Dehumiifer

[TimWhalen]

I live in an 1889 Victorian in southern Ohio. I have installed a new HVAC system that services the entire first floor. I also extended some vents in the basement as there were none before. The second floor is taken care of by a new heat pump in the attic.

The basement has 11 foot high exterior limestone walls newly tucked/pointed and the interior walls are red brick. Prior to renovation the basement was just a dusty dank storage cellar. After redoing the brick floors, adding the vents, adding new glass block windows with vents the rooms now serve as play areas for the kids.

All is well in the basements with the exception of the humidity. I currently have a floor model (Sears) that fills every 6 hours or so.

What solution is out for a dehumidifier that can adequately handle approximately 1000-1200 square foot of play area (3-4 rooms) that could send water outside?

[SNations]

A sub-slab radon mitigation system might help.

[Marc]

I live in an 1889 Victorian in southern Ohio. I have installed a new HVAC system that services the entire first floor. I also extended some vents in the basement as there were none before. The second floor is taken care of by a new heat pump in the attic.

The basement has 11 foot high exterior limestone walls newly tucked/pointed and the interior walls are red brick. Prior to renovation the basement was just a dusty dank storage cellar. After redoing the brick floors, adding the vents, adding new glass block windows with vents the rooms now serve as play areas for the kids.

All is well in the basements with the exception of the humidity. I currently have a floor model (Sears) that fills every 6 hours or so.

What solution is out for a dehumidifier that can adequately handle approximately 1000-1200 square foot of play area (3-4 rooms) that could send water outside?

Just keep your existing dehumidifier and install a condensate pump in the reservoir. Lots of ACs here have it to pump out the condensate when a gravity system isn't feasible. They come with a float and work quite well. The discharge line is a small flexible transparent plastic tube that's easy to fish almost anywhere. Inexpensive too.

Marc

[Bill Kibbel]

Did you install a vapor barrier below the brick floors?

Functioning gutters, downspout extensions, slope of grading and impervious surfaces away from the foundation?

[kurt]

Did you install a vapor barrier below the brick floors?

Functioning gutters, downspout extensions, slope of grading and impervious surfaces away from the foundation?

That's where I'd start. Source control trumps everything.

There are monster dehumidifier's that could dry it out, but it's starting from the wrong point, and you're fighting Mother Nature nonstop.