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With the onset of spring my shop's RH has already begun to rise and fall. I recently picked up a nice WP Energy Star dehumidifer for my small shop (already have a nice hygrometer).

After searching the archives I found a lot on de-hums, but no info on placement of the unit.

My shop is quite small, so I will want to keep it out of the way as much as possible, yet make it easy enough to empty as RH levels here in the state of Misery, ehhh Missouri, can sometimes get a bit high (15 blocks from the mighty Mississippi).

Do you all have any recommendations for height of placement, etc. to take into consideration? TIA

You should have an electric fan running all the time to avoid stratification of humidity. The placement of the dehumidifier will be more based on convenience for access. It gives off a lot of heat, and you may also need a window air conditioner.

Andrew... I think getting them up off the floor a little helps... just a few inches is enough, and make sure you have it out away from the wall a little too. I have a hose that runs over to a drain so I never have to empty the tank.

I'm anxious to see what you've been building, buddy... especially with the great selection of "Hibdon's Best" you have to choose from!

I hope to get down to see you sometime this summer. I'm running low on Mahogany! Can you get luxury seating Cardinal's tickets?

long

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"No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man.” -Heraclitus of Ephesus

If you put it up on a shelf it will work more efficiently. Don't forget, warm moist air rises, and cold dry air drops, so having the dehumidifier up where the moist air is will help a lot. I keep mine on a work bench, and it works great there. Well, I did, but there's a cnc being built there now.
Note to self....find a new place for the dehumidifier.

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

Mine is in a corner and the digital display is fooled by it's proximity to the on board sensor of the dehumidifier. but with some tweaking of the dial you will find what will keep your shop in spec. I leave the door open to my shop in the summer so even though it is a 30 pint unit (small) there is some benefit in the back of my condo and not just the shop.

Heat is an issue as mentioned and my shop, though it has central air, can reach 83F so go to the store and get yourself some nice, comfy boxers.........

My new basement shop will probably never need to be humidified but dehumidification will be a must year round. This is one of the reasons that even though I have a huge amount of space available to me it will be expensive to control the RH in a larger space then I can use.

I have also noticed that in recent years the newer dehumidifiers are much quieter which is a plus. Also, in the new shop I am going to plumb the dehumidifier to the sealed sump pump cover and use a grommet to help maintain the value of the sump pump cover. In the past and current shop I have had to empty the sucker up to three times a day.....

Put it where you can run the drain hose outside or into a sink instead of having to empty it. As others have said, exact location doesn't matter; have fan circulate the air. But I would be wary of having it blowing right onto a stash of tonewood.

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Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.

Lots of good advice (must be - this is how I handle the problem) to which I'd add:

Use your dust collector, and shut the dehu off during periods of heavy dust - your machine can clog (those little fins are wet) and, even better, the drain, if you're plumbed, can block up, leading to overflow.

Dan

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Dan
http://www.acme-archtops.com

Thanks to all for jumping in and offering some thought and tips for placement of dehumidifiers.

I think I have found a spot that will work in my telephone booth size shop. I hadn't thought of the need for a fan to circulate airflow. An old box fan should do the trick I hope.

Mr. Long, yes, it'd be great to have you back down to town again sometime. Hard to believe ASIA was not quite a year ago. Luxury spots (or even nosebleeds) at the new Busch Stadium? Sounds great to me, maybe a Midwest/St. Louis OLF gathering?