I bought the model prior to this when they were still listed as Colzer. They recently changed names. I’ll provide some general suggestions and feedback based on my experience using this in a crawlspace in Tennessee. My house is ~2300sqft and built on a traditional vented crawlspace with the basic vapor barrier on the ground. If you don’t seal the air flow from your crawlspace (at least moderately) it will be like running your air conditioner in your house with the windows open- useless and expensive.
I went around and sealed up the vents from inside the crawlspace using 1inch foam insulation board cut into small rectangles and attached with construction adhesive. I then used some caulk and cans of expanding foam to go around and seal up any air leaks in the sill plate, brick and rim joist. I used a round floor fan at the crawlspace entrance, pointed out and about 6 feet inside, to create a negative pressure inside the crawlspace. This helped me move along and feel for air leaks in the foundation as I could feel the air blowing in. I made sure the vapor barrier covers the dirt completely.
I set the dehumidifier up close to the crawlspace entrance for easy access for maintenance (you’ll need to clean the filter- mine is washable and reusable). I used an accordion type foil hose to connect to the outlet and extend it toward the center of the crawlspace. I used a PVC “Y” adapter to split the outlet air in different directions. The dehumidifier is up on cinder blocks and I ran the discharge hose from the drain pump through a small hole I made in a foundation vent (stuffed plastic shopping bags around it to insulate and help seal).
After running it for a while (I also have some bluetooth humidity and temperature sensors hanging in the crawlspace) I noticed it would cycle frequently even after being in there for over a week and the humidity should have stabilized. I went in and noticed that on the readout, when I removed the filter, the humidity would immediately begin to drop. When I slid the filter back in, the humidity would begin to climb. This is because the humidity sensor is located ON the condenser coils BEHIND the filter, so it’s stuck in an area of poor ventilation when the unit isn’t running (some units will run the fan occasionally to sample the air but I’m not sure that this one does) and the moisture from the coils is giving a false high humidity level. I moved the sensor outside the unit and hung it on the grill of the air intake, which required a little modification and probably voided the warranty as I had to drill a little hole for the wire, but other than that I could put the sensor back and you wouldn’t know. This stopped the short-cycling and resulted in longer but less frequent run times. I suspect that this could be a cause of many complaints of failure on some units because that continued short-cycling over a year or two could really wear out some parts.
Overall, it’s been working great for 2 years with not issues so far, about to enter our 3rd summer. Also, it isn’t necessary to set the humidity level extremely low- lower isn’t always better. The wood in your home still needs some moisture, you just need it low enough to control mold.
I think that the brick over block foundation on my home still “breathes” enough that air is exchanged along with humidity as I can see on my sensors that the humidity will change with the weather outside, especially if it’s windy (I’m sure I didn’t get every air leak, but it’s pretty good now).
I can see it cycle about twice a day during the hot humid summers with a total daily run time of about 2-3 hours and set at about 58% humidity.
These things are HEAVY and awkward in small spaces. I used my son’s old skateboard to move it in the crawlspace.