Customer Reviews

Danby 70 Pint Dehumidifier - DDR7009REE - Energy Star Compliant

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

I putchased this unit as it was specified as having three features I wanted in a basement unattended dehumidifier a) auto restart on power failure b) continous gravity drain and c) automatic defrost. When I received the unit and hooked up the continous drain hose the unit continued to fill up its bucket and auto stop when the bucket filled up. I checked several times to make sure I had hooked up the auto drain as per istructions which were very straight forward. Finally convinced I had hooked up the hose correctly I called Danby customer care in Toronto. Got through to them very quickly. The person I spoke with explained that, yes, this model was having " manufacturing problems" and many units were not auto draining, but they were working on a "fix". He offered to take my name and mail me the fix as soon as it was out. When I asked him how long the fix has been worked on and when it would be available , he responded " for several months" and " any week now". Well not willing to wait for the "fix" I asked and got my money back from the reseller I had bought the unit from. So before I would buy this unit ( which appeared quite solid) if the continous drain feature is important to you I would check and make sure the "fix" is in.

Warning. I purchased a Danby dehumidifier after excellent consumer report reviews and research. It worked GREAT for one summer. But by fall I noticed this thing wasn't working as good. I saw less water being drawn out. I thought it was because temperatures were dropping in Chicago, so I packed it up for the winter. Well spring comes and it didn't work at all. I called Danby and they stated to send it to a local shop. I searched for days to find a shop. Most companies stated it just takes too long to get parts from Danby and they stopped doing repairs. After calling Danby again, I found a shop in North Chicago area, I live in the south suburbs. So I packed this heavy piece of machinery, yes it weighs about 80 pounds, in my CUV and fought traffic on the Dan Ryan. Got a call back a few days later stating the warranty wasn't valid and it would cost around $150 to repair. Luckily the owner was legit and stated that these things never last long. He gets many complaints and he recommended I purchase a new dehumidifier instead. Don't buy a Danby in the US. It is too tough to get parts and their warranty is a joke, 6 months. I noticed now they are 1 year, but Whirlpool units have up to 5 years. If you buy this unit get an extended warranty, I didn't and regret it. I would just stay away from Danby dehumidifiers.

I just purchased a Frigidaire unit from Amazon with a 3 year warranty. So far it is working like a champ and it is MUCH LESS noisy. Now I am realizing I made a huge mistake buying a Danby. I thought all dehumidifiers were noisy, my whirlpool I replaced was loud and the Danby was even louder. The Frigidaire unit makes so much less noise. So another reason to stay away from Danby.

This unit cost more than my other choices, but I have had my previous dehumidifier for over 30 years and I thought energy consumption was going to be a significant part of the cost. The unit appears well made, is easy to carry around (although heavy) and the humidity controls are simple.
When on a hard surface, the unit is easy to roll about.

I do not use nor expect to use the timer function or the remote control.
The unit came in half the time promised, and I was able to install it before departing on a trip.
The setup was easy and the instructions adequate. I use the drain rather than the bucket. I like the way the drain is solidly attached to the unit rather than to the bucket. The hose is an unimpressive plastic unit but I think the attachment is a standard bib thread so I expect if there is a problem I can attach a standard hose.

The display is easy to read but a little awkward as it displays five items with only two displays. The humidity is normally displayed on one unit and pressing the up down buttons changes the humidly set point. Thus checking the humidity set point may change it. The labels for the buttons are iconic so I was puzzled by the timer button which I don't use and didn't expect. The unit can be set to start in the future and run for a limited time. Why I can't imagine. Save the instructions for this function. A reasonable improvement would be to place the basic instructions on the back of the unit so 20 years from now you can find them.

The power failed once since installation and the unit came back on to default settings which are reasonable although I need to lower them. Remembering the set point through a power failure would be a nice improvement. Although I can tell the humidity has noticeable improved since installing the unit, I can't comment on how well it works. I don't empty the bucket nor can I hear it as it is in the basement. The only noise is the fan noise which seems reasonable. The air exit is straight up which means a minimum of distraction or blowing papers around.

I did not give this unit the 5th star because I do not observe it in action nor can I compare it to other units.

I spent a lot of time doing research about dehumidifiers online, and also reading articles about many brands.
I ultimately settled on this Danby 70 pint unit, and that was most certainly the right decision.
I have a 2400 sq ft Cape Cod style home with a full basement.
Although we live higher up on a hillside, there are some minor hydraulic water problems in the soil immediately surrounding the concrete foundation.
When there is a considerable amount of rain, we occasionally get small damp spots, or in the case of a rainstorm, puddles coming up from the floor, as well as a musty odor.
My old, heavy dehumidifier worked well enough, but was somewhat costly to run from an energy standpoint.
This unit was well thought out, extremely well designed, works perfectly, is fairly quiet (my old unit sounded like a B737 at takeoff) and has the best overall reputation.
This unit is light enough to maneuver around, and has a handy see through tank level indicator that makes checking it easy.
It can be set up to collect the water in its tank, or, as I am planning to do, duct it with a short length of hose right into a drain into the laundry drain tub.
Its controls and instructions are most easy to understand and make absolute sense.
Haven't received the new electric bill yet, but this Danby unit is doing a 100% job of removing the moisture and mustiness in the air in the entire basement.
I'd buy it again in a heartbeat, and seriously endorse the unit as one that will do what is needed for 99% of applications.
I had originally thought that a larger unit would use more electricity, but actually, the larger units collect the moisture more quickly and shut themselves off in a lot less time, therefore saving energy.
I have friends how have used competitor's brands for about the same money, and have had far poorer results.
One borrowed my Danby and after trying it, has decided to return his Frigidare unit and buy one like mine.
Buy the Danby....you won't be sorry!!

