DE-Humidifier. Dumb Idea ?

I don't think it is silly. Actually you could get sick as mold can build in your place.
Iris

Paul,
It would probably work ----

Island Paul,

It is a good idea, however here is my two cents of advice. With a constant breeze the de-humidifier won't work well. What I would do if I were you is when I leave the house, close some windows and turn it on. It should dry out the place in a few hours. You might have to experiment to see what works. We had one in Missouri for our basement. Wet basements is a big problem there. Ours ran constantly until the humidity in the air lowered or the tray which caught the water would fill up. I can imagine that here on the island the tray would fill up fast and often. Anyone else tried one here that doesn't have air conditioning? We were thinking of investing in one too, although I wonder if running an air conditioner would do the same thing and cool the place down as a plus?

Teresa

Downside is electricity is going to run you. I would STRONGLY urge you to get a dehumidifier that auto drains. You are going to get annoyed everytime you have to dump the damn tray especially how fast that will be filling up. Keeiping the windows and doors closed will definitely help, provided you have A/C so you don't turn into a human roast.

Putting it in your closet isn't a bad idea, keep the clothes dry and that's where mold will build up. Janelle had some mold on her shoes this morning, and we even have a heat bar on the floor in the closet.

Good luck Mr. Moist.

Stu

Paul
Something else that does work here is DampRid. You can buy it at most grocery stores. Put it in your linen closet, clothes closet, kitchen cupboards, etc. It is a granualar that turns to a liquid. Works well for me on the mountain.

IP,

Unless the volume you are attempting to de-humidify is relatively well sealed, I don't think you're going to have much success with any method you try. I'm sure you're aware that a dehumidifier is just an air conditioner with the evaporator and condensor coils placed inline right next to each other, so you're best bet would probably be to just buy a window a/c unit and keep your doors and windows closed as much as possible.

An AC is absolutely the best idea - at least during these "summer" type months - but, and it's a huge BUT - my landlord pays for the electricity and he's already had it up to here with a neighbor who was allowed to install a small AC. If the guy goes off to work and leaves the AC running, the landlord goes......well you know.

Acciddently I learned that this last month, the landlord,and I were the only folks in our apts for the month and he still had a $400. electric bill! Whoa.......something is really wrong here.

Anybody know if WAPA would come out and do a meter check or somehow figure out where all the energy is being used? We don't have that many lights burning out here and $400 seems way too steep for them.

Would love to get an AC.

The idea of closing everything up pretty much and running a DE-humidifer might work, but as several have pointed out......with my being so ontop of the mositure right outside...it's not real likely to make much difference.

IP,

I have seen single outlet meters which can be used to measure the power consummed by a single device. Perhaps you can purchase one of those and then get your landlord to allow you reimburse him for the cost of running the A/C.

Paul,
It is a wonderful idea to have WAPA check your meter - they charge you $60 and tell you it is OK - I did it and it was a dumb idea! Think about it - are they going to tell you it's wrong? 🙂

Actually if your landlord and you have old refrigurators that might be the problem to the high electric bills. The old ones which auto defrost are the worst. If you have the real real old ones you still have to unplug to clean the ice they actyally use less energy. If your landlord complains and you see that old box standing there tell him to go and buy a new one.
Iris

Oh! DampRid!!!

How on earth did you get it to work?!

We had two heating bars and 2 pouches + 2 canisters of DampRid in our tiny (6') closet up on Crown (with closing doors that we kept closed all the time), and the DampRid dissolved every 2 days! It's not spendy, but it's not cheap, either, when you're refilling it every few days.

It was a major pain - after I accidentally kicked the pinkish water over onto the floor, I decided to give up.

For my money, AC is definitely the way to go. If you can't get AC, lots of fans to move the air around and keep you cool + a dehumidifier

BTW, after all the DampRid drama, someone clued me in that a lightbulb works just as well as heating bars, and there are rechargeable dehumidifier granules that you can get from military supply websites.

Good luck, Paul!