Original Review, July, 2010:
I bought this dehumidifier to replace a very old, non-working unit in my basement. Overall, it seems like a nicely made unit. I can live with its shortcomings because it does produce a lot of water, and that's what I care about. Also, the fan does produce a nice stream of air that reaches pretty far across my basement, which is good.
The cardboard box it comes in is a little unique - you cut the straps and then lift the box off of the unit, unless you don't read the instructions and lift the heavy unit out of the box, like I did.
To me, the unit seems a little bigger than it looks in the picture, so check the dimensions. As you would expect, it is somewhat heavy, but the handle is sturdy, and the unit rolls around on four casters.
Being in my basement, the noise level is not really important to me, but it is quieter than my old unit for two reasons. One reason is that it uses a squirrel-cage type blower fan, maybe about 10 inches in diameter (looks like a large hamster wheel). This fan does not make the annoying sound that comes from a typical fan with large, flat blades. The second reason that it's quiet is because the exhaust air (which is noisier than the intake) is blown out the side, not out the front. The air intake is through the front. This is a small disappointment for me because I need the exhaust air to blow into the center of the basement, which means I have to turn the unit so that its side is facing toward the center of the basement. It's not a big problem except that the side of the unit doesn't look as good as the front, and to make it worse, the drain hose also comes out the same side, just below the exhaust air opening. So when I look at the unit, all I see is the side of the unit and drain hose coming out.
The fan has low and high speeds. Initially, I thought that the fan ran all the time because I noticed the compressor would cycle on and off but the fan kept running (this is normal and necessary to prevent evaporator coil freeze-up). But later, at some time after the humidity in the room dropped to the set-point, then the fan and the compressor both shut off. The readout always displays the humidity in the room, but if you want to see what the set-point is, you need to push a set-point arrow, either up or down, just once.
The bucket has a nice built-in carrying handle, so you can carry it without spilling, but emptying the bucket is another story. If you don't care about spilling water all over the place, then you are going to love this bucket. Just make sure you can empty it into a large sink, bathtub or the backyard because the water pours out from several places at once. The bucket has a little red ball indicator on the front which is nice because you can see how much water is in the bucket without removing the bucket. When the bucket is full, then the fan and compressor both stop, and the red "Bucket Full" light turns on.
After you're done with spilling water from that bucket, and have a suitable drain, then you can use the drain hose feature (a hose is not included, but any regular garden hose will work). At first I had some problems with the drain hose because the water would go into the bucket instead of into the hose. I think this problem happened because I had put a "quick-disconnect" hose adapter on the dehumidifier. I thought the adapter was a good idea because the hose is a little annoying to remove (you have to pull out the bucket and reach in with your fingers or a wrench) and I wanted a way to easily disconnect the hose to periodically clean out any clogs. After I removed that adapter, the drain hose worked better for a while but then water started filling the bucket again. I finally fixed the problem by making a small air vent hole in the top of the hose just where it comes out of the unit (about 1/8 inch hole on the very top side of the hose). The water streams along the bottom of the hose, and the air vents through the hole on top. I use clear plastic vinyl tubing so that I can see the water in the hose and visually check for any clogs.
Every so often the machine turns on the "Filter Reset" light to remind you to rinse the filter screen. You need to remove the bucket and then pull the screen down. Putting the filter back in place is a little difficult at first and you may have to get down on hands and knees to see where it goes. Also the screen has a marking that says "Front" but take a good look at how it goes back in while you are taking it out. You should check the filter when the light is on, but you can turn the light off by pressing the "Filter Reset" button without actually removing the filter.
The power on/off light is a little confusing. It is always lit whenever the unit is plugged in.
The unit has a timer that enables you to either start the unit after a delay, or stop the unit after a delay, from 0.5 hour to 24 hours. If the unit is running then setting the Timer will turn the unit off after a certain number of hours (Delay Stop). If the unit is off, setting the Timer will turn the unit on after a certain number of hours (Delay Start). The timer is a one-time action, so you need to program the timer function each time you want to use it. I don't think that this function is too useful for me.
Every so often I let the drain hose go into a coffee can to see that it's producing water at a good rate. As long as it keeps producing lots of water, the unit is doing what I need it to do.
Update to Review, Aug, 2011:
After 14 months of really great performance, my dehumidifier developed a serious problem. Suddenly, one day, I noticed that the sound from the dehumidifier was a little different than usual. I looked through the holes in the front and could see what looked like a heavy layer of white frost or ice on the (evaporator) coil. It's a little hard to see because you need to look through the filter screen in front of the coil. The frost layer covered the coil starting at the bottom and then went up about one-half or two-thirds of the way towards the top of the coil. The top one-third of the coil looked clean and dry. No water was being produced by the dehumidifier. I believe that the unit sounded differently because the normal airflow was being restricted by the frost. I realize that icing can occur if the room is too cold (below 40 deg.), but the room was about 65 degrees. I turned it off to let the ice melt. When I turned it back on, the frost came back and no water was produced.
I called the number in the user manual for warranty service and got the name of a local appliance service company. I contacted the local company and they said that the problem was likely in the sealed (i.e., freon and compressor) system. I know that the warranty covers that system for five years. They said that I would be charged a small diagnostic fee (about $25).
I brought the unit to the repair place which turned out to be a very small local shop - actually a person working from his house, not what I expected - but OK. He gave me the unit back with an invoice that said that the sealed system had failed, and told me to call Frigidaire. He didn't charge me for the diagnostic work. I called Frigidaire and explained the problem and what I had done. They said something about there not being a local store in my area that could handle this problem, so they would buy the unit back directly from me for the price I paid. They would send me a letter with information I would need to provide. They said I would need to peel the label containing the serial number from the back of the unit and mail it back to them. I received their letter, returned the label and my invoice, and then I received a check for my full purchase price, less tax and shipping, if any. I still have the failed unit that I have to dispose of, but I can deal with that.
Although I am disappointed that this problem happened on such a relatively new unit, I was satisfied with the warranty refund I received.
So now what. Well, after looking online again and reading reviews, I still like the features and performance of the Frigidaire, although now I'm a little unsure about their long-term reliability. I decided to buy another one, not exactly the same model, but similar. I hope that it lasts a little longer this time, and that their warranty service stays the same.
