# Whats cheaper ? running a dehumidifier or a small electric heater.



## Seasoned Oak (Aug 28, 2012)

I run a dehumidifier all summer near my stove as i get a lot of rust over summer otherwise.
Anything below 70% humidity and the stove is OK but without the dehumidifier it goes into the 80s.
THe dehumidifier use a lot of Kw and I was wondering if i could protect my stove with a small electric heater inside or something. heard once that some put a 100w light bulb inside their stoves for the summer.


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## daveswoodhauler (Aug 28, 2012)

Seasoned Oak said:


> I run a dehumidifier all summer near my stove as i get a lot of rust over summer otherwise.
> Anything below 70% humidity and the stove is OK but without the dehumidifier it goes into the 80s.
> THe dehumidifier use a lot of Kw and I was wondering if i could protect my stove with a small electric heater inside or something. heard once that some put a 100w light bulb inside their stoves for the summer.


 Was thining the same thing on the lightbulb idea. Perhaps a small clf inside...will put out some heat, but probably not as much as an incadescent.
Would think the that heater would be more power useage as it would run 24/7, vs the dehumidifier that would only kick on when the room reaches a certain humidity level.


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## lukem (Aug 28, 2012)

I'd be more concerned about the outside of the stove getting rusty than the inside. A little surface oxidation (rust) due to humidity is a drop in the bucket compared to the oxidation that occurs during the normal course of burning...but I could be wrong about that...please correct me if I am.

To answer your question, it's pretty simple math.  Look how much a dehumidifier draws (amps and voltage) compared to a heater.  Factor in the run time for each...and there's your answer.

Hard part will be figuring out how much each will run (ambient temperature (thermostat) and ambient humidity (humidistat), both of which will vary widely from house to house).


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## Seasoned Oak (Aug 28, 2012)

I forgot to mention that the stove is in a finished basement which is totally underground. In winter the humidity is around 25% so opposite problem,not enough moisture in the air. Have been slowly raising the set point on the dehumidifier and still no rust,have it at 70%.


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## heat seeker (Aug 28, 2012)

Running the dehumidifier also keeps the room more livable, and reduces the likelihood of mold or fungus, which like to grow in below-grade areas. That would be my choice - is my choice, that's what I do.


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## woodgeek (Aug 28, 2012)

I'd vote for the light bulb, myself.


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## Jack Straw (Aug 28, 2012)

If it is a finished basement aren't you concerned about mold/mildew? You really don't want the relative humidity above 60% in a living space for more than 24 hrs at a time, and it really should stay around 50%. I'd run the dehumidifier.


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## velvetfoot (Aug 28, 2012)

How about one of them fancy heat pump water heaters?


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## begreen (Aug 28, 2012)

Surprised the dehumidifier is so costly. We run one when it gets cooler and the greenhouse is all closed up to keep down humidity. It doesn't seem to be that bad.


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## Swedishchef (Aug 28, 2012)

I run a dehumidifier and keep the levels at 60% in my basement. It's a EnergyStar level 4 dehumidifier...very efficient and keeps us cozy in the basement. $200 to buy it and I think it costs me $5 a month to run it... (the fan is ALWAYS on but is only 40 watts..when the compressor runs it will run 400 watts but it triggers on and off as needed).

My mind simply won't let me turn the heat on in ANY room during the summer months.

A


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## Hogwildz (Aug 29, 2012)

Swedishchef said:


> I run a dehumidifier and keep the levels at 60% in my basement. It's a EnergyStar level 4 dehumidifier...very efficient and keeps us cozy in the basement. $200 to buy it and I think it costs me $5 a month to run it... (the fan is ALWAYS on but is only 40 watts..when the compressor runs it will run 400 watts but it triggers on and off as needed).
> 
> My mind simply won't let me turn the heat on in ANY room during the summer months.
> 
> A


Any info, maker, specs on that dehumidifier?


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## Swedishchef (Aug 29, 2012)

I made a mistake...when the compressor runs, it uses 588 watts (4.9 amps). It is a Whirlpool GOld Accudry AD35USV. I turn it on in April and it runs until November. Non-stop. Ever. lol.

