24% OFF – ALORAIR Commercial Dehumidifier 113 Pint, with drain Hose for Crawl Spaces, Basements, Industry Water Damage Unit, Compact, Portable, Auto Defrost, Memory Starting, 5 Years…

I have a shallow/short crawl space (think 22′-24′ inches max height) under a 1950’s single story ranch home in Texas. I was on the fence about which route to go to address moisture but ended up at partial encapsulation and adding (this) dehumidifier. I say partial because I haven’t insulated the walls yet and holy moly this has been a labor intensive journey that I was not willing to pay $15-$20K for. The labor is where the cost is at and this has tested my resolve.

I went with this one(HD55) because there was no condensate pump which seem to fail well before the units do based on hours of reading reviews. In March I paid right at $500 after taxes (I’ve seen the price jump a bit now). I’ve added a VCMA-15 Little Giant stand alone pump that feeds into my HVAC condensate drain line, about a 9 foot run which has given me no issues and which adds more reliability. I’ve added a water alarm in the pan I keep the pump in and the dehumidifier sits about 8 inches above to gravity feed into the pump. I ran a dedicated 20A duplex outlet into my space to feed the unit and pump. I have two Govee smart plugs that connect to wifi and tell me the energy use of each and that I can remotely control in the event of failure. I have a tight opening that I didn’t care to enlarge at 12 ¼ x 16 inches, this unit fit perfectly through it. It’s absolutely miserable to crawl into and work down there but man, the savings and feeling of doing it yourself (clearly I don’t value my time). But again, I’m not paying 5 figures on something I can do, I’ll spend it elsewhere.

My original crawl was a dirt floor and 5 foundation/perimeter vents with a decimated 6 mil barrier covering about 25% of the floor. That had the humidity at 99% in the crawl space in the summer and not too much better in the winter. I was getting ridiculously high humidity inside the house and the wood moisture readings from the joists were unacceptable. Building science has changed significantly since my home was built, yours too. It was due time to address the moisture. This unit became a necessity. I added a perimeter drain in my backyard (you need to address where the water is coming from first). I sealed the vents, I laid down a 10 mil vapor barrier and wrapped all of the 25 pillars (miserable work). After sealing up about 95% and leaving room along the walls for insulation I added this (the HD55).

After letting it run for 3 days the humidity is now at 56% (i have the unit set at 50%) and it has run the entire time (which I completely understand and don’t fault it for doing so). I have the humidity monitored by wifi Govee sensors that I placed down there 6 months ago, they’re more accurate than the unit’s internal humidistat but within an acceptable margin. This unit has been a workhorse so far. I am hesitant to give it five stars off the bat and leave y’all feeling like this is the best because of the other reviews regarding longevity but it has been a five-star experience in the time I’ve owned it. I’ve relied on the reviews others have left here so it’s only fair to do my part. I will update this accordingly.

I have’nt finalized the placement yet. I have it in a central location without the ducting (be aware the manufacturer specifies only 6 foot of ducting may be added), so I’ve held off thus far and it seems convectively fine where it is at it’s current angle. Given the headroom I have I was initially going to mount it with 3/8 threaded rod with horizontal brackets that accept all thread but for now I have it 8-9 inches up on a leveled stack of insulation board I cut to fit the width/length of the unit, there are zero stability concerns and it sits plum level.

If you are here I’d imagine you are facing high humidity somewhere in your home and you are going to do the DIY route – I admire that and have chosen the same. That said – would an April air unit have performed better, probably but not by much. But they have their limitations too and suffer all of the same reliability issues, probably at less frequency but I couldn’t justify the $1,700 upfront cost. I may reevaluate my stance on that after the peak of this summer or the next. But for now, this unit has proven to be more than capable of a tight/shallow 1,600 foot crawl space at removing gallons of water in the air. Quite amazing when I think about it more.

Would I like more features and an included remote, of course. But the $100 they charge for the remote is absolute bull 5hi7. A smart plug and wifi hygrometer is the same and less expensive. But at this price point, I am pleasantly happy, so far. The unit seems well put together and fits into my opening. It is a slight hum that you’ll barely hear above and soon not notice at all. Best of luck on your moisture removal journey.

Ultimately, if I pay hundreds for anything, I expect it to last – you and this company will hear about it if it doesn’t. But so far I am content and imagine you will be too. I just checked on the unit and didn’t bring my phone down to take pics but I’ll upload some later of the actual unit. I did add the “results” from the hygrometer and a pic to show you the constraints. Regarding efficiency I’ve uploaded a pic from the smart plug showing the electrical use – it’ll end up being about $20 a month if it works as much as it does daily (it won’t have to maintain that usage 24/7) but I am showing you the peak.

(Edit from 18 months later – ZERO problems and it’s still humming along. I’m happy.

