big of an undertaking/expense is this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone had one of these installed in a not-new house? How big of an undertaking/expense is this?

Oh wow, I just started getting estimates. Depends on how big your house is. I’m finding that labor is about $700, but the price of the unit varies dramatically! Anywhere from 1100-4000. Really depends on how powerful you want it and the functionality and reliability you desire

[Anonymous]

We have one: it's our air conditioner. When working properly, AC should take care of any area with proper ventilation. Un-vented basements may need additional help.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone had one of these installed in a not-new house? How big of an undertaking/expense is this?

Oh wow, I just started getting estimates. Depends on how big your house is. I’m finding that labor is about $700, but the price of the unit varies dramatically! Anywhere from 1100-4000. Really depends on how powerful you want it and the functionality and reliability you desire

Thanks! Who are you getting quotes from? I was surprised to see that our regular HVAC company that installed our AC doesn't have any dehumidifier info on their site.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone had one of these installed in a not-new house? How big of an undertaking/expense is this?

Oh wow, I just started getting estimates. Depends on how big your house is. I’m finding that labor is about $700, but the price of the unit varies dramatically! Anywhere from 1100-4000. Really depends on how powerful you want it and the functionality and reliability you desire

Thanks! Who are you getting quotes from? I was surprised to see that our regular HVAC company that installed our AC doesn't have any dehumidifier info on their site.

I’m not much help locally, this is for our cabin in Shenandoah. But I think the $700 install charge is on target. The site I’m using to look at dehumidifiers is amgair.com I’m sure the installer gets better prices by a few margin points.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have one: it's our air conditioner. When working properly, AC should take care of any area with proper ventilation. Un-vented basements may need additional help.

Thank you for posting this. I was going to but wasn’t sure I was correct on it.

Your AC should do this fine. If not, get it serviced. Or at the very least- vacuum your registers and returns.

You might also have an issue with your humidifier- check that too.

But a whole house dehumidifier is typically unnecessary. Get a dehumidifier for the basement.

[Anonymous]

Our HVAC is too large so if we keep temp at 74 it cools too fast and doesn’t dehumidify enough. And it’s a new unit, argh

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have one: it's our air conditioner. When working properly, AC should take care of any area with proper ventilation. Un-vented basements may need additional help.

It's not the same thing. Sometimes it's not hot and it's just very humid inside and outside. I would love something that dealt with the humidity without blowing freezing cold air throught the house.

[Anonymous]

Live in a 1964 house and our original Aprilaire broke about a year ago and leaked under the flooring. HVAC guys disconnected the whole thing, having it replaced would have been a lot of money, and the unit probably wasn’t doing much anyway and we never noticed. So he disconnected and said just get a little room humidifier if you notice dry eyes or whatever. And we have never noticed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Live in a 1964 house and our original Aprilaire broke about a year ago and leaked under the flooring. HVAC guys disconnected the whole thing, having it replaced would have been a lot of money, and the unit probably wasn’t doing much anyway and we never noticed. So he disconnected and said just get a little room humidifier if you notice dry eyes or whatever. And we have never noticed.

Dry eyes would be a problem for a humidifier, not a dehumidifier.

[Anonymous]

We got a de-humidifier from Costco (about $200) and run it in the basement. We have a hose funning from it to the sump pump, although we could have put it on a stand a let it drain into the utility sink. For us, it was easier/cheaper than having one installed on our HVAC unit and one less thing we have to pay for maintenance on when they come twice a year to check our HVAC system. We're really happy with it.

[Anonymous]

I would urge you to get a couple hundred dollar whole house freestanding unit, one like this Frigidaire with both a pump and a direct drain hose) and run it. (https://a.co/d/eOP6UZl ) I had similar issues after redoing my house roof with much better insulation--the a/c was cycling off and my humidity levels rose. I was in the mid 70s range sometimes with humidity. I got this dehumidifier (2400 sq ft 2 level house) and put in the lower level. Humidity levels now in the 50s, maybe a 62% when it's really gross out.

[Anonymous]

There are only a few days a year when it’s uncomfortably humid but too cool for our a/c to take care of it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are only a few days a year when it’s uncomfortably humid but too cool for our a/c to take care of it.

This. So long as the AC is appropriately sized for the space, it's the easiest way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are only a few days a year when it’s uncomfortably humid but too cool for our a/c to take care of it.

This. So long as the AC is appropriately sized for the space, it's the easiest way.

Depends on how cool you keep it. DW wants it 75 all the time which leaves us humid many days; I think if we stuck to 70 it would drive out enough humidity. Is that typical?