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several friends I know say their humidifiers fail after about 2 years. I know one friend who has 2 bad one in the basement and is now on the 3rd unit. My first dehumidifiers lasted 2 Summers. I just got a new one and I am not thrilled with it so far, seems to run a lot and the build-in sensor shows about 20% more than the stand-alone device.
Anyway, it's a small compressor and and evaporator. the technology is essentially the same as a small AC unit or a refrigerator. Why do they fail so often? at $150-$200 these are not worth repairing. but still, a $200-300 windows AC will last years. A small $300 mini fridge will last decades.
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Pretty much every appliance these days is built to fail in a few years. We bought a house recently where the kitchen was remodeled less than 10 years ago. The previous owners didn't live there most of the year. It's got really high end appliances, but the ice maker no longer works, the wine fridge's temperature readout LED is mostly burned out, and dishwasher will only work in one mode. And we found out that the fridge/freezer combo is the second one... the original (which mostly works ok) is in the garage as a drink fridge.
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It's a combination of designed in obsolescence and poor maintenance. Dehumidifiers have to be cleaned regularly (a simple hose off with water will do), and many people don't do that. And don't get me started on over-complicated appliances and excess circuitry. There's another reason the old school stuff lasts forever... simple electromechanical controls coupled with equipment designed with 'rules of thumb' rather than detailed computerized design that allows accountants to minimize cost and maximize profits, to the detriment of lifespan.
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We have an old Emerson dehumidifier that my wife asked to get rid of a few years ago because we hadn't used it for a little while and it was taking up space. I decided to check it out and make sure it was still working before I tried to recycle it. It's downstairs and running as I write this. We bought it shortly after we got married... in 1984.
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Indeed. No idea about efficiency. It runs and I empty in once in a while.
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....is it humid.....liating......???
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I reject your reality and substitute my own!
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My mom has a big dehumidifier in her basement.
A guy comes and does maintenance on it twice a year, along with the AC.
He once told me that it was likely to burn out in a couple of years because it was spec'd way under the requirements for a house that size. He said everyone gets dehumidifiers that are too small and then they work too hard and they clog (not sure that clogging is related to working too hard) and that's why they die young.
I know next to nothing about these devices, so can't say whether he was bullsh!tting.
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Space,
See these previous threads:
Danby. Took ours out a couple of weeks ago and it's doing its job nicely.
Robert
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Just got a second Kenmore to join another. Both are probably 20 years old.
