Customer Reviews

Soleus Air DP1-30-03, 30 Pint Portable Energy Star Dehumidifier, with Humidistat

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I received this unit yesterday so this is a preliminary assessment. The reason why I needed a dehumidifier is the one that we have in our basement is literally 20 years old. It's so old, it doesn't have a piece of plastic on it but it refuses to die. While I didn't test the old unit for electrical draw, my monthly electric bills are too high. I unplugged/put on a timer every appliance that I thought could contribute and it came back down to my belief that my old dehumidifier is an energy hog.

Our basement is HUGE but I still only bought the 30 pint unit because I'd rather run a small unit more often than cycle a larger unit. Same concept as a house air conditioner - and a dehumidifier is a miniature air conditioner. Besides, I'd need the Mother of All Dehumidifiers to completely dry the basement and that's not going to happen.

Even though the old unit had just been running before I installed the Soleus, the new hstat read 70%. I don't really care if that's accurate or not, the basement just smelled damp. I installed a drip hose to run into the laundry tub, set the hstat to 55% and went to bed. This morning, it's definitely drier but I didn't bother to check the hstat. I assume the unit ran all night.

The impressive point is that I used the same drain hose on both dehumidifiers and, subjectively, the Soleus is draining a LOT more water than the old unit. Plus it is VERY quiet.

Once I get the feel of the hstat sensitivity, then I 'll set it and forget it so I can assess the energy usage. I know that I could buy an energy meter but I'll just save the $50.

The unit is also light which is important because I put the unit midway up the wall on a shelf (to drain into the tub). The supplied wheels should move very well on carpets but mine is static. BTW, based on my own reading, the Energy Star rating means very little but it's better to buy an appliance with the sticker.

Thanks to all those who previously reviewed this product and helped me make my decision!

I've updated this since I've used the system for a few months. Previously, I was wrong in saying the blower stays on constantly when the dehumidifier isn't running. Not true, don't know where I got that. All I can say is....dagnabbit but this does pull a lot of water from the air, and it uses less electricity than my old one.

One year later and I'm at the point where I just leave it on. Works extremely well and I'm very satisfied.

I received this dehumidifier a few weeks ago for use in my basement apartment that had gotten damp with all the rain this summer. It has been running non-stop since. It works great! I have been rotating it around the apartment into different rooms that need to dry out and it quickly fills up with water after a few hours beeps and I empty the bucket. the only drawback is that is does give off a lot of heat, which I guess all dehumidifiers do, but I still gave it 5 stars!

this little wonder does a great job. I use it in my 20x40 man cave and it keeps it very dry. It is a little noisy for my taste and when we are occupying it I usually shut it down becuase of the fan noise. Also if it is running the room temperature rises a few degrees over the week. We like it when its 67-68 degrees and if it is on all week the temperature stays around 71. I attached a garden hose to it and it has worked flawlessly over last month.

I use this unit in the garage to reduce humidity (obviously). I wouldn't want it in the living room or bedroom, it's pretty loud when running. It's an Energy Star unit - but the difference in my electric bill during peak usage over the winter was easily noticable. But I have never used another one, so I can't really compare. It has withstood lots of usage since I bought it several months ago. It is simple as possible to use. I filled up the 30-pint bucket many, many times. Usually during the rainy season (Seattle, so that's about 8 months out of the year!) if I used it several hours a day it would fill up over just a day or two. So it really does the trick in pulling moisture out of the air. It wheels around, which is nice, even though it isn't that heavy for me it might be for certain people.

We researched many dehumidifiers and bought this one. Stupidly, we bought it from Newegg which won't accept a return like Amazon would. THis unit is nice looking, and seemed to meet our needs. There are two main problems:

1. The humidistat does not detect the humidity correctly, the machine thinks it is 50% humidity at all times, even when our tried-and-true meter says 20%. The result is that this unit runs constantly.

2. The collection bucket is way too small. We have to empty it twice a day. This may not be as big of a problem except for #1.

We have not contacted Soleus yet, because it will cost us $40 to ship it back to them for a replacement unit.

Would not buy again.

The product seems to work all right but I hooked up a hose to it and it continues to leak into the bucket. It ends up shutting off after a few hours instead of continuing to draw moisture out of my damp Michigan basement.

It's been two months since I've purchased this dehumidifier and worried (after some dehumidifier reviews) of the possible quick breakdown, I'm happy to say it's still running strong and has taken care of the mold and moisture in our medium sized bedroom and bath. The fan does make some noise but even our cat, who jumps at the sound of...anything, has gotten used to it. No more moldy hats and it still works...seems like a great product to me!

I read the other reviews on Amazon re dehumidifiers and am so glad I did. Otherwise I had no clue as to how they might perform. This one was chosen based on the reviews and has performed superbly for the problem we had in a hallway. It is easy to empty and the cut off and signal when the container is full are excellent features. It has been working steadily and taking 30 pints a day out of the area. Until we can correct a structural problem this appliance is doing a great job and lessening the AC coming on so often. I highly recommend it.

I purchased the DP-50-03, which is identical to this model, though with a slightly larger capacity. It worked for one summer season (2009) and this year when I attempted to use it at the beginning of summer, it did not work. This was literally 12 months and one week after I purchased it.

I spoke with Soleus customer service, and while they were fairly cordial, their response was "sorry, nothing we can do. Your unit is out of warranty. You should take it into an A/C repair shop". I also wrote a letter to the company president but never received a response.

So basically, I paid for a unit that worked for approximately three months, and will now have to pay another ~ $100 to attempt to fix it, with no guarantee that it will be fixed.

I would not recommend this company nor their products.

I am pleased with this dehumidifier. It's energy star and runs very quietly. It's a good unit for the money.