Humidity or Fire Hazard?

In 2010, we bought a Frigidaire dehumidifier for the basement. We started using it in earnest for the last two summers, after realizing that running it constantly set to about 55-60 percent humidity really kept our basement from becoming damp. Add to that a cat that decided to make the entire basement carpet his litter box plus the necessary subsequent cleaning and the basement was damp and stinky without it.

We alternated between putting in the finished part of the basement and emptying the bin and putting it in the unfinished part of the basement and hooking up the hose so that it drained directly into the floor drain. Either way, it ran for a large chunk of the time and we watched our electric bill go from a rating of "great" in comparison to other similar homes to just "good." It was worth it for the fresher basement.

Until last month when a visiting friend happened to notice it and told us that our dehumidifier, which ran all the time including when we were out of town, had been recalled A YEAR AGO because it was a FIRE HAZARD.

Yikes.

So we cut the cord, literally:

The way to get either reimbursed a paltry $90 or so (we don't remember how much we paid but think it was closer to $250) or accept a new dehumidifier of their choice was to cut the cord, write our name and date on the thing with permanent market, and then send in a picture. We chose to take the dehumidifier because even if it's awful, it will probably last at least a couple of years.

It has a comparable tank size and is even energy star, so who knows - might even be an improvement.

We won't know for a while though, since now that it's winter, we're more in the season of humidifying than dehumidifying. Our two humidifiers in the bedroom are running all night trying to keep us from waking up with dry, scratchy throats and stuffy noses. So stay tuned for spring when we turn this bad boy on and see what it can do.