Soleus Air DP1-30E-03, 30 Pint Portable Energy Star Dehumidifier Review

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List Price: $249.99
Sale Price: $143.95
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I received this unit yesterday so this is a preliminary assessment. The reason why I needed a dehumidifier is the one that we have in our basement is literally 20 years old. It's so old, it doesn't have a piece of plastic on it but it refuses to die. While I didn't test the old unit for electrical draw, my monthly electric bills are too high. I unplugged/put on a timer every appliance that I thought could contribute and it came back down to my belief that my old dehumidifier is an energy hog.

Our basement is HUGE but I still only bought the 30 pint unit because I'd rather run a small unit more often than cycle a larger unit. Same concept as a house air conditioner and a dehumidifier is a miniature air conditioner. Besides, I'd need the Mother of All Dehumidifiers to completely dry the basement and that's not going to happen.

Even though the old unit had just been running before I installed the Soleus, the new hstat read 70%. I don't really care if that's accurate or not, the basement just smelled damp. I installed a drip hose to run into the laundry tub, set the hstat to 55% and went to bed. This morning, it's definitely drier but I didn't bother to check the hstat. I assume the unit ran all night.

The impressive point is that I used the same drain hose on both dehumidifiers and, subjectively, the Soleus is draining a LOT more water than the old unit. Plus it is VERY quiet.

Once I get the feel of the hstat sensitivity, then I 'll set it and forget it so I can assess the energy usage. I know that I could buy an energy meter but I'll just save the $50.

The unit is also light which is important because I put the unit midway up the wall on a shelf (to drain into the tub). The supplied wheels should move very well on carpets but mine is static. BTW, based on my own reading, the Energy Star rating means very little but it's better to buy an appliance with the sticker.

Thanks to all those who previously reviewed this product and helped me make my decision!

I've updated this since I've used the system for a few months. Previously, I was wrong in saying the blower stays on constantly when the dehumidifier isn't running. Not true, don't know where I got that. All I can say is....dagnabbit but this does pull a lot of water from the air, and it uses less electricity than my old one.

One year later and I'm at the point where I just leave it on. Works extremely well and I'm very satisfied.

It will soon be two years of nearly constant use (at least during the air conditioning season) and it performs just as well as when I first wrote this review.

Yup, two years now and it has been running perfectly. Good investment.

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I received this dehumidifier a few weeks ago for use in my basement apartment that had gotten damp with all the rain this summer. It has been running non-stop since. It works great! I have been rotating it around the apartment into different rooms that need to dry out and it quickly fills up with water after a few hours beeps and I empty the bucket. the only drawback is that is does give off a lot of heat, which I guess all dehumidifiers do, but I still gave it 5 stars!

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I use this unit in the garage to reduce humidity (obviously). I wouldn't want it in the living room or bedroom, it's pretty loud when running. It's an Energy Star unit but the difference in my electric bill during peak usage over the winter was easily noticable. But I have never used another one, so I can't really compare. It has withstood lots of usage since I bought it several months ago. It is simple as possible to use. I filled up the 30-pint bucket many, many times. Usually during the rainy season (Seattle, so that's about 8 months out of the year!) if I used it several hours a day it would fill up over just a day or two. So it really does the trick in pulling moisture out of the air. It wheels around, which is nice, even though it isn't that heavy for me it might be for certain people.

Honest reviews on Soleus Air DP1-30E-03, 30 Pint Portable Energy Star Dehumidifier

this little wonder does a great job. I use it in my 20x40 man cave and it keeps it very dry. It is a little noisy for my taste and when we are occupying it I usually shut it down becuase of the fan noise. Also if it is running the room temperature rises a few degrees over the week. We like it when its 67-68 degrees and if it is on all week the temperature stays around 71. I attached a garden hose to it and it has worked flawlessly over last month.

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I've had this machine for about 6 weeks and have used it many times. It's great for small areas--mine's in semi-finished basement. I don't run it all day, however, since it sucks up moisture well in 4-hour intervals (one of 2 automatic settings you can program, the other being 2 hours). I tried running it longer a couple of times, but smaller intervals seem to work better. I also don't have it hooked up to a hose for drainage, but use the machine's reservoir instead (recycle the water on my garden plants). The auto shut-off is a great feature when the reservoir gets too full. This isn't a heavy duty machine (which may explain some of the negative reviews where it sounds as if machine is running a lot), but it pulls the moisture beautifully from my basement in, again, the short cycles that I program.

It's construction is solid (for plastic), the wheels work well and make an otherwise heavy machine easy to move around (not always the case on heavy molded plastic products), and the functions are fairly idiot-proof. I haven't changed the filter yet, so can't speak to that feature. Surprisingly compact and stylish as well. Will be getting one for my first floor next summer, assuming this one continues to purr like the happy little kitten it is right now...