Recommending Frigidaire Dehumidifier, Maybe Early

[Michael_B]

About 6 months ago, I installed this Frigidaire 50-pt dehumidifier in my foam-insulated attic and it's been great.  The attic air (55%) is noticeably drier than my house (~60%).  Yesterday, I noticed that a neighboring metal shop has started using the same unit.  The shop manager raved about the enormous difference it has made.  

So, while it may be early to recommend it, I am.  The true test is going to start in a few weeks, when the sweltering Florida summer begins.

[scottcald]

Nice.  Is it quiet? I need to replace one in our basement, but I don't want one that's not quiet because it would be directly under the kitchen.  

[Ting Ho Dung]

Why dehumidify your attic? Do you use it for something? The only thing mine handles are my A/C air handlers, possums and rats. 

On a side note, you should collect the water. It's pure and really good for organic gardening between rains. 

[unfun75]

Best on the market IMO. Don't know if any dehumidifier is "quiet" but it's not as loud as the previous (I think it was an LG.) Set and forget!

[Michael_B]

On 3/9/2016 at 10:16 AM, scottcald said:

Nice.  Is it quiet? I need to replace one in our basement, but I don't want one that's not quiet because it would be directly under the kitchen.  

I think it should be quiet enough for that.  My "attic" is actually part of the second story of my house and there's a hallway on the other side of the attic.  I've never noticed the sound of the dehumidifier while walking through the hall.  But, I was never really listening for it.

[Michael_B]

18 hours ago, Ting Ho Dung said:

Why dehumidify your attic? Do you use it for something? The only thing mine handles are my A/C air handlers, possums and rats. 

On a side note, you should collect the water. It's pure and really good for organic gardening between rains. 

We use the attic for storage, and access it several times a week.  I couldn't tolerate the heat and humidity in there, so I foam insulated the roof deck and added the dehumidifier.

Theoretically, it should have had the same humidity as the inside of the house, but each day, I'd have to dump a nearly full reservoir.  So, apparently, I was still drawing a lot of humidity from somewhere.  This winter, I added a small A/C vent and around that time I started to draw less humidity.  However, it was winter.  This summer will be the test.  After I satisfy my curiosity about the humidity in the attic, I'll run the dehumidifier into the A/C drain.

[Studio Custom]

Attics generally have soffit or ridge vents, are you sure you're not just pulling in moisture from outside?   

Run a pipe through the wall so you never have to empty it again.  

[cynic]

20 minutes ago, Studio Custom said:

Attics generally have soffit or ridge vents, are you sure you're not just pulling in moisture from outside?   

 

Sounds likely given the modest 5% reduction.

[Michael_B]

On 3/14/2016 at 7:52 PM, Studio Custom said:

Attics generally have soffit or ridge vents, are you sure you're not just pulling in moisture from outside?   

Run a pipe through the wall so you never have to empty it again.  

The roofline at the soffit is heavily foam-insulated.  I also filled in the roof vent with foam.  It's possible that I'm still drawing in outside air from somewhere.  It's also crossed my mind that the framing may have had a high water content, which took months to work through.  We're still having relatively low humidity, so it's hard to judge.  Also, it's hard to judge because I have no idea how much water my household A/C is extracting.  It's possible that, comparatively, the dehumidifier is pulling out about as much water as I should expect.

I'll connect the dehumidifier to the A/C drain (the air handler is in the same attic), later this summer.

[Michael_B]

While we haven't yet hit the terrible FL humidity, the dehumidifier continues to work great.  

For the first few months of operation, I was dumping a full tank every day.  I figured the attic was drawing air from outside, but couldn't figure out where/how.  It's long stopped doing that, which suggests to me that it was drawing dozens of gallons of moisture out of the framing/decking.

I'm so curious about how much moisture it will draw in August, I'm almost looking forward to August in FL.

[hamerhead]

Love ours. It sits just outside the guitar room and has done a great job on the entire basement for the past 5 or 6 years. The hose attachment is man's greatest invention.

[Michael_B]

Nearly to the heart of the summer, the unit's still working great.  Set at 55% humidity, I'm dumping the tank twice a day, which means I'm pulling around 4 gallons of moisture from the space, per day.  After the summer, when my curiosity will be satisfied, I'm going to plumb the unit.

I can't figure out where the moisture's coming from because the space seems to be well sealed.  Last summer, I thought it could have been moisture rising up through gaps that lead to the crawlspace.  This past fall, I installed vizqueen and a powerful/expensive dehumidifier in the crawl space (because the subfloor was dripping wet), and now that space is also bone dry.

Florida isn't the place for me.  I'm running a big AC unit for the house and two other dehumidifiers for unoccupied spaces just to keep the moisture from being destructive.

[scottcald]

When I was a kid we lived in South Florida (Hollywood).  My mom was from WV and liked it cold.  We were the first ones on the block to have central air installed as soon as it was available and my mom kept it cranked.  My brother and I were the only ones we knew there with heavy blankets on our beds.