We all know that moisture/water in our basements can cause myriad issues. For example. mold only needs moisture and a food source to thrive. Just about anything is a food source for mold; drywall, wood paneling, etc. Our dehumidifiers remove the main source of water by removing it from the air.
The typical setup is to attach a short hose to your dehumidifier to drain the water it produces into the sump pump hole. The hose is supposed to drain through it and not fill up the bucket. This way you don;t have to monitor it too often to empty the bucket when it gets filled up. Many units have a control that allow you to set the humidity level. This humidity setting helps control when the unit runs and when it shuts itself off. During the winter, the humidity in on the east coast is low; most automatic units will not run for months at a time.
Some owners think that once they attach a hose they never again have to worry about checking the unit for a full bucket. THEY ARE WRONG! Most dehumidifiers on the east coast are in the basement, somewhere out of view. Many people don’t know that their unit stopped working until the smell or see mold growing. Here’s what happens.
After prolonged non-use, the drain hose can become blocked and will stop the water from being able to drain. How? The lack of water in the drain hose, allows spiders and other small critters to get into the host and build a home. In some cases their new home becomes the blockage that stops the water from exiting through the hose. Consequently, water goes into the built-in bucket. As we all know,when the bucket is full, the units shuts itself off. Now you have a potential huge problem.
After a dehumidifier has been sitting for a while not running, you should clean the drain hose. The easiest way to do this, if the hose is short, is to use an old-fashioned wire hanger. Just undo the hanger, straighten it out so that it resembles stiff wire. Push into the drain hose, twist it around a few times and pull it out. Now you can be sure that your dehumidifier will drain the water through the hose and not fill the bucket.
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Cheers!
-gw
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