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As we approach the humid season I am up against the perennial problem of humidity removal for my gluing room. I have settled on dehumidifying only a small gluing room where all bracing and assembly is carried out. This works out great. I have always employed conventional compressor dehumidifiers to bring the humidity level down to 45-48%. I thought I hit upon a good unit made by Ivation which was rated at about 12 pints. Well, 2 units failed in 2 seasons. Seems to be par for the course with Asian built dehumidifiers, which is the whole of the market these days.
Unlike my past shops, my current gluing room is in the basement of my house so the air is conditioned somewhat by the central air. So, I am trying to only remove the last 10-15%, from 60% in the basement to 45% in the gluing room.
I tried a Peltier dehumidifier briefly and it was a joke. Maybe 1 tablespoon of water removed in 24 hours. I am wondering about the silica gel based dehumidifiers, or current generation Peltier units. The silica gel units are appealing and it would seem that if I used enough of them I might be able to take the last bit of water from the air. Maybe Peltier units have improved?
While the compressor dehumidifiers did the job they were not without headaches. The humidistats on current offerings are useless, with about a 10% margin of error. And, they only work in 5% increments. The heat generated by the small Ivation unit was not a problem in by basement gluing room but heat was an issue when my gluing room was in a free-standing garage during the brutal St Louis summers.

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Stay with the happy people.
--Reynolds Large

HI Tom, FWIW in our kc bsmt shop the dehumidifier, ran constantly and never lasted more than 2 yrs . it was a 1200 sq ft bsmt below grade. Currently here in OK . I bought a danby 70 pint unit from amazon in Jan 2020. We have a dry room where I do my gluing, and store our backs tops an sides. at 45%. I keep the rest of my inventory in the back shop , where it is subject to cool winters , hot summers and varying degrees of humidity. I asked my sawyer friends, if that was viable and they said yes,.There is a lot of lumber in the back shop,. If I lived in a more humid climate . I would also run a dehumidifier in the back shop. I/m guessing MI is more humid than here in central ok. I would shop for a quality dehumidifier , based on performance. PS . I always resaw my stock 2 times thicker than its intended final dimensions.

Have you investigated using a small mini split heat pump? I know it’s real money but one would cover multiple functions, dehumidifying being one of them.

M

The amount of silica gel or potassium carbonate you might need to control your humidity might be overwhelming. Long ago, I bought an Oasis commercial dehumidifier https://www.oasiscoolers.com/index.php/ ... -d165.html (built in Poland). This was after going through a big box store dehumidifier every one or two years. The first one failed after 4 years and was replaced under warranty. The second one has been doing fine now for at least that long. The good thing about this one is that it is repairable—parts are available and any refrigerator repairman will be able to work on it. The humidistat on it does not provide fine control. I bought a Dayton plug in humidistat to control it—the numbers on the humidistat do not match reality but once the humidity is dialed in, it maintains it within a couple of percent. The unit is not efficient or quiet. I found it used less electricity per pint removed if I connected an external fan to the humidistat and had it blow on the coils. It is too big for a closet, but will do a large room or a closed basement just fine. A running appliance in a closet is an invitation for a fire.

I have used damp chasers in a small closet where I kept my wood and works in progress. These are basically heating rods built for installing inside pianos to maintain proper humidity. They work by heating up the enclosed area, thus lowering the RH. It worked fine for my application (it was a basement shop that even the biggest dehumidifier I could find wouldn't keep dry enough.). You can't dehumidify a shop with these, but they're good for "dry boxes" or small tight closets.

I'm able to keep my current shop at a good stable humidity with a regular compressor unit.

Dave

I agree that the controls and life on dehumidifiers leave a lot to be desired. I've never seen one review that sounded like it was a great unit. I bought one last year to replace a 3 year-old one. But I don't know of any option.

Mine kept my basement 45-50% all summer. No air in the house, no heat in the basement. The house only gets hot maybe 3 days a year lately; so much for global warming. The basement does get cold, starting in about November. It leveled off at 50-52, a couple days at 48. Now it's 57 and the humidity is back up from 40 or so to near 50.

I probably won't need to plug the dehumidifier in for another month or so.

I don't know that it is worth worrying about 5-10% or so. But then agin; I don't worry about anything all!

A dehumidifier is like a tax you have to pay. At least you can feel some benefit from it.

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Why be normal?

Bob Gramann wrote:
" A running appliance in a closet is an invitation for a fire."

Why is that ?
I have been doing that in my shop off and on for a few years and it hasn't burned the place down, but that doesn't mean it couldn't happen, so I would like to know the risk I am taking doing that.
I know some portable dehumidifiers have been recalled because of fire risk, and I assume it was related to their construction not where they were operated.

If something falls on the appliance blocking its ventilation, you won’t know because it’s in the closet. I am very fond of my house.

I've had good luck with the 70 pint Frigidaire dehumidifiers. The last one I had lasted 7 years, I replaced it a year ago with the updated version of the same model. Other makes have lasted about two years, although maybe I just got lucky with the Frigidaire. I take the plastic cases apart and clean the components thoroughly every spring.

Mine are connected to a drain hose and run 24/7 365 although they don't work too hard during the winter. The shop is a tough environment for them so I don't expect them to last forever, instead I look at them as consumables. Cost of doing business.

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

The 70 pint Frigidaires are the ones I'm using in the new shop too. They're going on 4 years old and, knock on wood, still going strong. I drain mine through a hose into a floor drain

Dave

That might be a good reason to put a cage around it - My wife has some bird cages she's not using.

I’m very happy with my dehumidifier and humidifier from Aprilaire. They were expensive, but they are worth the money.

got 4 of the 70 pinters they lasted me a long time
I actually hose them out at the end of the season and they keep working.

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

I've taken the "damp chaser" approach Dave described above. This is a good solution for me, as I keep my wood stash and works-in-progress in a closet within the indoor workshop I have created in an extra bedroom. A smallish unit made by Davis Instruments (picked up on Amazon, I think), is pretty much perfect for my small scale RH needs.

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George :-)

Being the owner of a small refrigeration co., I think you should not be going through dehumidifiers in a couple years. Compressors should last for years, (if that is what is going bad) if the unit is taken care of. If controls go bad they are replaceable or could be a start kit and replaceable. They are not disposable pieces of equipment. Condensers and filters need to be cleaned monthly. It is better for them to run continuously. Starting and starting all the time wears them down. So, be sure to size properly. Oversized units will start and stop a lot. Hope this helps and I do not recommend brands. Gets me in trouble when I am not the one selling them. My 2 units for my shop will be on their 4th yr. dehumidifying 1500 sg. ft. in central Pa.. I am semi retired and am now building guitars. Love it. Good Luck!