A Consumer Reports humidifier can reduce humidity in your home. A dehumidifier can be useful if your basement is damp or you are experiencing seasonal moisture problems. Dehumidifiers help maintain humidity between 30 percent and 50 percent. This is the ideal setting for people with allergies or asthma. They are great for controlling mildew, mold, and other spores.
There are many options for dehumidifiers. You can choose from whole-home units or stand-alone models. They can be classified by their capacity (or the amount of water they can remove). Larger capacity units are less expensive to run and more efficient. Also, large-capacity units usually cost less per pint. Consumer Reports says that a dehumidifier of smaller capacity might be more costly and less energy-efficient.
The Energy Star certification has been around for several years now, and manufacturers have been testing their dehumidifiers under different conditions. However, there are differences between the requirements in the Energy Star program and the DOE's energy efficiency requirements.
For example, the Energy Star program requires testing at different temperatures. Energy Star version 5.0 requires testing at 60°F and 60% RH. In contrast, the Department of Energy (DOE) requires testing at 80degF and 60% RH. Manufacturers may need to adapt their recommendations because of the different test conditions.
The Consumer Reports dehumidifiers they tested produced many impressive performance measures. The best unit could remove 70 pints in less than 24 hours. You can program the humidistat to keep your home at the desired humidity level. The unit also has a digital readout that shows the performance of the device.
In addition to the programmable humidistat, most dehumidifiers come with an air filter that filters out large particles in the air. Some models have a pump to move water to the sink. The unit can be moved around with ease by being transported on casters.
These dehumidifiers have the highest efficiency and capacity (such as a 70-pint tank) and are also very energy efficient. If you don't have moisture problems, a smaller dehumidifier could be more efficient. If you do have a moisture problem, consider purchasing a dehumidifier with hose connections to drain the water to a floor drain or laundry sink.
Some of the most popular consumer-recommended dehumidifiers have some neat features. An example of this is the auto-restart function, which allows you to restart the unit if it has been off-line for too long. The dehumidifiers that use ultra-quiet compressor technology are another notable feature. They run at very low dB noise levels. A remote control is a great feature for dehumidifiers. It's easy to forget that the device needs to be turned off when you aren't there.
In addition to the dehumidifier's most impressive features, a few other items to look for are a unit's energy efficiency and fan speed. The best dehumidifiers feature a fan with a high CFM, which pulls air from larger areas. However, high CFM fans can create noise and make it difficult to find a better model.