Best Crawl Space Dehumidifiers

Your crawl space needs a dehumidifier, but you don’t know which one to choose. Does it matter what brand you buy? What features does it need? Is there a difference between a whole-house dehumidifier and a regular one?

South Central Services has worked with hundreds of homeowners to find the right insulation for their homes. For many, we have encapsulated their crawl spaces and installed dehumidifiers. With our background in HVAC equipment, we have a few brands of dehumidifiers we prefer for our customers.

By the end of this article, you will know:

• What to pay attention to when looking at dehumidifiers
• The top two brands of crawl space dehumidifiers we recommend

Crawl Space Dehumidifiers: What You Need To Know

You are on the right track by searching for a crawl space dehumidifier. In our service area, crawl spaces are damp and dirty spaces. This area of your home suffers from excess moisture and needs a way to deal with that humidity. When we encapsulate crawl spaces, we often include a dehumidifier as part of the package.

While dehumidifiers are low-maintenance machines, they require some regular maintenance. Dehumidifiers have filters that need to be changed periodically. The drain line of a dehumidifier should also be checked from time to time to ensure it is unrestricted. Besides these two check-ups, dehumidifiers can be left alone in the crawl space to draw out excess moisture.

As you research the dehumidifiers available, you’ll probably see some labeled as “whole-house” dehumidifiers. The capacity of the dehumidifier is better understood by pints. Dehumidifiers are sized by how many pints of moisture are being removed from the air.

Every crawl space is different, but as a general rule, look for dehumidifiers with a minimum of a 70 pint rating.

Crawl Space Dehumidifiers: What To Look For

There are four key details to look for when evaluating potential dehumidifiers. Here’s a preview.

1. Appropriate size
2. Integrated controls
3. Positive customer reviews
4. Reputable brand name

Let’s examine these in more detail.

1. Appropriately-Sized Dehumidifiers

Every crawl space is a different size. Between length, width, shape, and wall height, no two crawl spaces are the same. The pint capacity that your crawl space dehumidifier will need depends on the size of your crawl space.

Purchasing and installing an oversized dehumidifier is not ideal for your energy savings. Any HVAC equipment that offers excess capabilities will cost more to run than you need it to.

However, purchasing a dehumidifier with too small of a capacity is worse. If your dehumidifier cannot keep up with the humidity in your crawl space, the excess moisture can lead to mold or mildew problems.

Ideally, you want to purchase the “baby bear” dehumidifier, which is just the right size for your crawl space. Speaking with an HVAC or insulation contractor can help you diagnose the pint capacity you’ll need.

2. Integrated Controls

Have you lost your TV remote recently? With our new smart TVs, there aren’t always buttons on the TV itself to help you control the power and volume. At least, those buttons aren’t always easy to find.

Even when encapsulated, your crawl space is not a place you want to make a habit of visiting. Just like the annoyance of having to get up to change a TV channel, you don’t want to purchase a dehumidifier that cannot be controlled remotely.

The most convenient crawl space dehumidifiers have integrated controls that can connect to your phone.

3. Positive Customer Reviews

Like any other purchase, it is wise to check available reviews—homeowners who have gone before you can warn you about possible hiccups, irritations, and flaws. Even brands known for their reliability or high quality should be held to these standards on a product-by-product basis.

A dehumidifier with reviews praising its dependability and reliability is a machine worth considering.

4. Reputable Brand Name

There is an excellent reason to be concerned with what company manufactures your dehumidifier: warranty. No one wants to believe their expensive equipment will break or malfunction, but it is possible. Your warranty will be reliable if you purchase a dehumidifier from a reputable company.

Next, let’s look at the two brands our team at South Central Services recommends.

Our Top Choice for Crawl Space Dehumidifiers: AprilAire

AprilAire has a variety of ventilation products, including range hoods, air purifiers, air filters, thermostats, humidifiers, dehumidifiers, and more. This company invented the residential humidifier in 1954 and has continued pioneering into better indoor air quality.

There are 6 dehumidifiers listed on the AprilAire website, with one explicitly branded for crawl spaces.

In our experience, this brand delivers a reliable dehumidifier product. Their website makes registering product warranties easy for homeowners and professional installers. AprilAire also has integrated controls that can connect to your phone.

Runner-Up for Crawl Space Dehumidifiers: Santa Fe

Santa Fe is a brand under Therma-Stor, a company established in 1977. The Santa Fe brand focuses their product line on air purifiers and dehumidifiers. Their dehumidifiers are commercial-grade, energy-efficient, and assembled in the USA.

There are 11 dehumidifiers listed on the Santa Fe website. Each product listing shares whether the dehumidifier is meant for a crawl space, basement, or whole house. Santa Fe also offers capacity breakdowns by pints and square footage.

In our experience, Santa Fe dehumidifiers are reliable. Santa Fe offers a 6-year limited warranty, clearly stated on their website for easy reference. Homeowners can easily register their product online.

Santa Fe does not advertise integrated controls for remote access. However, at least one crawl space model has onboard digital controls.

Honorable Mention: Honeywell Home

Honeywell Home is a brand of a home sustainability company called Resideo. Honeywell Home offers ventilation products, security systems, and smart thermostats.

Honeywell Home has three versions of a whole home dehumidification system listed on their website. The specifications are less accessible than those of our other recommended brands. However, there are numerous customer reviews.

Honeywell Home products, in our experience, are reliable. You can register your dehumidifier product on their website, but their warranty information is not readily available.

The Bottom Line About Choosing Your Crawl Space Dehumidifier

There are factors to consider when selecting your crawl space dehumidifier. It is important to size your dehumidifier to the size of your crawl space and the pint capacity you need. Read product descriptions and “the fine print” carefully to understand what features these dehumidifiers offer.

It would be best if you also chose a reliable brand. We recommend AprilAire and Santa Fe dehumidifiers for their reliability and warranties. If you have the opportunity, consult with a professional contractor about the choice of dehumidifier.

Now that you know what to look for in a crawl space dehumidifier, your next step is to:

• Discover if you can use a dehumidifier without encapsulation
• Compare crawl space encapsulation with another insulation method
• Evaluate whether or not crawl space encapsulation is worth investing in

Featured image courtesy of Santa Fe.