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Nothing & Everything => Open Discussion => Topic started by: micah on July 02, 2018, 06:43:25 PM

Title: anyone know about dehumidifiers?
Post by: micah on July 02, 2018, 06:43:25 PM
We have a dehumidifier in our basement, where my office is.  Last fall it started blowing hot air.  I cleaned the filter (which I didn't realize it had) but that didn't change anything.  I've tried googling it and there's a lot of varying information on the internet -- from people saying "it's supposed to blow hot air, thats how it work" and other's saying its broken.  I don't expect it to cool the air, but I've had it for several years and its always just vented air that was about the same temperature as the room.  Maybe a little warmer, or cooler, I'm not sure I never thought anything about it.  But now it blows hot air, like to the point that it actually raises the temperature of the room significatly.  That said, it is working - it fills the bucket with water.  So I feel like that means its not broken? Thoughts?  :dunno:
Title: Re: anyone know about dehumidifiers?
Post by: JaWiB on July 02, 2018, 11:18:44 PM
Most dehumidifiers work a lot like air conditioning. They pump heat away from one place (to cool the air to the point moisture condenses) which means that some part of the dehumidifer has to get hot. And since it cant be 100% efficient it will tend to heat up the room unless you exhaust the waste heat outside
Title: Re: anyone know about dehumidifiers?
Post by: micah on July 03, 2018, 12:15:59 AM
That makes sense.  It just seems odd, i feel like my dehumidifier didn't get very hot in the past and now it blows hot air within a minute of turning it on.
Title: Re: anyone know about dehumidifiers?
Post by: KnuckleBuckett on July 03, 2018, 05:53:35 AM
They are essentially heat exchangers so they getting warm is common.  However for whatever reason they also have tons of recalls on the things.  Check your specific make and model to be sure.  I am guessing that it is working just fine.