This unit is identical to the WDH871 with the difference that one is rated 70 pints and one 50. The first thing to clarify about that rating, and this applies to all dehumidifiers, is that it refers to the maximum amount of water it can remove in 24 hours, not to the size of the tank (which is a fairly standard 2 gallons).
I live in DC and have a beach house in Puerto Rico, which remains closed for 2-3 months at a time so keeping humidity in check becomes a regular chore. I've had and/or tested around 10 dehumidifiers in the last few years. In general they all do the job, clear the air of excess humidity, and they do this fairly effectively. The differences come in how they do this:
1) how many speed settings they have,
2) can the unit be set to run automatically to maintain a certain humidity percent,
3) how noisy are they (notice I don't say how quiet are they, all of them make noise),
4) how are they drained: bucket vs. gravity drain vs. pump
5) how sturdy are they
6) how easily can they be moved from one room to the next (not all wheels are the same)
This unit has 2 fan speed settings. At the high speed this is fairly loud. I'm not talking Rolling Thunder loud, but not quiet enough to keep in a bedroom or to have a quiet conversation next to it. I use this setting for when I'm out of the house. The low setting makes a comfortable background white noise similar to an area fan.
One of the things I like best about this unit is that it has 3 ways to drain the water: 1) manually by carrying a bucket (very solid construction), 2) gravity drain, and 3) it has an included pump that can drain the water up to 15 feet vertically.
The unit has an automatic on and off (or sleep mode) depending on the pre-set humidity level.
The wheels in this unit work very well. In other units (the Danby 60 pint and the Kenmore 70 pint) the wheels either broke or sagged so much that they were worthless after a few months.
Compared to the Frigidaire 70-Pint Dehumidifier (FAD704TDP), the Winix is far better.
1) it is better constructed, the wheels are bigger and easier to roll and the bucket handle feels stronger,
2) it includes a water pump (pump and hose for the Frigidaire add about $80-100)
3) it is quieter, particularly at the low fan setting
I don't usually do reviews but I wanted to on this product. This product sucks water out of the air like a champ. I had a damp basement due to the condensation from all my pex tubing and well holding tank. Now that's a thing of the past. This was very easy to set up and use. I use the automatic pump feature and have hooked it up to the condensation pump that my central air uses and it works flawlessly. That's a great feature! One flaw I found though is the built in humidity gauge. I set it at 50% but the thing would run and run and run ... and run. I took the hygrometer out of my humidor, placed it in the same room as the dehumidifier and noticed that the gauge on the dehumidifier is off by +/10%. I set the unit to 50% and the hygrometer was reading 39%. I set my dehumidifier to 55% and my hygrometer read 46% and it now cycles on and off to maintain that humidity. My suggestion is to make sure you have a hygrometer to confirm your desired setting will actually result in your desired humidity level.
Buy Winix 50 Pint Dehumidifier (WDH851) Now
First, the dehumidifier stopped pulling any significant quantity of water from the air after less than 2 years. Disappointing, yes, but not a huge deal because the compressor has a 5 year warranty. Or at least that's what I thought. Calling up the support line reveals the only way to get service is to MAIL THE UNIT TO THEM AT YOUR COST!!! Yes, that's right, there's no local-drop-off service options for a 50+ lb piece of equipment. I feel like I got suckered with a bait and switch. What's the use of a warranty if it's going to cost me $50+ to take advantage of it? I mean, why not just say I need to send it to China to get it serviced?
Read Best Reviews of Winix 50 Pint Dehumidifier (WDH851) Here
This humidifier is very loud and the buzz from the compressor is absolutely horrible. It does a decent job removing the humidity but we returned this unit as the noise level is THAT BAD ! We then purchased a Soleus Air dehumidifier and are very pleased.
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i bought this putting in my basement. It works fine but it is as loud as a generator. I wish I could return it. It really drives me crazy!
It does what it says it's suppose to and it's easy to clean and fill but it leaks very bad when you get to the low water indicator and the light turns from blue to a orange. You are suppose to refill it when it gets to that point but when you are asleep all it does is make alot of water under whatever it's on top of. We ended up putting a thick bath towel under it when we run it at night to soak up the moisture. It only runs for about 7hrs on the high setting but the ad said it would run for like 24hrs, so don't believe everything that is posted. We do wake up less congested and it does kindof heat the room up because the hot steam that it puts out but I think next time we will look for one that doesn't have a leaking problem.
