Hey Paul - I agree 100% - keeping the air moving is also necessary / dehumidifier by itself is not enough
I keep a fan running pretty much all the time down there - works great - always feels dry
I run my dehumidifier at 35% for my walk-out basement, I find 45-50% adds to the "musty" smell if I let it go. When we have a lot of rain, the unit runs for a day or so, for normal weather it cycles on and off.
That’s a great point. When I finished my train room I installed in the drop ceiling an exhaust fan, which also had a light and then using PVC pipe It draws the air out the side of the house. It also works great for removing smoke from the room
Here in PA, just above Harrisburg, I run my dehumidifier at 35% from April til November. Its nice to go down there in the basement, during summer months, when temps are in the 90s and very humid outside.
One thing I have to add is an exhaust fan for the smoke, that's in my planning.
My new house has basement windows. But if I am running the humidifier, I keep the basement sealed as much as possible. otherwise, I am just losing my dried air and pulling in the damp warm air from outside.
Just resurrecting this thread for a quick question ....
With all the wet and humid weather in the Northeast, I need to finally pull the trigger and get a dehumidifier for my basement train layout. I need to pump the water up about 36" so it can run into a sink and continuously drain, so I don't have to keep emptying a bucket.
I've looked at models both with and without an internal pump and can't get a positive answer from the retailers as to whether the internal pump is strong enough to pump the condensate up the 36". Just wondering if anyone has any experience with this.
Will the models with the internal pump be sufficient to pump up to 36" or should I just get a less expensive model with no internal pump and buy a separate condensate pump ?
Thanks in advance.
Truthfully, I'd go the separate pump route. I've owned three different brands of dehumidifiers with the pump, and none of the internal pumps has lasted more than a year! The internal pump clearly isn't nearly the quality of a separate condensate pump. My old house had two condensate pumps for the A/C, and they lasted 8-9 years before I had to replace them.
I will say, the internal pump in the dehumidifiers were able to pump up three feet without issues, they just couldn't do it for more than a few months before they died.
Thanks, John - that's the way I was leaning.
Can you mount the dehumidifier up high enough such that it can empty by gravity to your drain? Then you don't need a pump.
Chris
LVHR
@lehighline posted:Can you mount the dehumidifier up high enough such that it can empty by gravity to your drain? Then you don't need a pump.
Chris
LVHR
I was just about to post the same thought. 
-Greg
I thought about that, too, but the train layout is in a finished playroom/man-cave with couches, tv, high top, bar, etc. and there's no place it could be high enough to gravity drain without also being an eyesore (at least, to me). 