In spite of some problems that I initially encountered, I believe that for its operating capacity the Alorair H55 (Blue) Sentinel dehumidifier is one of the best products on the market place today.

Why do I think this dehumidifier is so good? To be honest my past experience with the entire dehumidifier manufacturing industry has not been a happy one. In the past 10 years I have bought (and obtained through warranty exchanges) over 8 dehumidifiers. I have a relatively small encapsulated crawl space (1,400 SF) which I kept dehumidified using residential 35 Liter per day units. The units that I bought were manufactured by Frigidaire, Friedrich, and Hense. They are all junk! They are designed to fail within 12 to 24 months. Although one would think with the vast choice with the plethora of various manufactures of residential dehumidifiers that quality would vary; having removed the cover off of these failed units it appears that the functioning components (compressor, condensing, and evaporating coils) are all the same and probably come from the same factory located somewhere in China. Why do they fail within such a short period? Bad design. (1) The evaporator coils operate under high pressure 410 Freon, with thin walled copper tubing (environmental and energy efficiency improvements), packed with aluminum cooling fins for condensing room humidity, all held together with carbon steel plates on the ends of the coil unit. The high pressure Freon environment within the thin copper tubing fails within 24 months due to formicary corrosion caused by the dissimilar metals (aluminum, copper, and carbon steel) in contact in a damp environment setting up a corrosion voltage differential on the evaporator coil. (2) Placement of the humidity sensor directly in contact with the evaporating coil in the upper corner, insures multiple and repeated false starts for the dehumidifier compressor. When the unit shuts down after reaching proper humidity levels, the evaporator coil is still wet, and as it drys out the humidity released will send a false signal that the room humidity is too high and thus trigger the unit to start up. Worse when moisture evaporates, the resulting water vapor is lighter than air and rises and triggers the sensor. Excessive cycling on and off results. Lastly it is impossible to repair the units when they fail. They are intended to be disposal products. When I hauled them off the the landfill (as hazardous waste) it was shocking how many failed dehumidifiers were stacked together at the landfill.

I finally decided to quit buying junk and started researching crawl space dehumidifiers. Most crawl space dehumidifiers are overpowering for my needs (100 ~ 200 pints per day). The Alorair HD55 is one of the smallest crawl space dehumidifiers on the market. And it is a quality design. This unit has a coated coil (in which the aluminum fins and copper tubing are coated) and is held together with stainless steel plates all of which protects against premature evaporator coil failure due to formicary corrosion. Secondly the humidifier sensor is separated from the evaporator coil and is located on the lower end of the unit to minimize triggering by evaporating moisture from the evaporator coil. Additionally a remote controlling sensor is available as an option with a 25 foot cable to enable full separation from the senor from the evaporator coil. The unit has a MERV 8 removable filter to keep the coils clean. It is very quiet when operating. The only way for me to tell if the unit in the crawl space is running, I have to put my ear against the floor to hear it as the sound is too faint. Additionally, I highly recommend the hanging unit when installing. The rope system minimizes the conduction of vibration, and it raises the unit to get more height when running the gravity drain pipe. Additionally operating the unit directly below the floor joists is more efficient as humidity rises and can be more effectively removed during operation, than if the unit is located on the crawlspace or basement floor. Another plus is that while the humidity sensor operates to the nearest 5%, the actual humidity setting can be set within 1% intervals. I have a separate hygrometer sensor in the crawlspace which measures humidity within 1% intervals. This unit is able to keep a steady humidity level of 41% with a variation of only 1 % +/- when using the remote controller and keeps a steady 40% with no variation when using the sensor on the unit. None of the other junk units that I used to own could keep a steady humidity level, as they operated with variations of +/- 5% at a 45% setting.

Yes I did have some problems as the first unit delivered failed almost immediately It is not clear whether the unit was defective or whether it was damaged in shipment. I suspect that damage in shipment is a common problem. The support staff was very responsive and arranged to get a replacement unit shipped to me in two days. I was also given a return label for me to ship the defective unit back at no cost. Replacement unit is running great. I would highly recommend that you save the shipping box for any future returns. In spite of this I still recommend this unit.

These are great units with a company that stands behind their product. I have purchased two of these units and they have worked very well in my two older houses. After almost one year in service, one of the units stopped working. I reached out to Alorair Customer Support and Stela guided me efficiently through the process to work with the engineers to help me isolate the issue. They sent me a new part with clear instructions for replacing it and it worked perfectly. Stela’s responsiveness to my emails and questions demonstrated a commitment to their products. Everyone knows that sometimes things fail, however great companies help their customers and deliver on service and Alorair is one of those companies. I would recommend these units to others.

In spite of some problems that I initially encountered, I believe that for its operating capacity the Alorair H55 (Blue) Sentinel dehumidifier is one of the best products on the market place today.