Crap! I just noticed there was a recall on this unit 1.5 years ago. LOL. Sigh. Gotta start the process to return it

Andrew


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## jharkin (Aug 29, 2012)

I think how much humidity you have to remove plays a big part too... i got rid of an old dh and bought a new energy star rated unit... the efficiency rating (in pints per kwh i think) was 30 or 50 % higher but i barely noticed a diff in the electric bill. I have a wet stone basement sowhaterver i put down there runs at least half time to the tune of 150 to 300 kwh a month depending on season 

To the OP - buy a kill-o-watt and use it to measure how many kwh the dh uses in a day. A 100 watt bulb on constant would use 2.4 kwh/day for comparison. What you DONT want is a CFL, they put out a lot less heat for the same light output for obvious reasons.


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## Seasoned Oak (Aug 29, 2012)

velvetfoot said:


> How about one of them fancy heat pump water heaters?


Do they dehumidify as well?


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## velvetfoot (Aug 29, 2012)

Yes, I believe so.


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## maverick06 (Aug 29, 2012)

yep, they pull heat from the basement air and put it in the water. They will dehimidify the air also. But you are in pa (as am I). I dont think its worth the money for you, good if you are down south. If the surface is rusting, i would be inclined to look into painting the surface with appropriate paint.


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## Seasoned Oak (Aug 29, 2012)

[quote="jharkin, post: 1165395, member: 11939" 

To the OP - buy a kill-o-watt and use it to measure how many kwh the dh uses in a day. A 100 watt bulb on constant would use 2.4 kwh/day for comparison. What you DONT want is a CFL, they put out a lot less heat for the same light output for obvious reasons.[/quote]


Yes i forgot i have one of those(kill-o-watt) I just put it on.My DH seems to run about 25% of the time. My E Bill runs about $100 in winter and $160 in summer. A few window AC units are adding to it as well.


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## Seasoned Oak (Aug 29, 2012)

Ill find out by tomorrow just how many KW per day its  using Now the the Kill-a-watt meter is on it. It is using 600watts but wont know till tomorrow how many hours duty cycle.


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## Swedishchef (Aug 29, 2012)

I agree with Jharkin. It all depends on how much humidity you need to remove. For example, in my basement, all of my walls have high density spray foam on them. On top of that I have Roxul and then my gyprock. That sprayfoam prevents any humidity from coming into the basement via the walls. If I stop my humidifier, the humidity levels will reach 75% from 60% within 36 hours or so.

A


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## save$ (Aug 29, 2012)

I struggled with this for many $ years.  Then discovered that if I ran a high powered fan sat at the base of the stairs and blowing up the stairs, that the air on both levels would mix. Didn't matter if the upstairs windows were open or not.   Moisture level down and no musty odor.  Cost a whole  lot less to run.


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## Redbarn (Aug 29, 2012)

velvetfoot said:


> How about one of them fancy heat pump water heaters?



We have a Geyser HPWH. Works great to dehumidify the basement and put the heat into our DHW.
We used to use oil for summer DHW and now save 1 gall oil/day. Dehumidifies so well that I ran air pipes up to the ground floor and dehumidified a chunk of the house.

A Geyser would not be cost effective unless you used it to replaced the wood/oil/propane used for summer DHW and got the dehumidifying as a bonus.


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## Seasoned Oak (Aug 30, 2012)

jharkin said:


> To the OP - buy a kill-o-watt and use it to measure how many kwh the dh uses in a day. A 100 watt bulb on constant would use 2.4 kwh/day for comparison. What you DONT want is a CFL, they put out a lot less heat for the same light output for obvious reasons.


I appears im using about 2Kw a day,way less than i imagined,so im better off running the DH. Now when we have heavy rain events i get some wall seepage and the DH runs more to dry it up. Ill be coating the walls with dryloc soon so ill see if that helps. wish i could save this moisture for winter when it gets so dry the wood starts to crack. 20-25%RH


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## Swedishchef (Sep 1, 2012)

2 Kw doesn't seem too bad whatsoever. Where I live I only pay $0.068/Kw h so that would cost me about 15 cents.

You tried the kill-a-watt to see how much it was using?

Andrew


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## Seasoned Oak (Sep 1, 2012)

Swedishchef said:


> 2 Kw doesn't seem too bad whatsoever. Where I live I only pay $0.068/Kw h so that would cost me about 15 cents.
> You tried the kill-a-watt to see how much it was using?
> Andrew


Yes I have a Kill-a-watt meter.  I was quite surprised by the low usage but its been dry (little rain) and we are in a water table deficit right now. Most of my basement moisture comes from rain events seeping through the porous foundation walls. WHen it raining normally the DH runs a lot more often.


