Choosing the Best Crawl Space Dehumidifier
in North and South Carolina

If you have a dehumidifier in your NC or SC crawl space and the space is still damp and musty, then there's an obvious conclusion:  it's not doing its job.

Dehumidifiers are often set to automatically shut off when the space is dry enough.  If it doesn't shut off, then the space is never at that acceptable level.  And if your dehumidifier includes a collection tray, you can expect it to till with water about once every 12 hours or so.  If you're only emptying it once a week, then it's hardly ever working at all!

There's a lot to look for when shopping for a dehumidifier in the North Carolina and South Carolina areas.  To help you pick the best for your home, FootHills CrawlSpace offers these five key features that make a dehumidifier one of the best. 

We serve Central North Carolina and Northwest South Carolina, including cities like Asheville, Gastonia, and Tryon in NC and Greenville, Spartanburg, Rock Hill, and Walhalla in SC. If you're ready to learn more about basement or crawl space dehumidifiers in NC & SC, call or contact us online today for a free crawl space quote!

1. Your Dehumidifier should be Powerful Enough to do the Job

The most common basement dehumidifier complaint that we hear comes when a homeowner has purchased a dehumidifier that runs constantly but does not dry the basement.  The end result for this is a continuously damp, moldy space, with the only difference being a higher energy bill.

You could spend more money and buy a second dehumidifier.  However, the end result of this will be an expensive and inefficient solution.  Twice the dehumidifiers means twice the noise, twice the electricity, and, very often, a basement that's still damp.  Instead of taking this route, start off right with a powerful 100-liter crawl space or basement dehumidifier that will assure that the moisture in the space is being removed in an energy-efficient method.  The SaniDry offered by FootHills CrawlSpace is able to dehumidify an entire basement, using a powerful blowing motor that will send dry air all over the space.

2. Find an Energy-Efficient Dehumidifier

Few dehumidifiers in the North and South Carolina areas come with an Energy Star rating, but these few are very worth the effort.  The best dehumidifiers can do more than twice the work at less than a third of the energy usage, saving you a lot of money in the long run.

If you are concerned about the energy usage of your crawl space or basement dehumidifier, you may also want to find a model that allows you to adjust your dehumidifier to a specific level of dryness.  This way, you can set it to full-blast if you want the most comfortable environment that is easiest on your cooling bills (humid air is more expensive to cool than dry air), or you can simply set it to keep the space dry enough to help prevent mold growth.

3. Install a Self-Draining Dehumidifier in your home

Cheap home dehumidifiers come with a collection tray that will fill up with water about every 12 hours.  This means that keeping your basement dry involves emptying his tray 14 times a week or more.  However, most homeowners will fall into a routine where they're emptying it only once weekly.  This means that your dehumidifier's tray will fill and shut off right away, allowing it to work only 7% of the time, whereas the humidity goes unchecked the other 93%.  Why bother?

Your time and energy is too important for you to have to continually empty humidity collection trays- find a dehumidifier that can drain the water away by itself.  Basement and crawl space dehumidifiers can be set to drain to a sump pump, a sink, or other available opening, or they can be hooked up to a condensate pump that's designed to discharge the water through a tube run through the home's rim joist.  No matter which option you choose, your dehumidifier will be much more convenient and effective.

4. Your Dehumidifier Should Include an Air Filter

If you're hoping to fight mold, mildew, and dust mites by dehumidifying the basement or crawl space, then take your efforts to the next level.  There are dehumidifiers on the market today that can filter particles out of the air as small as 2 microns while they dehumidify the space.  While these systems are not air purification systems, they're able to filter out dust mite waste, mold spores, pollen, and a variety of other home allergens commonly found in a North Carolina or South Carolina basement.  Dehumidifiers can also come with an odor filter, which is great for removing that musty smell that is sometimes common in a basement or crawl space.

5. Duct your Dehumidifier into the Finished Space

If you live in Spartanburg, SC or Asheville, NC and are finishing the basement, the last thing you want to see in the newly finished space is a basement dehumidifier in the corner.  This problem can easily be avoided by installing the dehumidifier in a closet or in an unfinished section of the basement.  However, to do this, your basement dehumidifier will need a blower that's powerful enough to be ducted out of the space so it can keep the entire finished area dry.

Basement & Crawl Space Dehumidifiers