Features:

  • Protects your home from mold and mildew caused by excess moisture
  • Helps eliminate bacteria in the air that can make breathing difficult
  • Manual relative humidity range: 35-percent-85-percent
  • Continuous operation is possible when unit is located near a suitable drain
  • Effortless full tank alert system with auto shut-off
  • Certifications & Approvals: ENERGY STAR Certified: Yes|Safety Certification: UL/CUL|CSA Listed: No|NSF Certified: No|UL Listed: Yes|ETL Listed: No
  • General Specs: Refrigerant: R410a|Warranty: 1 Year Full/5 Year Sealed System|Shipping Weight (lbs): 34|Product Weight (lbs): 31|Reconditioned: No|ProductLaunch: NA|Power Type: Electric|Size: N/A|Installation Type: Free-Standing|Collection: Frigidaire
Dehumidifier running into floor drain via standard garden hose.

So far so good. We moved into our new home in the winter, so the basement didn't have any odors or felt damp.... now comes Spring and the humidity definitely went up and you could feel it/ smell it. I knew I had to choose a dehumidifier. After reading all the positive reviews, I placed my order. Upon receipt, I followed the directions. My basement is all open and 44' x 40' so this 70 pint should just fit the bill. I knew I was going to run this with a hose into a drain, but I was curious how much water was in the air. So I ran under full fan power with the compressor continuously running as prescribed for four days via the storage tank. In just five hours, the two gallon tank was full. Wow... Very interesting. I dumped the tank and ran it again overnight. This time it ran overnight and all day while I was at work. I checked it and the tank was full and the the dehumidifier shut itself off. So success... the unit works as expected. I bought a standard hose extension, cut it to length and directed it into a floor drain. Be sure your hose goes straight down as there is no pump and only works via gravity.

WARNING ABOUT WAITING BEFORE PLUGGING IN AND TURNING ON

I am extremely satisfied with this product. I read many reviews. Some few were quite startling claiming early total failure of this product. I think I understand why early failures happen. My product was delivered and put on my porch completely upside down. WARNING - It is best to wait several days before trying to use this product. The oil in the compressor is VERY thick and if this product is ever anything but straight up and down (bottom down) the oil drains away from where it needs to be in the compressor. When this product is turned on without this wait period - FAILURE IS IMMINENT! I gave it a week before turning it on - it works fantastic. With all this in mind it is puzzling why the manufacturer DID NOT PRINT WARNINGS ON THE BOX TO KEEP IT UPRIGHT. (arrow-this end up). THERE IS NO MENTION IN THE MANUAL ABOUT THE NEED TO WAIT BEFORE TURNING IT ON WHEN IT IS KNOWN TO HAVE BEEN ON ITS SIDE OR UPSIDE DOWN. Error on the side of caution!! Do NOT plug it in or turn it on without waiting at least 2 days.