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## nate379 (Sep 1, 2012)

That's probably about the cheapest electric sold in North America.  I pay about 0.15 kw/hr which isn't too much over "average"



Swedishchef said:


> 2 Kw doesn't seem too bad whatsoever. Where I live I only pay $0.068/Kw h so that would cost me about 15 cents.
> 
> You tried the kill-a-watt to see how much it was using?
> 
> Andrew


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## Swedishchef (Sep 1, 2012)

Nate,

I am very fortunate to pay the rate I pay. I just got my power bill for 2 months. I used 1875 KWh and it cost me $145...for 2 months.

Andrew


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## Corey (Sep 2, 2012)

Just curious, are you not running an air conditioner during the summer?  That would be the biggest source of dehumidification...plus you get cool air!  If you are, perhaps just getting a little more air movement would help keep the humidity low in the house.  Even a small window unit would dehumidify and give cold air - vs a dehumidifier which just blows all the heat right back in the room.


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## TradEddie (Sep 12, 2012)

Seasoned Oak said:


> Yes I have a Kill-a-watt meter. I was quite surprised by the low usage but its been dry (little rain) and we are in a water table deficit right now. Most of my basement moisture comes from rain events seeping through the porous foundation walls. WHen it raining normally the DH runs a lot more often.


 
Take a look at the grading outside your house, and also check your gutters and downspouts: it's possible that some simple re-grading could make a huge difference, moving surface rain water away from the walls. When a house is built, the hole outside the basement wall is just back filled with all the construction debris, and over time it will settle, leaving a low spot dipping towards the house.  My current and previous homes both had serious basement water problems that were eliminated with a few bags of topsoil, or in one case, by removing the roofing shingle that blocked a downspout.  Recently I was at a friends house and saw they had one of those downspout "diffusers", but it was pointing in reverse, directing water towards their house.  I asked if they were having any basement damp issues, and they admitted the sump pump was running a lot, but they had changed the downspout setup because it was making the garden wet!  Better the garden than the basement.

Basements are naturally cooler, and in summer often at or even below the dewpoint of the outside air, so basements will always be more humid, but water coming through the walls is a probably a sign of exterior issues.

TE


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## Seasoned Oak (Sep 12, 2012)

This whole problem goes away in fall and winter when the humidity falls extremely low and the opposite problem occurs, house too dry. At that point even the basement Humidty falls to about 25%. After checking the electric use numbers it seems that running the dehumidifier for about 4 months is the most economical solution along with some sealing and waterproofing.


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## TradEddie (Sep 12, 2012)

Fixing some simple exterior grading or drainage problems could be more effective and long lasting than waterprooofing, certainly can't hurt.  Even still, all basements will be humid in Summer, I run a small dehumidifier in the unfinished part of my basement, it runs at most for an hour each day.

TE


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## Seasoned Oak (Sep 12, 2012)

TradEddie said:


> Fixing some simple exterior grading or drainage problems could be more effective and long lasting than waterprooofing, certainly can't hurt. Even still, all basements will be humid in Summer, I run a small dehumidifier in the unfinished part of my basement, it runs at most for an hour each day.
> 
> TE


My whole back yard slopes toward my house,so years ago i dug out a flat patio about 20 Ft back and installed a center drain. Helped a lot but still get some water on the back wall of the basement. Well ill soon be firing up the stoves so that will take care of the problem at least until next may.


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## flyingcow (Sep 15, 2012)

http://www.americansolartechnics.com/nylegeyserheatpump.html

look at this, it's a heat pump that will give you DHW also. But you need a storage tank


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## maple1 (Sep 15, 2012)

flyingcow said:


> http://www.americansolartechnics.com/nylegeyserheatpump.html
> 
> look at this, it's a heat pump that will give you DHW also. But you need a storage tank


 
You use your existing hot water tank.


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## mywaynow (Sep 18, 2012)

What about just wiping down the stove with either oil or wax?  You can always clean it prior to burning season with some mineral spirits or just put up with some smoke for the first hour.  Another thought is to use a drying rod, commonly used inside gun safes, and run it inside the stove.  Wrap the stove in plastic and block off the pipe.  The rods get hot to the touch but are not fire hazzards.  They use very little voltage.


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## Seasoned Oak (Sep 18, 2012)

mywaynow said:


> What about just wiping down the stove with either oil or wax?.


Iv found that after using a kill-a-watt meter the DH is only using a small amount of power.(and i only use it in summer) Not enough to stop using it. If i keep it set at 70% i dont get rust and it dont run much. Going forward i will try to stop additional moisture from coming through the walls with Dry-loc.


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