jmj713

I have a mid-sized book collection, mainly hardcovers, some rather expensive and rare books. I had to move it into the basement and it's been there for several months now (it's a fully finished basement), and only now has it occured to me that there could be too much unwanted moisture down there that's probably not very good for the books. Especially now that lately we've had lots of rain it feels damp and humid there. So I'm looking at dehumidifiers on Amazon but there are so many and wildly different in price, I thought perhaps someone here employed one of them and could recommend something that would keep the books safe in the basement. Moving the library back up is not really an option.

JAA

Expensive and rare? I would consider a dehumidifier mandatory in your situation. Simply adjust the setting on the unit and it will monitor when moisture levels get too high and kick on.

DVD Josh

I bought a quality LG unit at Home Depot that has several options like 2 hr 4 hr. on / off cycling and static humidity monitoring. It wasn't that bad price-wise and does the job well. Of course, this was for a leak and not books, but the same general principles apply.

jmj713

After much researching, I went with this one: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0009T6AB0/ (unavailable on Amazon, but ordered it elsewhere). Sounds just like what I need.

djmont

I have a cheapo dehumidifier in my basement and it pulls tons of moisture out of the air. (It only cost $50 at most, and I'm surprised at how well it works.)

One thing to be aware of, though, is that the tank will either have to be emptied every couple days, or else you'll have to run a hose to a drain. So I would recommend buying one with a big tank.

If you have a limited number of books that are valuable (say, over $100), I'd suggest moving just those to a bookcase in a more hospitable part of your house. That's what we did.

jmj713

I may do that. I have several limited editions that would be way too expensive to replace on eBay, probably. But I want to make sure even the regular books are safe and dry.

DVD Josh

I think you will be surprised at how big a 60 pint DH is. It's way too excessive for the purpose you've described.

jmj713

Yes, I know it's a larger unit, but this way it'll keep the rest of the basement dry, supposedly, which is where our home theater located also, along with the DVD collection.

DVD Josh

Ok then. You should consider getting a hose to hook up to your washtub in the utility room, it will make your life much easier. They sell them at Home Depot for cheap.

Trevor

But they all shut off automatically when the tank fills, right?

jmj713

They do. Unless you hook up a hose which will drain the tank for you.