Why do I think this dehumidifier is so good? To be honest my past experience with the entire dehumidifier manufacturing industry has not been a happy one. In the past 10 years I have bought (and obtained through warranty exchanges) over 8 dehumidifiers. I have a relatively small encapsulated crawl space (1,400 SF) which I kept dehumidified using residential 35 Liter per day units. The units that I bought were manufactured by Frigidaire, Friedrich, and Hense. They are all junk! They are designed to fail within 12 to 24 months. Although one would think with the vast choice with the plethora of various manufactures of residential dehumidifiers that quality would vary; having removed the cover off of these failed units it appears that the functioning components (compressor, condensing, and evaporating coils) are all the same and probably come from the same factory located somewhere in China. Why do they fail within such a short period? Bad design. (1) The evaporator coils operate under high pressure 410 Freon, with thin walled copper tubing (environmental and energy efficiency improvements), packed with aluminum cooling fins for condensing room humidity, all held together with carbon steel plates on the ends of the coil unit. The high pressure Freon environment within the thin copper tubing fails within 24 months due to formicary corrosion caused by the dissimilar metals (aluminum, copper, and carbon steel) in contact in a damp environment setting up a corrosion voltage differential on the evaporator coil. (2) Placement of the humidity sensor directly in contact with the evaporating coil in the upper corner, insures multiple and repeated false starts for the dehumidifier compressor. When the unit shuts down after reaching proper humidity levels, the evaporator coil is still wet, and as it drys out the humidity released will send a false signal that the room humidity is too high and thus trigger the unit to start up. Worse when moisture evaporates, the resulting water vapor is lighter than air and rises and triggers the sensor. Excessive cycling on and off results. Lastly it is impossible to repair the units when they fail. They are intended to be disposal products. When I hauled them off the the landfill (as hazardous waste) it was shocking how many failed dehumidifiers were stacked together at the landfill.

I finally decided to quit buying junk and started researching crawl space dehumidifiers. Most crawl space dehumidifiers are overpowering for my needs (100 ~ 200 pints per day). The Alorair HD55 is one of the smallest crawl space dehumidifiers on the market. And it is a quality design. This unit has a coated coil (in which the aluminum fins and copper tubing are coated) and is held together with stainless steel plates all of which protects against premature evaporator coil failure due to formicary corrosion. Secondly the humidifier sensor is separated from the evaporator coil and is located on the lower end of the unit to minimize triggering by evaporating moisture from the evaporator coil. Additionally a remote controlling sensor is available as an option with a 25 foot cable to enable full separation from the senor from the evaporator coil. The unit has a MERV 8 removable filter to keep the coils clean. It is very quiet when operating. The only way for me to tell if the unit in the crawl space is running, I have to put my ear against the floor to hear it as the sound is too faint. Additionally, I highly recommend the hanging unit when installing. The rope system minimizes the conduction of vibration, and it raises the unit to get more height when running the gravity drain pipe. Additionally operating the unit directly below the floor joists is more efficient as humidity rises and can be more effectively removed during operation, than if the unit is located on the crawlspace or basement floor. Another plus is that while the humidity sensor operates to the nearest 5%, the actual humidity setting can be set within 1% intervals. I have a separate hygrometer sensor in the crawlspace which measures humidity within 1% intervals. This unit is able to keep a steady humidity level of 41% with a variation of only 1 % +/- when using the remote controller and keeps a steady 40% with no variation when using the sensor on the unit. None of the other junk units that I used to own could keep a steady humidity level, as they operated with variations of +/- 5% at a 45% setting.

Yes I did have some problems as the first unit delivered failed almost immediately It is not clear whether the unit was defective or whether it was damaged in shipment. I suspect that damage in shipment is a common problem. The support staff was very responsive and arranged to get a replacement unit shipped to me in two days. I was also given a return label for me to ship the defective unit back at no cost. Replacement unit is running great. I would highly recommend that you save the shipping box for any future returns. In spite of this I still recommend this unit.

I purchased this unit about 2.5 years ago and installed it in my crawl space. It was easy to install and is a heavy duty piece of equipment. It started up and has maintained our crawl space humidity well since that time.
About a month ago, however, the unit stopped working. It made a buzzing noise and would not start up. I contacted Alorair service. They responded quickly and asked me to send a couple of pictures and a short video, so they could diagnose the problem. The unit was still under warranty and they concluded the problem was with the motherboard. They offered to send me a motherboard to replace myself or send the unit in for repair. I opted to replace the board myself with the help of a video they sent. I received the board in a few days and have repaired the unit successfully.
While I’m not happy the unit failed, their customer service and responsiveness was top notch. They honored their 3 year warranty, responded quickly to my problem, and offered straightforward repair options. Great support!