I like a many of you have water in my basement. It is seeping in through the floor and the walls. One question I have is does running my dehumidifier help reduce the amount of water in my basement or will it draw in more moisture from the cracks?
Water in my basement, help?
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Your dehumidifier will do nothing to help the flooding situation nor will it make it worse by drawing in moisture. once the flooding has gone down and you have no standing water any longer then it will help dry things out faster. It won't do anything to help while the flooding is going on though.
Sorry
Sorry
From ISU Extension's information on Condensation in Basements....
Dehumidify the Area
Dehumidifiers remove moisture from the air, and heat the air in the space. Warm air can hold more moisture. Removing the moisture and heating the space helps reduce condensation
problems, but may make the basement uncomfortably warm. Dehumidifiers usually will reduce summer condensation problems. Air conditioners remove moisture as they cool the air. Since the basement already is cool, the short operation
times needed to keep it cool may not be sufficient to remove moisture. Cooler air cannot hold as much moisture,
which condenses on cool surfaces. Air conditioner supply ducts in a concrete slab cool the slab and increase the risk of condensation on the slab surface. Operating both a dehumidifier and air conditioner will remove moisture and keep the space comfortable, but at a higher energy cost.
problems, but may make the basement uncomfortably warm. Dehumidifiers usually will reduce summer condensation problems. Air conditioners remove moisture as they cool the air. Since the basement already is cool, the short operation
times needed to keep it cool may not be sufficient to remove moisture. Cooler air cannot hold as much moisture,
which condenses on cool surfaces. Air conditioner supply ducts in a concrete slab cool the slab and increase the risk of condensation on the slab surface. Operating both a dehumidifier and air conditioner will remove moisture and keep the space comfortable, but at a higher energy cost.
Dehumidfiers do push up your summer electricity bill a fair amount. One thing I've done which has seemed to help was buy a timer that cycles the thing on for 2 hours and then off for 2 hours. Seems to work well and saving me some energy dollars as well.
A dehumidifier will help a damp basement but not a wet basement.
Make sure you check your gutters and the slope away from your foundation, that will make a big difference.
Make sure you check your gutters and the slope away from your foundation, that will make a big difference.
I have a little stream in my basement right now. I actually made a little ghettotastic dam using some cheap caulk to funnel it towards my floor drain. I'm going to put in a sump pit when the water table drops to more reasonable levels at some point.
I have a couple of box fans running pretty much 24/7 down there and they do a pretty good job of keeping things reasonably dry. I also opened up a couple of my central air vents down stairs to dry the air just a little bit. Normally I keep them closed to concentrate the cold air upstairs where the heat is.
I have a couple of box fans running pretty much 24/7 down there and they do a pretty good job of keeping things reasonably dry. I also opened up a couple of my central air vents down stairs to dry the air just a little bit. Normally I keep them closed to concentrate the cold air upstairs where the heat is.
Good point, but also I can't believe driving around just how many people have no extensions on their eavespouts. They come down, have the elbow where the 3-4 ft extension should hook up to and there's nothing there. Plugged gutters and letting the gutters dump right near the basement walls is a huge reason for flooding basements in downpours.
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