Customer Reviews for Frigidaire 50-Pint Dehumidifier, FAD504TDD

Frigidaire 50-Pint Dehumidifier, FAD504TDD

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Tools and Hardware Reviews of Frigidaire 50-Pint Dehumidifier, FAD504TDD

Customer Review: Can be very inefficient - beware
Summary: 2 Stars

Executive summary: when running in auto mode with the humidity set on the unit's display, it runs at about 1/3 (33% !) of the efficiency as it does in the same environment in the continuous mode. This drop in efficiency in auto mode is just not acceptable. Below is an in depth analysis that may help those looking at this and other new generation dehumidifiers.

I have had this unit for 3 weeks now, so no comment on its durability can be made. However, its efficiency in typical use can leave a lot to be desired. The Frigidaire site rates this unit as 1.6 kWhr/L or 6 kWhr/Gal at an unspecified temperature and relative humidity. That is fairly typical performance. Measurement of my unit in continuous mode at an ambient 57% average relative humidity and 75F gave about 4 kWhr/Gal, better than the factory rating. The good news ends there. The fan draws 73W on low and 81W on high, so if it idles, it can over hours burn up a bit of energy, but this is not the core problem as discussed below. (The unit consumes about 670W total when running in dehumidify mode.) With the trigger level for humidity set to 55% on the unit in an ambient average 78F, over a 2 day period, it consumed 9.3 kWhr to produce ¾ gal in the bucket, or it used over 12 kWhr/Gal, 3 times its continuous mode consumption!

The fan runs long after the compressor shuts down, but does eventually stop. If you assume the unit cycles quickly enough that the fan does not stop, then the math says in my test, that the compressor ran just shy of 10 hours over the two days of this test. (If the fan was off some of the time, it would only slightly change this, and not in a favorable direction.) From the above continuous mode measurement, this says the bucket should have contained well over 1.5 Gal. Where did more than half of it go, since there was only 0.75 gal in the bucket? Major suspect: I'd guess evaporation due to the fan circulating air over the still wet condenser coils after the compressor shuts off in auto mode, although there may also be some evaporation from the rather open collection bucket. Running the fan may circulate the air in the environment where the unit is located so its hygrometer can better detect a larger area's average ambient humidity rather than just the spot where the unit is sitting, but this coil evaporation problem could completely and totally obviate this benefit, which if true is an unfortunate engineering decision.

Just for comparison purposes, I ran my 15 year old Kenmore "60 pint", which still runs fine (noisy!) and has a factory rating of 6.45kWhr/Gal both continuously and in auto mode with the unit's humidity set to 55%, the same as above. Its fan and compressor are linked (on and off at same time). It switched on at close to 58% on an external Honeywell hygrometer, and off around 52%. In continuous mode at an average ambient of 54% at 78F, it measured 4 kWhr/gal, relatively close to the Frigidaire result for continuous operation given the somewhat different conditions. In the auto mode controlled by the unit's hygrometer, its efficiency fell slightly to 4.2kWhr/Gal, which is much more reasonable. This slight drop was no doubt due to some evaporation from the condenser coil during cycling, but since there is no fan circulation, it was much much less for the Kenmore.

The reviewer who suspects the Frigidaire hygrometer's accuracy has a legitimate concern. I checked my Honeywell electronic hygrometer against a sling pyschrometer and they are mostly within 3-4% RH at these mid ambient humidities and temperatures. The Frigidaire's hygrometer at one point read 40% when the Honeywell hygrometer, located 10" to the side, read 58%. I'm guessing this is because the location of the Frigidaire's internal hygrometer gets heated by nearby electronics when the unit has just shut down, lowering the very local RH. Other times the readings are much closer. At higher humidities, the Frigidaire tended to read a little high. How this all plays into the cycling and efficiency is hard to say since no discernible pattern was noted. But it is another aspect that is not very confidence inspiring in any case.

If one puts the Frigidaire on a timer and sets the unit itself to continuous mode, this efficiency problem would be resolved, but this is a rather hokey solution to a problem that should not exist, and circumvents the automatic humidity feedback that is far more desirable. Or if one wanted to void the warranty and is technically inclined, one could re-wire the fan to the same control port as the compressor. But given the reliability concerns in other reviews, this is not a sterling choice.

Customer Review: De humidifier
Summary: 5 Stars

I like this product, and I found no problem with the water bucket as other folks have.

Customer Review: Decent Unit but Terrible Bucket
Summary: 3 Stars

I've recently replaced an 8-year old Frigidaire dehumidifier with this new model (FAD504TDB). I had excellent service from my old unit (which was still working but lost some of its punch) so I bought another Frigidaire. Here's my opinion of the new Frigidaire.
1. Packaging & ease of initial start-up was exceptional. It was up & running inside 5 minutes.
2. Noise Level. Not sure why some found the noise levels excessive. I'd say it's about 1/2 the noise level of older model so now I'll have to go down a few basement steps just to hear if it's running or not.
3. Comments after using unit. The unit has done a nice job in lowering my basement humidity level from 70%+ to the low 60%'s within a few days. However, I gotta say I hate the water bucket. It's made so cheaply (feels like a refrigerator vegetable bin). When full, you have to hold it with both hands from the bottom which makes it more difficult to carry up the stairs. The older unit had a much more sturdy bucket with the handle centered on the top (not on the edge). I'll now have to buy a 2 gal rubbermaid bucket just to use to carry the water upstairs. The bucket removal process also stinks. The bucket fits way too tight and requires a real pull to extract it from the unit. My wife (who used to empty the old unit half the times) cannot get the bucket out of this unit. I also learned after day one that the bucket fills to the very brim so when you pull to yank it out you end up with water spilled onto the floor (which is really retarded considering this is a dehumidifier). It's just one of those product designs that leaves you scratching your head wondering how it got thru even basic product user testings. I would've giving this unit 5-stars if it weren't for that stinking bucket.

Customer Review: Dehumidifier
Summary: 4 Stars

So far it has worked as advertised. It is in a storm cellar that used to be quite musty and that smell has gone away. I have it set to turn off when the humidity level has reached a preset level. The previous one I had was a Delongi and this one works much better (so far anyway) Much quieter than the Delongi as well.