AprilAire E80 Pro 80 Pint Dehumidifier + Model 76 Control for up to 4400 sqft

I ordered and installed one on these units in my house to complement my Aprilaire 700M humidifier. In the Chicago suburbs we get bone dry winters and hot humid summers. The undersized AC unit game only goes so far here and does not work for the cool humid late spring and early fall since it is too cool for an AC call. The only option is to run the AC until your house is frozen. Between AC calls in the summer, the humidity creeps back in while the temperature holds and the AC sits in the background waiting for the temperature to increase to turn on. Then you have to lower your thermostat just to dehumidify your house. I have had this unit for 2 days and already I notice a difference. The first floor is nearly as dry as the basement (which I have been using an oversized stand alone unit since I moved in) while the upstairs is comfortable, which is up from unbearable. Running a dehumidifier in the basement does help a lot, but it has been a losing battle on the first and especially the second floor.I selected the E080 because it was the most quiet and power efficient unit while having different ducting options as well as a filter access door on both sides. The E070 was more than enough for my 1364 sq ft townhome, but I have extremely limited space to work with in the basement and the filter access on both sides came handy. I had to duct this unit to the Aprilaire recommended return to return vs the more appropriate return to supply because the pressure differences while the HVAC fan is running causes air not to flow through the unit. I am using a Google Nest to control the unit via a relay. I am using a cam rotary switch to select between the humidifier and dehumidifier relays and reprogramming the thermostat for the device selected since the Nest supports only one device at a time. I am running this unit as a stand alone with the HVAC fan active in the Nest setup. I originally ran it return to supply with the HVAC fan not active but AC calls kicked on the fan regardless causing air not to flow through the dehumidifier, which was why I was forced to change it to return to return. It was a pretty difficult and tricky install that required a lot of planning ahead of time, along with a ducting change, but it was all well worth it in the end. The unit is extremely quite. The AC is running less and the house is very comfortable with the thermostat set higher. The temperature difference between the first and second floor is now half. I have never lived in a house this comfortable during this time of the year. I am looking forward to seeing how this unit performs when the summer gets hot and muggy. This is seriously like adding a dehumidifier in every room. Depending how this unit works out in the long run, I might just look to replacing my 50 pint standing unit with the E070 for my basement (there is no ducting in the basement so a separate unit is needed).

This e080 dehumidifier is outstanding. Very powerful. It is heavy-duty, high quality, made in USA.Smaller 50-pint floor units bought at big box stores don't seem to last and that makes them an expensive cost to buy every couple years.By contrast, this Aprilaire unit is serviceable and heavy duty, and if you buy the right-sized unit for your space, it will probably last an extremely long time without breaking down.Plus, the warranty is good proof that Aprilaire stands behind the quality of their products!

Previously burned up 3 large dehumidifiers purchase at retail stores. This does the job without complaint for a standard 2 story family home. Easy connecting plastic pipe to the drain. Intake ducting parts available at home improvement store to draw moist air from the most humid part of the house; and direct the dry air to the HVAC intake. Runs quiet, easy air filter change. I expect this unit to last a very long time.

With help from a professional, my installation is complete. Three topics:. Mechanics/machine - 5 stars Within two days, it had taken a whole lot of moisture out of my crawl space. It is very quiet, and I am pleased.. Ah, but the installation - 3 stars The specs of the size are wrong in that they are for the box, but not the screws that stick out, nor the 1.5 inch water outlet. It would not fit through the floor joists into the crawl space. I inquired about how to disassemble the drain system to get it through the joists. Company won't say. Their suggestion was to return the unit for something smaller. I ended up sawing the outlet off, then reattaching it once in the crawl space.Specs for capacity -So, how big a unit is needed? They rate them by square feet of coverage, yet square feet in a house is at least double or triple the volume as the same space in a crawl space. Rating by volume would be the better measure.The airflow sticker is on backwards. Only a HVAC person would see that quickly before installing and connecting it to outflow duct work. I am not an HVAC person, but I did figure it out.. Electronics - just two stars here. I purchased an Aprilaire 76 remote control. It works well, but you actually cannot set a desired humidity level from the remote. You can only set general setting - the humidity will change within that setting depending on the air temperature. I had read where the instructions were a bit confusing, and they are, but workable. But... the actual electronics do not work like the remote set up instructions say they work. One should press and hold some buttons to get in to a setup mode to enable remote control. I never did find the set up mode but somehow, turning on and off, plugging and unplugging, it recognized the remote control.Overall, in the three days, I am pleased with the unit. I must say that for the premium price of Aprilaire, I expected much better specifications, support, and manuals about the electronics that actually fit with how the equipment works.

Quiet and works great.