Proper outside storage

valhalla360 wrote:

spoon059 wrote:
And if the OP is concerned about pests flying up into the grey tank, he could leave it closed and just open it once or twice a season.

Don't make this mistake. A dehumidifier can generate gallons of water per day...wait a month or two, and it will have overflowed potentially rotting out the floor.

As someone else mentioned, opening a roof vent is you best bet, just get a cover, so it can be left open in the rain.

If you insist on using a dehumidifier, just get a cap with a hose connection and put a small sag in the hose. This will create a P-trap, so no bugs going into the tank...not that I would really care if they did as there is no route to the interior from the gray tank.

Do one better bypass the tank altogether.

Buy a garden hose bib valve like for on the side of a building, install the hose bib right through a wall to the outside. On the inside connect your dehumidifier hose to the hose bib that runs through the wall. Now you can just open the hose bib and let it drain without needing to mess around with grey or black tanks and associated plumbing.

However, take my advice as a home owner blessed with a very old home with a damp basement, absolutely bypass the dehumidifier all together and just open the windows a slight crack.

Dehumidifiers are a real pain, they are cheaply made and they are insanely expensive. I am constantly battling the drain inside dehumidifiers and hose clogging. I am constantly having to give a shot of compressed air back into the dehumidifier pretty much once a month. Other wise when the hose or drain plugs off (which it does) it then drains into the bucket until bucket is full and if you don't constantly check the bucket the dehumidifier is nothing more than a $500 doorstop.

In the 30 yrs I have owned my sticks and bricks we have blown through several dozen Dehumifiers.. I had to replace it in the middle of Covid.. That one cost me $500 and lasted a whopping 2 months, Store wouldn't take back for exchange so I had to wit for manufacturer to send replacement..

Took two months to get that and it lasted a mere 6 months.. While I was waiting on replacement bought one through Amazon had it in two days.. After the replacement died, the Amazon one was put back online and bought another as a backup.. So now I have TWO dehumidifiers..

I should also mention that dehumidifiers burn a lot of energy, most of them will draw 5A-7A at 120V or about 840W.. Makes the electric bill go up..

These are the reasons why you need to avoid using one.. Save yourself a lot of headaches, open the windows just a crack.. Let nature work for you for free.