ALORAIR Commercial Dehumidifier 113 Pint, with Drain Hose for Crawl Spaces, Basements, Industry Water Damage Unit, Compact, Portable, Auto Defrost, Sentinel HD55

This is a workhorse, I use it in a 1400+ square foot crawlspace with only about 30 inches headroom. It easily dries mine down to 45% relative humidity, and uses less electricity than the big box store brand I replaced. Heftier, quieter, expect it to be more durable, more expensive but better long term value.

My basement is humid. Humid enough that drips form on the air conditioning vents in summer.This blue box brought the humidity down a solid 40% and holding.Built like a tank and works very well. You DO notice it, I wouldn't call it quiet, but it's not obnoxious either.

4-star initial performance, but 5-star customer service. Unit was used sparingly and began shutting down with an error code. Customer support was able to diagnose the issue and provide guidance on replacement of a plug/play temp monitor. Customer service communications were very prompt, friendly, and knowledgeable.No more error codes.Unit is well built and function properly now.

We’re happy with our dehumidifier, however we encountered a mechanical issue that was identified with the help of customer support as a malfunctioning motherboard. After confirming I was willing to replace it myself, the new motherboard arrived within two days. Replacement was easy with the YouTube video.

Great product and good support. This unit works very well for my crawl space!

In spite of some problems that I initially encountered, I believe that for its operating capacity the Alorair H55 (Blue) Sentinel dehumidifier is one of the best products on the market place today.Why do I think this dehumidifier is so good? To be honest my past experience with the entire dehumidifier manufacturing industry has not been a happy one. In the past 10 years I have bought (and obtained through warranty exchanges) over 8 dehumidifiers. I have a relatively small encapsulated crawl space (1,400 SF) which I kept dehumidified using residential 35 Liter per day units. The units that I bought were manufactured by Frigidaire, Friedrich, and Hense. They are all junk! They are designed to fail within 12 to 24 months. Although one would think with the vast choice with the plethora of various manufactures of residential dehumidifiers that quality would vary; having removed the cover off of these failed units it appears that the functioning components (compressor, condensing, and evaporating coils) are all the same and probably come from the same factory located somewhere in China. Why do they fail within such a short period? Bad design. (1) The evaporator coils operate under high pressure 410 Freon, with thin walled copper tubing (environmental and energy efficiency improvements), packed with aluminum cooling fins for condensing room humidity, all held together with carbon steel plates on the ends of the coil unit. The high pressure Freon environment within the thin copper tubing fails within 24 months due to formicary corrosion caused by the dissimilar metals (aluminum, copper, and carbon steel) in contact in a damp environment setting up a corrosion voltage differential on the evaporator coil. (2) Placement of the humidity sensor directly in contact with the evaporating coil in the upper corner, insures multiple and repeated false starts for the dehumidifier compressor. When the unit shuts down after reaching proper humidity levels, the evaporator coil is still wet, and as it drys out the humidity released will send a false signal that the room humidity is too high and thus trigger the unit to start up. Worse when moisture evaporates, the resulting water vapor is lighter than air and rises and triggers the sensor. Excessive cycling on and off results. Lastly it is impossible to repair the units when they fail. They are intended to be disposal products. When I hauled them off the the landfill (as hazardous waste) it was shocking how many failed dehumidifiers were stacked together at the landfill.I finally decided to quit buying junk and started researching crawl space dehumidifiers. Most crawl space dehumidifiers are overpowering for my needs (100 ~ 200 pints per day). The Alorair HD55 is one of the smallest crawl space dehumidifiers on the market. And it is a quality design. This unit has a coated coil (in which the aluminum fins and copper tubing are coated) and is held together with stainless steel plates all of which protects against premature evaporator coil failure due to formicary corrosion. Secondly the humidifier sensor is separated from the evaporator coil and is located on the lower end of the unit to minimize triggering by evaporating moisture from the evaporator coil. Additionally a remote controlling sensor is available as an option with a 25 foot cable to enable full separation from the senor from the evaporator coil. The unit has a MERV 8 removable filter to keep the coils clean. It is very quiet when operating. The only way for me to tell if the unit in the crawl space is running, I have to put my ear against the floor to hear it as the sound is too faint. Additionally, I highly recommend the hanging unit when installing. The rope system minimizes the conduction of vibration, and it raises the unit to get more height when running the gravity drain pipe. Additionally operating the unit directly below the floor joists is more efficient as humidity rises and can be more effectively removed during operation, than if the unit is located on the crawlspace or basement floor. Another plus is that while the humidity sensor operates to the nearest 5%, the actual humidity setting can be set within 1% intervals. I have a separate hygrometer sensor in the crawlspace which measures humidity within 1% intervals. This unit is able to keep a steady humidity level of 41% with a variation of only 1 % +/- when using the remote controller and keeps a steady 40% with no variation when using the sensor on the unit. None of the other junk units that I used to own could keep a steady humidity level, as they operated with variations of +/- 5% at a 45% setting.Yes I did have some problems as the first unit delivered failed almost immediately It is not clear whether the unit was defective or whether it was damaged in shipment. I suspect that damage in shipment is a common problem. The support staff was very responsive and arranged to get a replacement unit shipped to me in two days. I was also given a return label for me to ship the defective unit back at no cost. Replacement unit is running great. I would highly recommend that you save the shipping box for any future returns. In spite of this I still recommend this unit.

