I almost didn't buy this unit because of the mixed reviews, but I took a chance and I'm glad I did. Bottom line, it works spectacularly well if used for an enclosed space where the air isn't being circulated/exchanged. I have it in a guest-cabin behind my house which sits vacant 90% of the time. It extracted about 1 cup of water in 24 hours of summer weather. Over a period of a week or so, I expect it will remove most humidity as long as the cabin stays sealed. There are 2 keys to this unit working effectively: (1) It works slowly, so expecting it to dehumidify your bathroom right after your shower is preposterous. (2) It's not going to work if the air you're trying to dehumidify is being circulated. In other words, if it's a room you're constantly going in and out of, or a room connected to your central A/C unit, forget it. You'll need a big, mechanical dehumidifier. But for spaces where the air isn't being circulated/exchanged, it will eventually extract most of the moisture and keep it dry. A perfect example would be a motor-home. My only (minor) complaints are that optional drain hose is only about 4' long (so I replaced it with a 1/2" x 6' hose from HomeDepot for 3 bucks.) And the power converter gets very hot, so I hooked it to a lamp timer and have it running 2-hours-on then 1-hour-off all day (thus a total of 16 hours a day). Hopefully this will keep it from getting seriously hot. Bottom line--perfect for enclosed spaces but wouldn't recommend for areas where air is being circulated or exchanged.
By way of background, I have been dealing with temp and humidity control devices for many years. Two reasons -one, I am a lifelong asthma sufferer, and I have expensive wooden musical instruments that require constant care. I have owned many humidifiers, dehumidifiers, air cleaners and measuring devices (eg, hygrometers). I am not a technical expert on the science behind these things (although I do not think it is all that complicated). I am, however, a fairly experienced consumer of them.
I was perplexed at the dearth of real reviews of these Supentown dehumidifiers. I figured for the price I would find out for myself.
I put the thing in a room that is 15 by 10, in a basement, in Westchester County, NY. This is my home office. Due to landscape etc, we get a fair amount of humidity. No actual water in the basement, but it is often above 60% rh. In an adjacent basement room, separated by a 10 inch concrete wall, I have a large, high-end dehumidifier. During the first 24 hours after I set this thing up, the big humidifier sucked more than 2 gallons out of the air, in a comparable sized space. This thing...less a 1/4 cup. The rh in the room went from 62%...to 62%. Did not budge.
At the same time, the thing makes a ridiculous amount of noise. It is made of cheap, light plastic, and the fan is very loud and sounds...well, like a cheap fan in cheap, light plastic. By contrast, in the same room I have a Winix model 5300 air filter. This is a good quality unit. The little Supentown dehumidifier is several times as loud as the Winix on its standard setting. Really, it's much louder than it's functionality should warrant. Not that much quieter than a standard dehumidifier with a compressor (one that actually works).
1/4 cup of water in 24 hours from a 62% space, and it was actually raining outside during this time.
This is the first time in many years on amazon that I actually sent a product back solely because of it being a cheap piece of junk. Usually, I suck it up, throw it away, sell it on eBay or whatever. This one annoyed me so much, I sent it back. Don't waste your time and money. Go with a real dehumidifier.
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This little dehumidifier, about the size of a boot-sized shoe box on end, performs well. Although essentially all plastic, it is still sturdy. It is ideal for small spaces; I have a 6'x'10x8'h brick structure that is up against a hillside, so quite a bit of moisture comes through two walls even though they are moisture blocked. This unit extracts about 1/2 cup of water per day when the space is closed. This is just enough to satisfy my needs and prevent deterioration of contents. It wouldn't draw enough for a larger area. It would be very good for walk-in closets, even larger than my space, since they would generally have less moisture than I have. I don't believe there would be sufficient benefit for use in a living area since the unit would be overwhelmed by ventilation, having such a little volume capability. This would also be ideal for enclosed spaces in coastal areas.
UPDATE: THE UNIT QUIT WORKING AFTER ABOUT TWO YEARS. DID A GREAT JOB BUT I EXPECTED IT TO LAST A LOT LONGER. OTHER REVIEWERS HAVE SAID THE SAME THING. I REPLACED IT WITH AN EVA-DRY, WHICH IS ABOUT THE SAME DIMENSIONS AND SPECS OUT SIMILARLY, BUT IT REOMVES ONLY ABOUT HALF AS MUCH WATER.
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This device works well... That is, it works well if you are in a room that is very warm (summer heat). It doesn't work in the winter, it doesn't work fast, it doesn't do the trick in a bathroom.
To balance my review, I can honestly say that the device is small and quiet. It DOES work, so keep it in mind for an office space and use in the summer, when you need to knock the edge off of the background humidity in a room where additional moisture is not being actively generated.
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The product it self was great. It took a little long to get to us and had a crack in the water tank, but it doesn't leak. It has really helped to make a difference in our basement.
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Since I didn't see it listed either in the specs or the reviews, I'll just note that (according to the box it comes in), this is the replacement cartridge for Venta-Sonic models:
