Soleus Air DP1-30-03, 30 Pint Portable Energy Star Dehumidifier

I received this unit yesterday so this is a preliminary assessment. The reason why I needed a dehumidifier is the one that we have in our basement is literally 20 years old. It's so old, it doesn't have a piece of plastic on it but it refuses to die. While I didn't test the old unit for electrical draw, my monthly electric bills are too high. I unplugged/put on a timer every appliance that I thought could contribute and it came back down to my belief that my old dehumidifier is an energy hog.

Our basement is HUGE but I still only bought the 30 pint unit because I'd rather run a small unit more often than cycle a larger unit. Same concept as a house air conditioner and a dehumidifier is a miniature air conditioner. Besides, I'd need the Mother of All Dehumidifiers to completely dry the basement and that's not going to happen.

Even though the old unit had just been running before I installed the Soleus, the new hstat read 70%. I don't really care if that's accurate or not, the basement just smelled damp. I installed a drip hose to run into the laundry tub, set the hstat to 55% and went to bed. This morning, it's definitely drier but I didn't bother to check the hstat. I assume the unit ran all night.

The impressive point is that I used the same drain hose on both dehumidifiers and, subjectively, the Soleus is draining a LOT more water than the old unit. Plus it is VERY quiet.

Once I get the feel of the hstat sensitivity, then I 'll set it and forget it so I can assess the energy usage. I know that I could buy an energy meter but I'll just save the $50.

The unit is also light which is important because I put the unit midway up the wall on a shelf (to drain into the tub). The supplied wheels should move very well on carpets but mine is static. BTW, based on my own reading, the Energy Star rating means very little but it's better to buy an appliance with the sticker.

Thanks to all those who previously reviewed this product and helped me make my decision!

I've updated this since I've used the system for a few months. Previously, I was wrong in saying the blower stays on constantly when the dehumidifier isn't running. Not true, don't know where I got that. All I can say is....dagnabbit but this does pull a lot of water from the air, and it uses less electricity than my old one.

One year later and I'm at the point where I just leave it on. Works extremely well and I'm very satisfied.

It will soon be two years of nearly constant use (at least during the air conditioning season) and it performs just as well as when I first wrote this review.

Yup, two years now and it has been running perfectly. Good investment.

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