Correcting some misinformation

There is misinformation floated in some of the comments. Hopefully this will clear up most of it. As an engineer type, I do more of the detail thing but hey, whatever floats your boat. NOTE: Although I own this model, this is mostly information on dehumidifiers in general. Other reviewers offer detailed specifics so no duplication needed here. This covers 1-how it works; 2-sizing tips; 3-general tips, 4-cautions and user reflections. HOW DEHUMIDIFIRES WORK First, a dehumidifier is just like an air conditioner except for the location of the warm coil [technically the condenser coil]. With an A/C system the warm coil is outside the house [needs a 2nd fan], so an A/C unit has its cooling coil [technically a DX or expansion coil] inside the house [cooling it] and the heat it absorbs from the house air is transferred to the warm coil outside the house. Basically it is simple; the heat in the house is dumped outside. It's gotta go somewhere! With a dehumidifier, the warm coil is inside, so the air cooled by the cooling coil blows across the warm coil [one fan needed]. Why? What happens? Well the cool air passing through the cool coil is warmed by the warm coil before exiting the unit.. The net result is that air discharged from the dehumidifier leaves the unit at about 100F [or about 20F warmer than room temperature]. What happens is that a dehumidifier does a better job removing moisture from the air but does not cool the house. If you are a little confused, try this. Turn your dehumidifier off for about 5 minutes [this is important, trust me]. When you turn it on, put your hand immediately over the discharge air from the unit. You will feel cold air. As the warm air coil heats up, the discharge air changes from cold air to warm air. What you feel is how the cool coil is transferring the heat it absorbed from the incoming air to the warm coil. Last, how humidity is reduced: When the cool coil cools the air, it lowers the air to below its "dew point". What is that? That is the temperature where the air can't hold any more water vapor. Then water begins to collect on the coil surface and drip down to the collection bucket. That is the whole story except that the efficiency of the dehumidifier decreases as the house humidity is reduced. Forgot to mention that its ability to remove moisture from the air also drops as the humidity drops, so your bucket does not fill as often. Bottom line: It runs longer trying do the same amount of work [efficiency, get it?] NOTE: If you try to drop the humidity too low, the reduction in efficiency will begin to show up in a warmer discharge air and longer run times. This results in the temperature of your living space increasing. Raise the dehumidifier humidity set point to correct that and do not run continuously, WHAT SIZE IS NEEDED FOR A LIVING SPACE [NOT A BASEMENT] Most comments concern basement applications. This is for a small house, some of which applies to larger homes. Also it assumes the house is at least 15 years old. Newer houses usually have their living space wrapped by a vapor barrier, thus protecting it from the outside. That makes a big difference in the dehumidifier size needed. For example, my 1200sqft house is a 50 year old brick [brick seals better than wood siding]. During and after a rain if the 50pint dehumidifier is turned off, the humidity goes from 50 to 70% in an hour. It then takes 3 hours to drop it back to 50%. If you have a house larger than 2000 sq ft, you may need a two or more dehumidifiers. Some will tell you that you're A/C reduces your humidity but it makes it colder too. With a dehumidifier you can control humidity AND temperature; something you cannot do with just the A/C alone. There is no wrong answer as to sizing unless yours is too small. Too large and it will tend to heat up your room a little; so when in doubt go bigger. If you have the equipment needed, Internet search for "how to size a dehumidifier". No equipment? Here is a simple way to "guestimate" a size. FIRST, does your area usually have high summer humidity? Ask your local radio or TV station. Or check the Internet. High=65% or more. Low= 40% or less. 40% means that a dehumidifier will not help. For high humidity, a dehumidifier works well. If you want to also reduce your electric bill, keep your humidity below 50% and your temperature in the low 80's. [adjust to your comfort level]. However, look for you savings in comfort, not money; don't expect it to be paid for in big reductions in electricity bills. It does reduce your bill somewhat. FOR A 1,000 TO 1,400sqft home: choose a 45-55 pint unit. FOR A 1,400 TO 2,000sqft home: choose a 70 pint unit TIPS FROM EXPERIENCE Dehumidifier compressors "WILL" fail; usually within 2-4 years. I rarely buy extended warranties so this is my exception. Buy a three year guarantee that is tied to a local store. Mine cost $20 for a 50pint unit. Do not buy a factory guarantee [see note below]. A guarantee that requires shipping will cost a boatload to return, making the guarantee meaningless. BE SURE TO RETURN YOUR WARRANTY CARD and keep your receipt in a safe place. They do honor their 5 year compressor warranty and from what I hear gere, often by giving your money back, no return required. WOW. LAYING DOWN ETC The compressor is designed to pump refrigerant GAS. Turning a unit back on quickly or laying it down causes LIQUID refrigerant to enter the compressor. This puts a severe strain on the compressor that shortens its life if it fails to destroy it completely. MY EXPERIENCES WITH THIS MODEL I have a "DWD" the 2013 Frigidaire model and feel it is the best choice on the market, despite its tech support [NOTE: one reviewer said they got a cash refund from Frigidaire for a unit with a bad compressor - solving ship costs]. It is well designed, including an efficient "squirrel cage" fan [slightly increased noise but much better]. Our dehumidifier is centrally located and reduces the humidity throughout the whole house. If you have a problem with that, see if one or two room fans help. Noise is subjective [different strokes for different folks]. Personally, we eat and have conversations in our small dining room with the unit less than 3 feet behind my wife and it is running on high. If I listen for the noise, I can hear it but the noise does not interfere with us. I am hard of hearing; background noise can really bother me. I do not feel it is overly loud but you must decide what you want. You know, most folks are strong enough to move it somewhere else; do you think? I say buy the size Frigidaire you need. My senior citizen wife has no problem with removing or dumping a full bucket. Any problem must be caused by "technique," rather than design. The tech support is only by email and you get a list of standard problems after several days. WARNING; save on a guarantee and pay the price. I've dealt with many tech support systems. I always get helpful people to talk to. Email only? Give me a break. Price? Amazon's price is great. Balance its price considering warranty cost, taxes and decide. I imagine it varies by state.