Update: This was a powerful dehumidifier for my small rv for 3 summers, then it got less powerful. It used to easily take the humidity to under 40% but was now struggling to hold 50%, and not cycling. It was on all the time. As stated in my original review, customer service sent me a new sensor and main board. Looked good at first, but ultimately didn't help. In the 2-1/2 months it took for this (not their fault - I was busy) the unit degraded significantly more and now can barely hold 60%. It was not an electronics problem. There used to be a tiny stream of water coming out of it when new and now it's a drop every 3 seconds. My conclusion (and theirs also) was a loss of refrigerant. A leak. Very likely leaking since it was originally charged. It has been well handled, kept level at all times during deployment, handling, and storage, left for 24 hours before turning on after moving, and doesn't have a scratch on it. As others have noted, they said I could ship it to them and they would repair it free, but I have to pay shipping both ways. At 44 pounds this is quite an expense at consumer rates. Otherwise, I could buy a new one from them for $450. No way. The replacement will leak after 3 seasons and I don't want to pay $150/summer for dehumidifying my rv when it's parked (I use a small heater the other 3 seasons).I feel sorry for the company as they really tried in good faith to help me fix it, but the product is no good. It leaks. Any sealed heat transfer system that leaks so soon without being abused is junk. I have a 40 year old refrigerator which has been handled roughly (in the shop) that still runs perfectly and has been running every day of those 40 years. The one in my home is 25 years old, still running perfectly. Buy at your own peril.I'm going to replace it with a cheap Walmart unit, and perhaps someday I'll address the plumbing on this thing in the future. I may be able to bring it back to life and have it recharged (if the charge ports are compatible). My advice - either get a cheapo unit and plan on replacement, or spend a couple hundred more for a known quality unit, preferably one not made in China.Original review:I use this to keep the moisture down in my rv. I live in the pacific northwest and during the non winter seasons it can get humid. It rains a lot here. Before I deployed this unit my rv would get moldy inside in a matter of a few weeks. One time I found an inch of white mold on my steering wheel. Yuk! After spending a lot of effort (and a lot of white vinegar) getting rid of the mold I bought this and there has been no problem since. It's much better than a house unit because it can discharge water out a hose to the outside. Compared to what this is made for, my application is light duty. After 3 years the humidity no longer matched my humidity gauge. It was off by 15%. Customer service helped me trouble shoot the problem, which turned out to be the humidity sensor. They sent me a new one free, but it turned out to be incompatible as it was a newer design and it gave an error code of E1. When I reported that, they scrounged an old design sensor and sent me that, as well as a new main board to match the new sensor. Free. Although the manual doesn't contain the error codes or much in the way of trouble shooting, they have quite a library of utube videos for reference. Combine those with TOP NOTCH customer service and I would not hesitate to buy this unit again. Replacing modules and filters is very easy requiring only a screwdriver and needle nose pliers. I highly recommend.

The product works great for dehumidifying our basement. Easy to set up and use. Customer service was also very helpful and knowledgeable - was able to quickly troubleshoot the root cause and provide clear and concise instructions allowing me to quick resolve my concern.