Portable dehumidifier

[CommanderDave]

I live in a Midwest rural area with high humidity; my HVAC system is an open loop Bosch geothermal unit. I currently have two high quality portable dehumidifiers running, one in my finished basement that discharges into a floor drain, and one in the central area of the main floor of the house in the kitchen dining area. They both do a good job, however the one on the main floor fills very quickly and must be emptied by hand, and it can become a little noisy at times. I'm thinking of trying to plumb it through a nearby cabinet down through the floor and have it drain to the outside. However I do have a laundry room at the very far end of the house where steps lead into the basement, and I could mount it on a shelf above the laundry sink and have it drain directly into the sink. They both pull air in from the back and discharge it out one side. My concern is...would placing one at the far end of the house and no longer in the central area would it not perform efficiently to dehumidify the whole main floor? Of note my HVAC guy lobbies against a whole house dehumidifier system, his experience is they just don't last very long at all and he always has issues with them and their warranties, but he would install one if I insist. If plumbing the one on the main floor to drain to the outside is the way to go that's what I'll do. Thanks.

 

[Fitter30]

RH goes from high to low just like temperature. The RH should go to the laundry room unless there is more rh that side of the house. Run bathroom exhaust fan when bathing and hood fan in kitchen. Dehumidifiers that have a A.H.A.M. rating tested at 60% 80°. The box store ones are self rated 90% 80°. Question RH running at 50% or less, is the geo system oversized so it doesn't run long enough, how are the windows and door seals?
Call your electric company see if they offer a energy audit that includes a blower door test. (Test to see how tight the house is) utube it. I use these switches for bathrooms.

https://www.amazon.com/Bathroom-60-30-20-10-Minute-Countdown-60-Minute/dp/B06XRP7LHL/ref=asc_df_B06XRP7LHL/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=193989831776&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=2501166905768653364&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=t&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9023802&hvtargid=pla-315839252341&psc=1

 

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[Fitter30]

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[CommanderDave]

RH goes from high to low just like temperature. The RH should go to the laundry room unless there is more rh that side of the house. Run bathroom exhaust fan when bathing and hood fan in kitchen. Dehumidifiers that have a A.H.A.M. rating tested at 60% 80°. The box store ones are self rated 90% 80°. Question RH running at 50% or less, is the geo system oversized so it doesn't run long enough, how are the windows and door seals?
Call your electric company see if they offer a energy audit that includes a blower door test. (Test to see how tight the house is) utube it. I use these switches for bathrooms.

https://www.amazon.com/Bathroom-60-30-20-10-Minute-Countdown-60-Minute/dp/B06XRP7LHL/ref=asc_df_B06XRP7LHL/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=193989831776&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=2501166905768653364&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=t&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9023802&hvtargid=pla-315839252341&psc=1

Geo is a 3-ton system for a 2900 sqft home. I think the house is pretty well sealed. I have the dehumidifier set at 40%, I don't know for sure how long it takes for the reservoir to fill but certainly less than 24 hours. If it has shut down for a couple hours I definitely can feel and read higher humidity, so I don't think the Geo alone can keep the RH low enough. I always use exhaust fans when necessary. As I mentioned there is another portable unit in the basement, but I have a necessity to keep the door to the basement steps closed. It would be convenient to place the dehumidifier above the sink in the laundry room at the far end of the house.

RH goes from high to low just like temperature. The RH should go to the laundry room unless there is more rh that side of the house. Run bathroom exhaust fan when bathing and hood fan in kitchen. Dehumidifiers that have a A.H.A.M. rating tested at 60% 80°. The box store ones are self rated 90% 80°. Question RH running at 50% or less, is the geo system oversized so it doesn't run long enough, how are the windows and door seals?
Call your electric company see if they offer a energy audit that includes a blower door test. (Test to see how tight the house is) utube it. I use these switches for bathrooms.

https://www.amazon.com/Bathroom-60-30-20-10-Minute-Countdown-60-Minute/dp/B06XRP7LHL/ref=asc_df_B06XRP7LHL/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=193989831776&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=2501166905768653364&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=t&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9023802&hvtargid=pla-315839252341&psc=1

Geo is a 3-ton unit for 2900 sqft home. House appears to me to be rather tight. I always run exhaust fans when necessary. I have the dehumidifier set at 40%. I don't know how long it takes the reservoir to fill but it's way less than 24 hours. If it's off for a couple hours I can definitely feel and read higher humidity, so I don't think the Geo can keep the RH optimal. I just took RH readings; at the dehumidifier 43%, in the laundry room 43%, and my centrally located thermostat shows 43%. Moving it to the laundry room would be nice.

 

[Reach4]

You have a hygrometer, so try putting the dehumidifier at the laundry room, and measure if you find the differential too much.

 

[John Gayewski]

Can you use a condensate pump on one of your dehumidifiers? This might make draining a lot easier as you'd just run a small flexible tube. They can run a good long way too.