Kenmore Elite 70 pint Dehumidifier w/ Built-In Pump & Remote Control Reviews

We recently moved to a house with a *very* damp basement.  It smelled terribly musty and our belongings started getting mildewed after just two weeks down there.

We sprung for this particular unit two months ago because of the Energy Star rating and the pump feature.

It pulls loads of moisture from the air and the basement is now dry and doesn't stink anymore.  A+

However, the pump option was a huge selling point for us and it sometimes works and sometimes doesn't.  It'll go for days pumping the bucket over a few feet and up into our laundry/utility tub.  Then for no reason we can figure ......

Where do I start? First of all this thing is so noisy that it drives you crazy, I have to keep humidity down as I'm a candy maker and this was a secondary unit to back up my older Maytag 30 pint which was struggling with keeping up with the crazy NH early summer humidity ... My old maytag pulls out more water faster and more efficiently, is quieter and quite frankly I'm disgusted that Sears had the nerve to call this 70 pint machine elite!

It doesn't even record the humidity accurately, it's more than 10 degrees over the actual humidity, thankfully I keep numerous readings in the room or I would...

We love the fact that this model has a pump as we don't have a drain in our basement.  I like knowing the humidity and temperature as well. Thank goodness for the portable display screen is key for this dehumidifier as you can't turn it on and forget it.  The portable screen let us know we were having issues.

We've gone through two of these dehumidifiers and are now on our third which isn't perfect but functioning.  The first two models kept running with no change in humidity.  So much for energy efficient savings.  It seems if you unplug it without turning it off or the power goes out it...

We purchased this dehumidifier on 11/14/09. We decided to go with the this one for a couple of reason....the 70 pints it holds, the pump and the wireless remote monitoring. On the first night we let it run on Auto....24 hours later...no water in the bucket....the next day same thing. So I set it to manual...and it never shuts off...as for the remote...that is useless! The temp is way off and the humidity is off too even when it is running you get different reading but still way off! Automatic mode does not work at all! And our basement is damp...you can smell it.  And forget about the manual...

This model worked very well for a few weeks, then both failed (late last summer) to dehumidify.  I tried several times to reset, usuing various combinations of settings, and still no luck.

Now, after letting both of them "rest" for the winter, I find they still don't operate.

These were warranty replacements for previous units, both of which failed, irreparably, before their warranties had expired.  I don't know if Sears will replace these under warranty, as I technically didn't "purchase" them.

I'm very disappointed, and am still seeking a portable dehumidifier that will last more than a few...

This Kenmore dehumidifier is awesome.  I plugged it in, made my selction and it has worked non-stop for over a month now.  It has brought the humidity down in a 30x60 crawl space from 89% to 55%.  I purchased an extra 50 feet of 1/4 inch water line from hardware and the pump sends the water to my water fountain in our landscaping.  NO more filling that silly thing up everyday.  In response to the person that stated it doesn't work any better than the 50 pint, NO ****, that just means you don't need a 70 pint.  It only removes what you set it to remove.  I needed a 70+ and it is doing...

Compared to my 10 year old sears humidifier, this looks very slick. The air intake is on both sides, and the exhaust air shoots upwards. In theory, this allows the dehumidifier to be placed against a wall. However, since the water tank is in the back of the unit, if placed against a wall, it would have to be moved to empty the tank.

When I put this in the crawlspace I added a deflector so the exhaust shoots out horizontally.

I really want to like this humidifier because it has all the features I need to use in an unheated basement, at a good price.

However, this unit is temperamental (have...

This dehumidifier would be awesome if it didn't break after one week.  The wireless transmission stopped working after three days.  The pump drain is a great feature that does not use a garden hose.  The hose is a small, white, plastic tube that comes with the device.  It definitely takes the water out of the air, but the price compared to the features that break is what is making me return the item tomorrow.

BEWARE - Basically...Dont buy this Dehumidifier. It lasted one year and two days on partial duty in my relatively dry (50% humidity) basement then the compressor died and its done. The compressor was so hot when it failed that you could feel it through the white plastic on the front of the unit. $300.00 gone... It was nice while it lasted but its just another piece of junk thats basically designed to just outlive a one year warranty (or maybe it was 90 days and I just got lucky) then completely fail that way you run back to Sears and buy another one.

BUYER BEWARE!!!

have had this for 2 months.  works great with solid humidity control.  had a kenmore for 3 years and it broke.  bought another kind and gave it away because of the noise.  this is quiet and does a good job.  the remote lets us know what is going on down the basement without having to run up and down the stairs which is an added bonus.  would buy again/

I'm an engineer and purchased this unit for my storage shed. I work with precision temperature and humidity sensors, so I was anxious to run this dehumidifier through its paces to see how well it performed. Here is my analysis:

The temperate readout is very good on the unit. The humidity sensor is precise while the compressor is running, but is quickly off once the compressor cycle stops. I compared it with a high precision digital sensor that samples every two seconds and noticed that once the compressor cycle stops, the humidity in the room goes up 10%. So, the setting for the humidity does...

I purchased the unit about six months ago because, per the description, it was Quiet, Large Capacity and had a remote control. 

The unit is far from Quiet.  It does handle a larger area than most units.  The remote control is a remote monitor that appears to only work when the temperature is below 80 degrees, not a control.  Sears replaced my monitor just after receiving the unit and neither works when the temperature in the room is above 80 degrees.

I have the unit in a garage in Florida where the summer humidity would normally be around 75% and it does effectively maintain that down to the...