2

Dehumidifiers draw a LOT of power (as you might expect of something which is basically a modified air conditioner or refrigerator). I do want the humidity in my basement kept at a comfortable level, but I don't usually need it controlled very precisely.

So I'm trying to decide whether it makes sense to set the hygrometer and let it run, or to run it in alternating six-hours-on/six-hours-off cycles. One of my previous units had that option built in; I'd have to put this one on an external timer...

Has anyone seen a trustworthy statement regarding whether cycling the beast that way would be more, or less, power-efficient?

| improve this question | |
  • 1
    I doubt it makes any difference at all to power use, if your humidistat setting is equivalent to the average humidity you achieve with 6 on, 6 off. Reducing water infiltration to the basement would be a better place to concentrate on for saving money on running the thing. – Ecnerwal Aug 28 '14 at 2:27
  • Actually, water infiltration is pretty minimal... but it's a brick-over-fieldstone foundation, so there's always going to be some water vapor coming through. Actually, the thing that will help most will probably be when I move the laundry upstairs. – keshlam Aug 28 '14 at 2:29
  • What make/model are you using? Ours is solely 205 watts to my surprise, which is basically nothing! – Neeku Sep 1 '14 at 0:17
  • It's a GE. I haven't put the usage meter on it yet; I suppose I should. In my house, 205 watts continuously would be significant; I'm mostly using CFLs and LEDs and other low-power devices. – keshlam Sep 1 '14 at 1:09
2

From an overall point of view, it'd be slightly more efficient to run it on a timer with the hygrometer set to your arbitrary humidity choice. Doing that won't make much (if any) difference in the compressor's run time, but it'll force the air-circulation fan to shut off instead of continuously sampling room air.

| improve this answer | |
  • That's sorta what I was thinking. The one I had previously seemed to actually pause the fan between samples; I'm not sure this one does. (And it isn't in the best place for that circulation to actually be useful; someday I'll fix that.) – keshlam Aug 28 '14 at 15:47

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.