Common Question "How many square feet can XXXXX dehumidifier cover?"

[John]

Another common question that we take a lot of calls on is on whether or not a dehumidifier will effectively treat a location in square footage. Unfortunately, that's not enough information for us to give a complete answer. What we really need are several different variables in order to judge effectiveness.

Because we are dealing with airflow in a 3d environment, SQUARE footage simply isn't enough, we actually need CUBIC footage (because if you have a room that's 12ft x 12ft, it's different if the ceiling is 8 feet up, or is 30 feet up, a difference of 1152 cubic feet, versus 4320 cubic feet).

We also need the current relative humidity, and ambient temperature of the space you're looking to dry out. Because the more moisture that is in the air currently, the more moisture is ABLE to be removed. (a dehumidifier can't take out what isn't already there to start off with). And temperature because water has a freezing point of 32°F, as you approach that temperature, the performance in terms of pints per day (ppd) removal that you will see from a dehumidifier will decrease accordingly, ultimately reaching zero ppd at 32°. So the more heat prevalent in a room, the more moisture can be removed as well.

The optimum temperature, and humidity level is 90% Humidity at 90°F, which is referred to as "MAX". A commercial dehumidifier's rating typically will tell you what performance you can expect at max, and at aham (average heat, average moisture).

Lastly we need the relative humidity you're looking to attain, and what time frame you are looking to have the relative humidity achieved. All dehumidifiers by definition "dehumidify" easily enough, but different sized units, have different sized compressors thus, they have different performance yields.

If you had an area that you're looking to constantly have dehumidified (for example, a heated, indoor pool room at a hotel) you would need a completely different unit than one to combat intermittent humidity levels (like an underground basement, that will regularly be below freezing)