Dri-Eaz CMC100 Crawlspace Dehumidifier Customer Reviews

Comments about Dri-Eaz CMC100 Crawlspace Dehumidifier:

Works great. When it works. Bad humidity sensor out of the box. Got a new unit. Worked great for 5 months, but the condensate pump failed. Big mess.
Too bad.

Comments about Dri-Eaz CMC100 Crawlspace Dehumidifier:

I have the Dri-Eaz CMC100 set-up in my basement and has done a great job removing the moisture from the air. I received the CMC-100 within 2 days of ordering the product which was great especially since the shipping was free. The blower fan is quiet and does a good job circulating the air. Unit is great except for the water pump which leaks due to the configuration of the water drip pan. The unit will leak if any part of the drain hose is above or level with drain on the unit. The unit has a digital display that's easy to use.

Comments about Dri-Eaz CMC100 Crawlspace Dehumidifier:

The shipping was fast. But that is the only thing good about my purchase. The unit is LOUD! Folks have said it dried out their spaces but after 3 weeks my little 1600sq house (I hooked it into the forced air) has dropped marginally - I still have wet vents! I contacted the Sylvane for a more detailed user guide (the one provided was not very informative.) I was told to call the company direct. I also requested my warranty card. Haven't gotten that yet. Lastly, for an energy star unit, it has in three weeks cost me $40 extra to run.

Comments about Dri-Eaz CMC100 Crawlspace Dehumidifier:

Received the Dri-Eaz CMC100 Crawlspace Dehumidifier very well packaged, but one of the feet was bent because of the weight of the machine. There was no labeling on the box such as "This Side Up" (which there should have been) and the shipping company left the box on it's end at my door (once again because of the weight and they apparently rolled it to get it next to the door).

There were no other signs of damage and after opening, the unit looked clean and well manufactured. Attention to detail is obvious in the construction of the housing and selectable panels, but the recessed handles on the top seem backward for the natural way of grasping. After reading the included manual, it was time for the initial start up. A very simple machine, no other settings to make other than the desired humidity level. The fan is powerful and I like the capability of being able to attach a 6" extension duct. My crawlspace is divided into two sections and this is perfect for running the exhaust into one side and return from the other creating a circular flow between the two sections. The unit is not very loud being under the house.

On the first overnight test, I woke up to a puddle under the machine. Apparently, the condensate pump float switch was defective and did not start the pump to remove the water. This is one thing I don't like about the unit - there is no ability to gravity drain. The condensate pump is a nice feature, but they should have designed the unit with a backup feature to allow it to drain another way. It would have been nice not to have to rely on the small undersized condensate pump as the only way to drain the unit and I would have rather ran a gravity drain hose (like consumer dehumidifiers have) to my existing sump pit and pump which is going to run anyway. After getting a replacement switch through the manufacturer, the unit pumped as designed, but I'm also not impressed with the timing of the drain cycles. The tray doesn't hold enough and the pump runs for 60 seconds after emptying the tray before shutting off. There may be reasons the designers had for the delay, but I think the whole included pump idea could have been re-worked more efficiently and with a similar durability as the rest of the machine.

The primary function of the dehumidifier works well - it dehumidifies as intended and easily maintains my humidity level setting. Although (again), the way the unit decides to cycle to maintain the humidity level is not as efficient as it could be in my opinion. It goes on and off in a plus/minus 5 percent range and uses the fan every other cycle to get a better reading of the area. This all seems reasonable in theory, but although the unit is fairly quiet, it's still annoying to hear it cycle so many times - I estimate once every two to three minutes. Something else for the designers to consider is a timer feature that would allow the unit to run and cycle as normal for, say, 4 hours and then off for 2 hours, or something like a night time feature so the unit will go off for 6-8 hours a night. I just plugged it into a timer which gave me the same results.

Aside from that, one of the reasons I chose the Dri-Eaz CMC100 was it's energy use (6 amps) and to remove a good amount of moisture without being an energy hog. Other than it's on/off cycling and condensate pump limitations, I think it's a very good unit. We'll see how good it does closer to winter so I can verify it's defrost and low temp capability, and hopefully it will last as long as the one from Sears my father bought 40+ years ago (which is still running today). I'm not confident about electronic circuitry that seems to just die after a few years and have more faith in the old style mechanical units. There isn't many options out there for crawl space specific units, but this one seemed to meet most of my needs for a lower price than many of the others, although I still think the price is too high for what the unit really does.

Comments about Dri-Eaz CMC100 Crawlspace Dehumidifier:

My good experience began with your rep who courteously and professionally took the time to help me choose the right unit for my needs. The positive experience continued one week later when I found my new unit nearly submerged in my flooded basement. Your tech took the time to explain to me the best way to recover my unit and I'm happy to report its working perfectly. Thank you!

Comments about Dri-Eaz CMC100 Crawlspace Dehumidifier:

Coulda been perfect. Still very satisfied. Easy to handle, easy to install, dropped humidity in a 1200sf basement from 60s to 40%.


Also, it isn't quite. Not a big issue for me, but if it will be for you, beware.

Comments about Dri-Eaz CMC100 Crawlspace Dehumidifier:

I live in Alabama so Hot Temp. and high humidity are common. I noticed that my duct work in the crawl space was sweating this summer really bad (water dripping off of it there were no natural moisture issues) I had large pools of water standing on the plastic that covers the ground under the entire duct work. I also had wet plywood decking around 4 toe kick air conditioning vents. Unsure exactly what to do, I started resurching these issues, I desided on a crawl space dehumidifier.

I purchased the Dri-Eaz CMC100 Compact Dehumidifier and installed it in the center of the crawl space (2350sq ft) I installed a ac power source with ground near the unit and also plumbed the drain line into the septic tank drain with pvc. I pluged the unit in and it registered a humidity level at 95% I checked the next day and all the duct work was dry. A week later the intire crawl space was dray and the unit only is cycling on every now and then (I did seal the crawl space).
I am very pleased and hope the unit is reliable and has a long life.

Comments about Dri-Eaz CMC100 Crawlspace Dehumidifier:

The first dehumidifier I got the pump did not work so called and a replacement was sent out right away, but we had to pay an installer an extra 50.00 to take the old one out and put the new one in. The new one has only been in only one day, but seems to be working fine.

Comments about Dri-Eaz CMC100 Crawlspace Dehumidifier:

This dehumidifier works better than expected. I had a serious problem with condensation in my crawl space from my HVAC ducts. I had mold growing and had to replace my ducts, insulation and had the space mold proofed and wrapped with plastic. This summer the problem started again so I researched dehumidifiers and decided on this one.

It arrived within a few days and I installed it by myself in about an hour. I closed off my vents and I had already installed the drain piping while doing the wrapping so that made it quicker. I also added a 25' section of 6" duct to the exhaust to help circulate the air as my crawl space is divided in two large areas. It registered a humidity level of 79% at the start. Within 24 hours it was lowered to 59% and the next 24 hours down to 49%. All of the condensation is gone now and as dry as a bone. I have it set at 50% so it takes it down to 45% before cutting off and then on at 50%. It was very easy to install. The hardest thing was to make sure it is level. It was installed the first week of August 2011 and still working great.

Comments about Dri-Eaz CMC100 Crawlspace Dehumidifier:

This product was easy to install (20 minutes) and started up like a champ. It has been running for about 2 months now and the results are profound and positive. We had a serious mold problem, and standing water ... the mold is all but dead, the puddles are gone, and I am feeling like I waited way too long to get one of these.