Minimal change in your monthly electric bill

This has been one of the best investments that we have made for our home. It has helped keep the humidity down in our basement and with it, the musty smells are gone, too! Our first purchased dehumidifier 30 years ago, we paid $400, it was to be the "top of the line". It did have power, but we paid dearly in our monthly electricity bills. We would have done better, just keeping the air conditioner on. This product has barely been noticeable on the monthly electric bill. It is easy to move, easy to empty and you will not be disappointed with your purchase.

So far, so good

Why would you want a dehumidifier? It can improve your health and comfort. It can help fight stuff like mold and other unwanted things that are attracted to the humidity. Feel free to do your own research but chances are, you already have your reasons for wanting one. I'll just note that mold shouldn't be underestimated as a health concern. Simply put, if your relative humidity is above 50% and the area you want to dehumidify is at least 45F, you'll likely benefit from having a dehumidifier. AC units aren't really designed to dehumidify. They just do it as a consequence of how they operate. That is, unless your AC unit happened to come with a dehumidifier. There is, of course, a benefit of your AC unit being more effective when you use a dehumidifier. It means you don't have to get the house as cold to feel comfortable. This can lead to overall savings in electricity. How does this one perform? It managed to fill the bucket about once every 12 hours on Low fan speed, reducing the humidity about 1-2% per day. I've heard box fans that were noisier than this thing when it runs on Low but on High it tends to get loud. The only sound you'll likely hear is air rushing through the unit. You'll also hear dripping and occasionally a beep telling you to empty the bucket, if you don't properly attach a drain hose. I wouldn't put it in the same room as a TV or near a place people gather and talk. I also wouldn't run it on High, if it's near a bedroom. Otherwise, the noise shouldn't be too bad. I put it in the same room as our AC blower unit and it seems to be having a nice effect on my whole house. My house is 2 stories and around 2100 sq ft. I can't confirm how the humidity is upstairs but the entire downstairs hit my target of 45% humidity (down from 52% when it started.) I can say that the upstairs feels a lot less humid now. Cooking still makes the place hot and humid but it goes away fairly fast given how hot and humid it is outside and we don't have a kitchen vent. The unit is reasonably small (roughly the size of a small-medium waste or clothes basket,) which makes it easy to fit where you want it. I don't know any reason why they couldn't have included a cheap drain hose with it. I picked one up for less than ten dollars at a local Lowes. I did have to cut it down to length and avoiding kinks in the hose is kind of a pain but it works. If you're getting water in the bucket after attaching the hose, you need to make sure the hose isn't blocked and properly drains downhill in the shortest length you can manage. While you're out buying a drain hose, you might want to consider whether you need an extension cord or not. If you do get one, make sure it's either 12 or 14 gauge wire. The power cable on the unit itself says it's 16 gauge with 300V shielding. If you're confused, the smaller the number the more electricity it can handle. Normal, everyday appliances tend to use 18 gauge, while portable AC units, dehumidifiers and "heavy duty" power tools tend towards 14 gauge. You can plug an 18 gauge into a 12 or 14 gauge extension but not the other way around. I used this heavy duty splitter, just so I'd still have a usable outlet near the AC unit. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BQU576 My biggest complaint about the unit is a problem with every dehumidifier I can find. They're all sealed units with no serviceable parts. Even the ones that cost 10x as much are sealed units. So, it's a crap shoot as to whether you'll get a good one and just how long it'll last. When they do die, your only option is to replace the whole thing. Needless to say, this is one of the few things I bought an extended warranty for. Why did I buy this unit? As for why this unit in particular, it seemed like the lowest amount of risk with the highest potential to get the job done based on numerous reviews. If you have a smaller house, you could go for a smaller unit. I don't know enough to give exact numbers though. Other brands don't seem to as well as this one. As for why I was looking for a dehumidifier in the first place: I don't know what happened but all of a sudden our house went from the usual (and barely tolerable) 56-57% humidity to 61-63%. That may not sound like much of a difference but I assure you it's huge. Once you hit 60%, you officially hit the point where you'll never feel dry again. You'll always feel like you're coated in a film of sweat. Even with the AC cranked up, you still just end up cold and damp instead of hot and damp. We called up the HVAC company we have a maintenance contract with to see if they could check out our AC unit. The first time they replaced 2 lbs of missing freon and it seemed to help a little but didn't really last. The second time, they sent out what I would assume to be two of their best techs and spent quite a bit of time inspecting things. They claim they didn't change anything but within a day after their visit the humidity dropped all the way down to 54% and settled on 52% humidity. I'm now wishing I'd observed what they did. They did offer to install a dehumidifier, vent and duct work (which wasn't much work at all, in my case) for around $2100. We told them, we'd think about it. To be fair, the dehumidifier they offered to install probably cost them around $1500-1800 based on prices of similar models and whether they're getting a discount. We'd had enough of being at the mercy of our AC unit to handle our humidity problems and we figured it was time to actually get the house below 50% humidity. Again, such a small change in humidity (from 52% to 45%) may not sound like much but it can make a world of difference. So, what's the bottom line of all this? Our utility room is a bit warmer and noisier than normal, at times. However, the whole house is overall a lot more comfortable and I'm not the only one feeling better for it. If I had to do it all over again, I would have bought a drain hose and cut it to right length before the dehumidifier even got here.

