UPDATE 05/19/12 I attempted to disassemble the unit yesterday evening, but the bucket would not come out, and there was a silver dollar sized patch of ice on the outside of the unit near where the gravity drain nozzle is on the interior. I turned off the unit and left it to thaw overnight. This morning, I went down and removed the housing and everything appeared to be normal. So, I reassembled the unit, but left the left hand hold insert out, so I could see inside the unit. I plugged it in and let it run for several hours, and it became apparent that what is happening is that the defrost function is no longer working (which is the same problem that my previous dehumidifier developed), so ice is forming and blocking the drainage through the elbow that either drains into the bucket, or the gravity drain hose, depending on if the drain hose is connected. The design of the unit is such that, if the normal drain path is obstructed, there is an "overflow" drain hole on the opposite and higher side of the draining channel, that drains into the bucket. I also observed that the evaporator coils iced up across the entire width of the unit, up to about 3/4 of the entire evaporator surface, until I finally shut it down and unplugged it. Since the unit only has a 1 year limited warranty, and it would cost too much to ship it anywhere to have it fixed, it would appear that I have just paid $200+ for one year of operation. I am nonplussed. I sincerely hope that anyone that was persuaded to purchase this based on my initial review has much better luck that I have had, and in the event that they don't, I sincerely apologize. Longevity is something that is impossible to predict, so my initial assessment, while accurate, has subsequently been rendered invalid due to the one year lifespan of the product. It makes me question why I bothered to voice my opinion in the first place. From now on, I will reserve judgment, and review, until such time as I feel I can have confidence in the product... in the world of dehumidifiers, this was another sad and expensive lesson. I have revised my rating to 1 star. I went to a big box store today and bought another unit, along with their 4 year "extended warranty" option. If history is any indication, they will be seeing me either next year or the year after with the then defective unit and my receipt in hand.
UPDATE 05/13/12 Game Warden requested an update since it has been a year... so I'm back. Which is uncannily coincidental, since I was intending to come back for an update anyway, due to an issue that has arisen. Which is: Now the unit seems to be filling the bucket rather than the water draining out the drain hose. Others described this problem earlier, and I attributed it to them perhaps having the hose running uphill, or coils in the hose, which was preventing the water from draining correctly. Suddenly this Spring, my dehumidifier developed the same problem, and NOTHING has changed... LITERALLY... it is sitting in the exact same position with the exact same hose going from the unit to the sump pump. I guess my next step is to take the housing off from the unit and try to determine why this is now happening (which isn't an exercise that I am looking forward to undertaking). But I would revise my initial assessment to include that you should be wary of the drainage issue as reported. I will update my review once I have determined why this issue has developed, if I can come to a conclusive determination. Stay tuned...
UPDATE 08/09/11 Bad John requested an update... so here goes... after 4 months, still very satisfied. During the colder months, it never really did go much lower than 48% when the temperature was around 60 in the basement, it got down to around 45% RH and that was as good as it could do. Although 45% humidity at 60 degrees was certainly acceptable. For the past few weeks we have had outdoor temperatures running between 80 and nearly 100 degrees with beastly humidity (at least for the northeast). My basement has been in the mid to upper 70's and I have the control on the dehumidifier set for 45%. It is currently 75 degrees and 40% humidity, at least according to the thermometer/hygrometer sitting on the shelf 3 feet away from the unit. The unit cycles off and on rather frequently, but it does not run continuously, although that is obviously a very subjective observation that would be influenced by outdoor and indoor temperatures, RH, rainfall, and water infiltration into the basement drainage/sump, as well as the setting of the dehumidifier controls. So overall, I would still recommend this as a solid choice. Longevity remains to be seen, but so far, so good...
ORIGINAL REVIEW:
My initial synopsis of this unit based on 3 hours of ownership:
PROS:
o VERY quiet... makes you wonder if it is really working at first
o Very simple, straightforward, and intuitive controls
o Auto-restart in the event of a power failure
o Superbly packaged, double boxed and excellent manufacturer packaging
o Competitively priced
o Ingenious "continuous drain" option
o Feels solid and the casters work well (at least on a concrete floor)
NEUTRALS:
o Air intake on front and exhausts out the top
CONS:
o Made in China but then you really don't have much of a choice nowadays
Read on if you want to see why I have stated these PROS and CONS... otherwise, just seriously consider this unit
THE EPEXEGESIS:
I have owned and/or observed several dehumidifiers over the years... my parents had an Amana (I think it was) that they had for *years*, it worked fine but was quite noisy and eventually gave out. Now they have another brand that I don't remember at the moment which also works fine but is somewhat noisy. I've had a couple of different dehumidifiers, too. A couple of my friends have Frigidaire dehumidifiers that they have so far had good luck with for three or four years, and I *almost* bought one but the "sales associate" at the big box store (rhymes with blows) that I went to was so much less than helpful that I decided I would just order from Amazon, since they had the same model for $40 less even with shipping. The previous dehumidifier I own I payed a crapload of money for (like approaching one thousand) and it didn't even run correctly for two years. I'm currently talking to the company that I bought it from to see if it can be serviced... but that's another story which is not looking too rosy at the moment.
Anyway, after leaving the big box store with no joy (and no dehumidifier), I came home and decided to reconsider other dehumidifiers that I had looked at on Amazon. I had read that dehumidifiers with a rotary compressor were far quieter and more efficient than the conventional reciprocating-compressor-based models. I had previously stumbled upon this Supentown dehumidifier in my explorations on Amazon. I agonized over the decision, and had it narrowed down to three choices, the Frigidaire, a Danby, and this one. I *finally* decided, based on the wildly varying reviews that I read on Amazon and elsewhere, that it was really a total crap shoot and that I would go with this dehumidifier, also due in some part to satisfy my curiosity as to whether the rotary compressor would really live up to the reputation of which I had read.
It arrived today while I was at work, and this evening, I unboxed it and got it set up. The packaging was exemplary, it was double boxed and was in pristine shape. I hooked up a continuous drain hose, which in itself is an ingenious implementation. On one of my previous dehumidifiers, you cut the "plug" out of a garden hose threaded stud that was molded into the bucket of the unit... cheesy and meant that there was an inch or so of water that always stood in the bucket... plus it came out the side of the bucket, so it was ugly and never pointed in the right direction. I hated the design from the get-go. This unit has a rubber plug on the back which you pull out and then you slide a short piece of clear plastic tubing in through the hole and it slides over a nipple that would normally drain into the bucket, so no water ever enters the bucket, it just goes straight out the drain hose... VERY nicely thought out and executed. They provide a male threaded outlet stud that you use two screws to fasten into the hole on the back of the unit, then attach a standard garden hose connection. (Actually you slide that male threaded stud onto the clear plastic tubing before you slide the tubing into the back and onto the nipple I mentioned previously.) Once I got the drain hose outlet installed, I got it plugged in and turned on. I kid you not, I cannot even hear the compressor running. It makes me wonder if it is even working!!! The only sound I hear is the fan; it is on the "turbo" setting and is like a strong fan noise, but FAR FAR FAR quieter than any of the dehumidifiers I have ever owned or experienced. Reminds me of the noise made by the old "carousel slide projector" that my parents owned back in the day. On "normal", it is even quieter. I just went down to check it, and it showed a "P1" on the display, which the manual stated that it was in a "defrost" cycle, and would resume normal operation once it had defrosted. I stood there until the compressor came back on, and it is just a low hum that is audible when you hear the difference but is very quiet and unobtrusive.
One thing that you have to remember is that dehumidifiers are less efficient as the temperature drops... my basement is at 60 degrees right now, and I *believe* that dehumidifiers are rated at their water removal capacity at a temperature of 80 degrees or maybe a bit warmer. But I digress, and in any event, it is chugging away down there and I will be very interested to check the hygrometer that sits on a shelf nearby tomorrow to see how far it has dropped from the initial 51%... it has dropped to 48% in the short time it has run, so I am very hopeful to see the results.
So... the bottom line from my initial impression is that this is a VERY nicely thought out, designed, and executed unit. Of course the other attribute that I am highly interested in is its longevity, which unfortunately, as they say, "only time will tell". I'll make an effort to come back and update my review in the future, but there are a few drawbacks to that concept: Firstly, I may not remember, Secondly, I may not last as long as the dehumidifier (hope so but hey you never know), and Thirdly, at that time this model may no longer be available which means this review will be pretty much of no use...
This is my newest Sunpentown dehumidifier. I got my first (an SD-60E) almost 2 years ago. I've used many home dehumidifiers (Hampton Bay, Maytag, Fedders, Amana, Whirlpool) over many years. My two Sunpentowns are the most effective by any measure. Their water buckets are bigger, yet need to be emptied as often or more, even when used in the basement where temperatures are lower and many dehumidifiers lose effectiveness. I can now keep my whole house under 45% with only two dehumidifiers where I used to need three. Also, they're quieter, which is very important. At first I worried that they occasionally seemed to run unnecessarily, but I now realize they're smart devices and sometimes move air (with compressor off) just to monitor it better. They don't need to be reset after a power failure. The filters are easy to remove and vacuum. Also, readings are more accurate than on older models. One very minor complaint: I could wish for a pause button (off for an hour, then resume, in case you want super quiet for a while). But overall I'm far happier with my two SPTs than any other dehumidifiers.
Buy Sunpentown SD-65E 65 Pint Dehumidifier with Energy Star Now
In the past I have purchased several dehumidifiers of varying brands, including Frigidaire. Unfortunately, the Frigidaire units are no longer of good quality and the company is refusing to honor the warranty on them (see my review at for details). So I bought this one.
The Sunpentown, although rated five-pints per day less than my last Frigidaire, removes the moisture from the air MUCH more quickly. The Frigidaire ran almost continuously in my cellar trying to maintain a 40% humidity level. The Sunpentown brought the humidity down from 66% to 40% in just a few hours, and now only runs occasionally to maintain this level despite the extremely wet weather we have experienced the last few weeks.
