Basement dehumidifiers can help those of us that have problems with mold and dust allergies. But picking the right basement dehumidifier can be a challenge if we don’t do our homework. Choosing the right size and type for you conditions is essential in get the most out of your new basement dehumidifier. Damp basements are ripe for the growth of molds and mildews.

So some of the important things to is how many Cubic feet of space you have in your basement. This requires a little math like this. Square footage of your basement area times the high of your ceiling. So for a 1200 foot basement with a 8 foot ceiling it would be. 1220 x 8 = 9800 cubic feet. The dehumidifiers will give you the amount of area they will cover in cubic feet. You need to insure that you have enough basement dehumidifier units to cover the area.

Your goal is to keep the humidity below 50% , because mold will grow at levels above that. I went out and bought some cheap humidity monitors for a department store for about $7.00 and they keep track of high and low humidity levels. I placed them in different locations so I would have an idea of where my problems where.

You have options of portable or fixed basement dehumidifiers sometimes called whole house dehumidifiers. The prices can get quite high for the fixed basement dehumidifiers and may require a professional to install. But if you have a really bad issue with humidity it is well worth the expense because the other option is a mold out break and I can tell you it will be expensive to fix that.

The portable units range in price from $100 to $300 dollars depending on the size and maker.  The whole house basement dehumidifiers start around $900 and go up from there.

The other thing to consider is drainage, because these units are pulling water out of the air and it has to go somewhere. With the portable units you have to options. Most have a reservoir that will hold a couple of gallons of water but then have to be emptied. They also normally have the option to hook up a drain line to let the water drain out to a pump or sink or some other method of water removal.

With the whole house basement dehumidifiers you must have a drainage method for the water. For me I bought a whole house unit and installed it in a standalone configuration and drained it into my sump pump.

Either way you go do your homework and make sure that you have enough units to cover the area.  Basement dehumidifiers are well worth the cost when you compare them to doctor visits for the nagging allergy or the cost of mold remediation.

Just on a final note the whole house dehumidifiers are designed to be tied into your heating and air ducts. Some can be used stand alone. If you are going to add it to the heating and air system then you will most likely need a professional to install it.

Good luck with your endeavor to find a basement dehumidifier.