Effective, but large!

If you need a large-capacity, large dehumidifer, this is a good product. Edited 08/2017: This thing's still going strong though it is used less frequently now (mainly for drying laundry). Upgraded from 4 to 5 stars. Very happy with my purchase. This is very useful! Edited 04/07/2016: Auto shut-off feature works just fine when the bucket is full. Timer feature works just fine. However, if you accidentally leave this running on continuous when you did not intend to (especially in the dead of a dry winter), it can REALLY dry out the air. (Which I guess is a compliment.) But ow! So make sure you (or the forgetful person you live with) pushes the timer button correctly!! My one complaint at this point is that the filter warning light doesn't "know" when I have unplugged the machine for transport. I think it's only actually warned me once. So you need to be mindful about rinsing the filter. Original review: Pros: This thing is very effective at removing moisture from the air caused by showers or clothes hanging dry in a utility room (which are the only uses I've put it to thus far). It keeps mirrors from fogging up during warm to hot showers, keeps our metal vents from condensing when the a/c is running (which is why I purchased it), reduces/eliminates musty odors. It also gets about 1 to 1.5 loads worth of hanging clothes (HE washer, not densely packed) from wet to "just damp" in less than half a day (8 hours or less) when in an enclosed utility room/mudroom combo area (which is about 1/3 the time it would take to air-dry naturally) and it dries them without leaving a musty smell. As far as capacity, this thing is probably overkill for just removing water during a shower. I liked the speed/capacity at which it dried the clothes in the utility area. That was the fullest I've seen the bucket get. I have never let the bucket get full, nor do I let this thing run continuously since it is not needed at this point in time. The unit itself is fairly nondescript (although the front grill reminds me of our old 1980s era microwave door), and the controls were easy enough to get used to. The water level indicator (think floating red fishing bobber) functions correctly. Cons: The "generous" 6-foot cable is not really all that generous, especially not for a bathroom application since most bathroom outlets are going to be 1) high on the wall and 2) near the sink, so you're most likely going to have drape it in front of the sink. Really I'd describe the cable on this as "minimally adequate". This thing is big. If you're using this in a smallish bathroom (or even a small laundry room), this thing is pretty much going to take up a good bit of your free space (since you need to keep 12" clearance on all sides [theoretically]). If I keep it in the bathroom permanently, it either blocks the sink, blocks the under-sink drawers, or blocks the toilet. (It's a pretty cramped bathroom.) See photos. This thing is also heavy (even if emptying the tank first), and the top handle is awkward if you're needing to not roll it for any reason (e.g. stairs). My two primary uses for this are in the master bathroom (upstairs) and the laundry room (downstairs), and that can be a pain. Pro/Con: If set to higher relative humidity settings, the air coming out of the unit may feel somewhat cooler than surroundings, but if you put this thing on continuous/high fan speed and/or if it's sucking a lot of moisture out of the air (especially in an enclosed space), it will add warm/hot air. This may be a good or a bad thing, depending on the circumstance. Final Thoughts: Of the purposes I have used this dehumidifier for, I think it is best for the laundry room/wet clothes application. While I'll continue to use it in the bathrooms for now, it's really too big for our small bathrooms. I may consider a smaller capacity one for the bathroom (and so I don't have to transport it up/down stairs). Disclaimers: I have not tested the drain port in the back of the unit or the auto-shut-off function so cannot speak to that. I tend to dump after each use. As far as I know, both seem fine.