I must be having very bad luck with dehumidifiers, in less than ten years, I have been through four of them. If you are shopping around for dehumidifiers, perhaps my history may help:

* I started with a White-Westinghouse, worked fine for almost three years. As it aged, I noticed the water tank is getting more and more rusty. Finally, it stopped pulling moisture all together, as the evaporator was a big mess of rust, I am sure the freon must have leaked out through the rusted piping. Took it to the service agent (still under warranty), a week later, they said it was unrepairable, and Westinghouse issued me a voucher for a discount towards a new dehumidifier.
* The next time I got a Frigidaire (part of Wnite-Westinghouse), and I even paid for an extended warranty. No major rust this time, but it began to have a lot of ice buildup around part of the evaporator after 2 years (the auto de-icing feature did not work any longer). Finally, after 3 years, a few months after my extended warranty expired, the unit stopped drawing moisture and ran continuously. It makes all the right sound, just no dehumidifying. I should have taken it back when it started to freeze, but I waited too long.
* No more White-Westinghouse, I switched over to Whirlpool after reading some nice reviews. The unit was quiet and light. But again, after 2 years, I am again seeing rust. Like the first White, by 30 months, it just ran continuously and will not removed any water. Good thing is it has a 5-year warranty on the sealed parts, took it to the service center, they found the evaporator to be defective this Spring. Whirlpool exited the dehudifier market, but at least they still honor the warranty. The part was back-ordered, it took almost three months for it to be repaired. After the repair, it makes more noise, and does not drain properly through the continously drain (it drips into the container and fills it up). A little wedge under the dehumidifier to tilt it a little solved the problem. I'll see how much longer it will last, Whirlpool certainly did not make any money in this deal.
* Just bought the Danby as a partner for my Whirlpool, I read the Consumer Report and the Danby was rated best-buy, and many people talked about how quiet it is. I am sure the Whirlpool would be sufficient, but I found the Danby today at [...] with a [...] rebate through the power company at a local retailer. So I decided to pick one up to augment the Whirlpool. I plugged it in, the fan runs continuously and slightly louder than he Whirlpool, however, the compressor makes minimal noise. All you hear is the white noise created by the fan, you can barely tell if the compressor kicks in. I will see how it works after a few weeks and gives this an update.

So far, the Danby dehumidifer DDR7009REE I purchased the 26th of November 2010 has performed beyond my expectations. I live in a home that was built in 1911 and has no insulation except in the attic. In the winter the walls, floors and windows stay wet if I don't use a dehumidifier. My previous dehumidifier stayed frozen up more that it worked, and when working, it only cleared moisture out of two rooms. Even with the severe cold that we have been experiencing in Georgia in December, the Danby hasn't frozen up the first time, and it keeps all five rooms and bath that I keep open in winter free of moisture except for a small amount on some of the windows in the rooms the fartherest from the dehumidifier. This is a total of about 1500 square feet with temperatures that can fall into the middle to low 50s inside during the night. It is so great not to have to fight moisture and mildew. I researched dehumidifiers a great deal before deciding on the Danby. This one has performed as advertised, and I am so glad I purchased this one.

humidifier is placed in a wet basement. quiet, can't hear it above. holds humidity at the selected %. only downside is fan runs constantly, even when desired humidity level is reached.

It has worked very well in very humid spring weather. Removes a large amount of moisture in a very short period of time. Located in a basement laundry room.

It is quiet, but not quiet enough for a living area.

After spending 2-3 weeks looking at all of the portable dehumidifier options for our finished basement, I chose this for several reasons.

1.) Automatic restart - The power frequently goes out on our street, and I don't want to have to go and reset this each time.
2.) Capacity - This unit is tested to remove 70 pints of water a day in ideal conditions. I don't know the exact amount that the unit is removing, but there was a noticeable difference in our basement after the first day of use on the high fan setting. I have since turned the unit to low and it maintains the humidity very well.
3.) Continuous drain - I certainly do not want to have to go down to the basement and empty this daily or every couple days. The only downside to this models continuous drain feature is that you have to use the included hose, which is pretty short. I bought a 15 foot hose with this unit, but it will not stay on the dehumidifier. The threads on the nipple from the back of the unit are filed down on the top and bottom, which is fine for their hose, but the additional weight of the rubber hose causes it to fall off of the nipple. This causes the unit to use the internal bucket. I just moved the unit closer to the drain and used the included hose.
4.) Warranty - This unit has a two year warranty, where others only have a one year. I have read that most portable dehumidifiers die after a little more than a year, so it's kind of nice to know that I have a little more time after that which is covered under warranty.

This unit does produce a little bit of heat like all dehumidifiers do, but it is not excessive. The unit is also very quiet. I have to be in the same room as it to hear it running. The controls are extremely easy to use. A five year old could get this up and running in twenty minutes flat (including unboxing, placement and setting the unit for the desired humidity).

I gave the unit only four stars because I've only owned it for a couple weeks. These types of units typically die after a year. I hope this one lasts a little longer than that.

All in all, it is a great unit. I would recommend this to anyone looking at portable dehumidifiers.

The unit was delivered extremely quickly by HCcost. It was packaged in the manufacturer's box only but it did the job. I removed the old dead unit and put this in its place. In about 20 minutes it was unpacked and running. The setup and operation is simple enough. The unit provides a smaller foot print than the 50 pt/day unit that it replaced. Now, I hope it can provide over 4 years of service. The purchase of the unit was based on the report by Consumer Reports. This dehumidifier is a little quieter than the unit it replaced. While hooking up a drain line is typically quite easy with most dehumidifiers this was the easiest by far. Others require drilling or installing a separate part. This unit requires removing a plug and attaching the supplied drain hose.