The Sunpentown, like the other, has two speeds. Sunpentown calls the higher speed "Turbo." There may be a logical reason for this -at this speed it almost sounds like a turbojet. It is pretty darn loud. The "normal" speed is not bad. Unfortunately, when the unit goes into defrost mode it switches to Turbo speed, which is quite annoying in the middle of the night even though my bedroom is an insulated floor above the cellar. The sound travels through the heating ducts. The good part is that, since it does not run nearly as much as the other brand, it doesn't have to defrost very often.
The method of attaching a permanent drain hose to the unit is somewhat Mickey Mouse. They should have provided a way to screw the adapter piece to the case instead of having it hang loose. The adapter can be eliminated by simply plugging a long cut-off piece of 1/2 inch garden hose to the nipple inside the unit instead of using the adapter to screw on a garden hose.
Of course I can not yet speak about the longevity of this product, or about any warranty issues. If that time comes, I will update this review. (Update June, 2012: I now have two of these after replacing the other dud Frigidaire in the workshop on 06/02/2011. Both are still working perfectly.)
In the meantime, this appears to be a very efficient and well made unit. If the noise while defrosting is not an issue, it is certainly better than any Frigidaire model.
Update, November 2012: Well, I have had to test Sunpentown's customer service. I am happy to say they came through with flying colors. The unit I have in my workshop began freezing up. I called customer service and described the symptoms. They had me do a couple of tests. Then they told me that even though the unit was off warranty (by four months), they would still replace it at no charge if I would ship the old one to them at my cost. I did. They did. What a contrast to the other company!
Read Best Reviews of Sunpentown SD-65E 65 Pint Dehumidifier with Energy Star Here
Possibly a good buy when used with the tank. I tried to plug a garden hose into the unit, both directly or using the clear vinyl tubing they provided. Neither works, water still drips either into the tank from the overflow, or runs down to the floor. Called the manufacturer to give them a chance to make it right, very polite but totally unhelpful. Also the appliance feels flimsy and cheap, not sure how durable it will be.
Bottom line, unit going back to Amazon for a refund.
UPDATE
Frigidaire FAD704DUD vs. Supentown SD-65E
Purchased the Frigidaire unit instead 70 pints/day (vs. 65 for the Supentown) and was $185 (vs. 224 for the Supentown, noticed the two are priced identical now). The Frigidaire appears to be better built, the plastic seems sturdier, the unit is smaller and better finished (e.g. the condenser overflow in the Supentown appears to be something drilled into the tank, those in the Frigidaire are manufactured with a collar and have a smooth finish). The Frigidaire is less noisy and produces far less heat than the Supentown. The tank of the Frigidaire can be stood flat on the ground, a major design fault of the Supentown which leans precariously. Finally, on the subject of continuous drainage, the elbow and plug provided by the frigidaire work flawlessly. The reason neither Frigidaire or Supentown drain continuously is the absence of a vent to balance the pressure within the hosepipe and allow gravity to do its job, Frigidaire has solved this by including a vent at the top of the elbow. Supentown should look to produce a similar part if they can be bothered. Gave the Frigidaire four stars because the necessary "drainage kit" should have been included in the box rather than having to call Customer Service for it.
In conclusion, after much research (and hands-on comparison of the two units), on short-term use, Frigidaire wins hands down.
Want Sunpentown SD-65E 65 Pint Dehumidifier with Energy Star Discount?
I purchased SPT SD-65E 65 pint dehumidifier in October after my home was nearly flooded. The water came up to within 5 inches of coming into my house. All of my insulation and ductwork had to be torn out. Under my house had to be sprayed 3 times with clorox mixture to prevent mold. I knew there was a lot of moisture inside my home. The first week I used the dehumidifier, I emptied the tank 14 times in SIX days. The humidity level is now maintained at a steady 45 to 50%. It is efficient and very quiet except when it goes into defrost mode. I am using it now in conjunction with my gas logs to control the humidity level. I am very pleased with the operation of the Sunpentown SD-65E. I have reccommended it to many people since I received mine. Thank you for such an efficient product. Jack Jarvis, Washington, NC
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I've tried several solutions to reduce humidity in my 1400 ft3 basement. No water problems through the walls. The basement has a dirt floor. Starting basenent humidity (yes, I do own a humidistat) this winter averaged 70%. Using two 50 pint dehumidifiers, at seperate ends, the humidity has never been lower than 55%. This is with the units running 12 hours a day (they freeze up within 30min to an hour) in winter and constantly in summer. Current humidity with this unit is 50%. If you're handy. This unit is the most cost effective option I've found. I've read blogs where people are building their own for approximately 170.00 200.00 with no humidistat! The unit shipped to me in 2/3 days. The parts are well done for the purpose. The fan in the unit is all metal parts. The installation instructions are solid.
