So I have a wood shop in my basement. I've been using a dehumidifier during the summer to keep the moisture down. I get a lot of moisture through my slab because of a high water table. The dehumidifier I have is a typical portable unit. I haven't been real happy with the unit and was planning to upgrade at some point to something nicer like those offered by SantaFe. That would run me around $1200.

Just recently I was checking out ductless mini-splits to supply a/c to my shop as a luxury. The pricing was quite reasonable. I can get a 12,000 btu unit for under $1,000. Of course I will have to pay a pro to install, but I don't see the total cost being much more than getting a Santa-FE. The mini-splits offer a dehumidification mode as well and possibly heat if I want it.

My question is, how well do the dehumidification modes work on these units. With the condenser being outside, all the heat generated will be brought there as opposed to dumped back into my basement like a portable unit would do. Can I get good performance out of a mini-split as a dehumidifier without dropping the temp real low in my shop?

 

You are probably long done with this. But as info for others I had a similar situation. I have ductless systems throughout my home. I had a 15K BTU unit put in the basement as heating source and hoped it would dehumidify in cooling season. It really doesn't dehumidify effectively in that mode because of ambient temp. If I crank the thermostat down in cooling mode into the mid 60s it will take humidity out of the air as condensation but the relative humidity and temp are uncomfortable. It does dehumidify at late spring and in the later summer by using heat mode and set at 75deg. The relative humidity will hover around 51%. I haven't checked energy/amp draw but it might use a little less than a dehumidifier. Bottom line do not count on it providing effective de-humidification in a below grade basement.

 

What RH do you normally have with the outside air ?

God bless
Wyr

 

Original post over a year old.