With the new furnace I added central air last year and I love that feature

Frigidaire FAD504DWD Energy Star 50-pint Dehumidifier Review: I live in Wisconsin – I own a 1000 square foot single level home with a sealed crawl space under my home. I recently moved my furnace from under my house to my utility room and that was a big improvement to my house as I quit worrying about it getting wet and the damp environment it was in. With the new furnace I added central air last year and I love that feature. I even put new windows in my house from Feldco – awesome. So, I had a smaller dehumidifier (NewAir AD-250 25 Pint Portable Dehumidifier) that I enjoyed and it works really well. But, I felt that my humidity levels were always high and my house had a musty smell too it. So, after much research I bought the Frigidaire FAD504DWD unit. This is my second day of use. When I got the unit I easily assembled the unit and set it up in my living room where I spend most of my time. I have a AcuRite 00325 Home Comfort Monitor, Black which shows humidity levels in my house. Now it has been chilly outside (25F Degrees) and from what I read – here is the Relative Humidity Levels in your house. *If outside temperature is 20 to 40 degrees, humidity indoors should not be more than 40 percent. • If outside temperature is 10 to 20 degrees, humidity indoors should not be more than 35 percent. • If outside temperature is 0 to 10 degrees, humidity indoors should not be more than 30 percent. • If outside temperature is 10-below to 0, humidity indoors should not be more than 25 percent. • If outside temperature is 20-below to 10-below, humidity indoors should not be more than 20 percent. • If outdoor temperature is lower than 20-below, inside humidity should not be more than 15 percent. Well, my house was always in the 45 to 55 range. Sometimes even high. So I started in yesterday and turned in on in the CON (continuous mode) mode and it has dropped my humidity from 50 to 38 in less than 24 hours. It is not quiet but hey it is working doing its job. I also have a meter hooked up to unit to see how much electricity it uses to run. I pay .11 cents a kilowatt hour and to run the unit for a month it will cost $22.00. Also, what I do since I live in the country and I am on a well and septic mound system – I save all water that I dump from the unit. I use the water when I wash my clothes as I feel this water is perfectly good – will not drink it though. Last night the tank was half full of water so I have a 5 gallon water jug and it is 1/3 full. Easy to use – yes. I suppose I could put the unit on a table and hook a hose to it so it would fill directly into my jug but I like to watch and see the unit working. Oh the fan will run constantly until the unit shuts off of being full of water. Good Luck - Dave

Doing a great job!

I was skeptical on getting a home dehumidifier because I've read alot of bad reviews of units being noisy, failing often, etc. However, although I've been running the unit for one month, I have to say I'm very satisfied with this Frigidaire 70 pints/day model. It is NOT noisy at all...in fact, very quiet. I do have it running in an extremely hot, humid South Florida non-ventilated garage where I store a very nice bass boat that has marine-grade carpeting. Prior to buying this, I was using 3 Damp-Rid bucket moisture removers that really couldn't keep up with the high moisture in that dark, hot, humid garage. I am about to put a hose on the unit so it will continually drain because, even at 70 pints/day, I'm emptying the condensation tank 1X/day on average. I will do another review in a few months to report back how it's holding up but, so far, excellent unit.

This is a great dehumidifier.

Quick Review for this Dehumidifier, we recently bought a house with a basement (roughly 800sqft) and decided to get a dehumidifiers, as the same goes, if you have a basement, you also have a dehumidifier. The big question was which one to get, I took some time and went to the big brick stores and found this one on Amazon for less. Here is what I like: The Output air comes out of the top. Pulls about a tank of water a day. The unit is quiet. (a box fan on low is louder) Great design and easy to use. Tells your rooms current humidity level. Here is what I don't like: Output air is rather warm, but this is true for all dehumidifiers of this type. Unit is heavy, not ideal to take around the house etc. (however it is on wheels and can be rolled if on the same level) Overall, I HIGHLY recommend this unit. We had "basement" smell and after putting this in for a few days, the basement smells fresh and feels great. We were on the fence on ordering one, but so glad we did we are going to order a second for the upstairs.

Works for drying out your house after a flood.

We were one of the affected people in Louisiana that was flooded in Aug 13th of 2016 (9" of water in our house). After we gutted 2 foot up in our house and removed all the wet floors and sheetrock and insulation, we still needed to get the moisture out of the wood and fans alone wouldn't do it fast enough. After talking to a neighbor who also flooded, said that they purchased this one and it was filling up the unit every 6 hours, I knew we needed one two. But we didn't one just one, we bought two of these and as soon as they came in (I had to turn them upright as USPS couldn't read were it side "This End UP" and had them upside down and let them sit for 3 hours before use) I plugged them in and put them on each end of the house. Well about 6 hours later, I was dumping both of the units out as they were full of water. Over the next week and half, these things stayed running none stop until the moisture was almost gone from the wood. I will say that these things are quite, much quiter then my box fans that were running. In fact these things were so quite to me, the the DW and I could talk in a low voice standing right next to them and not have trouble hearing each other. We leave in the south were humidity is always a factor, so these things will come in handing to keep moisture levels down in the house year round so that the A/C doesn't have to work as hard to keep up.

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