Most use about 700 watts, give or take a bit.
Which means yours is probably running full time, or very nearly so.

Apparently you have it set to a way low percentage ,,, or your basement has a pretty serious dampness problem.

Is it set 50 to 60% ?

Thanks Mikie. I've got it set to 50% and auto on/off. It does run quite a bit, but there are definite periods when it is off. But from 700 watts to 15 kw???

15kW is 15,000 watts, which equates to 625 watts if the unit is running 24 hours per day.

Do you have the stand-up model rated at 6.8 amps? This would be about 820 watts.

This seems right if the unit is running about 75% of the time.

Yes, I have the stand-up model at 6.8 amps. Sorry to be dense, but you are saying I should expect the system to use 600-800 watts per hour for a total close to 15,000 watts per day (assuming it runs 24 hours)? That just seems outrageous to me. Not exactly the "energy saver" they promoted in the literature.

Another question: should I be setting the humidity setting lower for the winter months? Or should it stay at 50% year round?

thanks for the input.

Your unit may be more efficient at removing a given amount of water from the air per kilowatt hour than other dehumidifiers, but that doesnÂt change the reality that removing moisture from the air is a very energy intensive activity.

At 820 watts per hour, running for 18 hours per day, gives a total of just under 15 kilowatts.

You donÂt have to go lower than 50% humidity at any time of the year.

One way to make the dehumidifier run less, is to take steps that reduces the amount of moisture that can enter the space in the first place. Can you describe in detail the area you are trying to dehumidify, including size, location above/below grade, wall & floor finishings, your climate, etc.

fwiw,
The wattage rating on the label is its max constant current draw. Probably at something like 80%/80F.

At 50%, should be drawing maybe 200watts(a guess) less that labeled.

Basically the problem here is that the SaniDry should not be running that often to begin with.

Maybe your setting is too low or unrealistic for your basement. Try to increase it to 55% and you should be just fine if you set it at up to 60%.

If the SaniDry is still running that often, you have a bigger problem and it has nothing to do with the SaniDry, which is only doing its job.

The fact is that somehow and for some reason, an enormous amount of moisture is pouring into your basement and that is the problem that needs to be addressed.

A few questions I'd suggest you try to answer.

Is your drainage system working properly? Is it being serviced consistently as recommended by the manufacturer or installer? Is the sump pit sealed or is it allowing water to evaporate into the basement? Are the gutters clogged? Are the downspouts discharging far enough from the foundation walls? Is the terrain around the house graded properly (sloping away from the house)?

Check for plumbing leaks, changes in the water table or anything that can be causing the moisture problem.

Here is a link that might be useful: SaniDry Info

whats a sani dry? whats a regular Kenmore dehumidifier cost to run...are there energy efficient ones?

my dehumidifier is set to 65 RH and the basement has had no mildew or musty odors, even during a very humid Connecticut summer. As cooler temperatures arrive, there is no longer any need for me to run the unit. The RH stays below 60 percent on its own.

my dehumidifier is set to 65 RH and the basement has had no mildew or musty odors, even during a very humid Connecticut summer. As cooler temperatures arrive, there is no longer any need for me to run the unit. The RH stays below 60 percent on its own.

We had one installed this past week and were told to keep it at 55%. For the first week, keep the fan running 24/7. after that, set it to run only when dehumidification was in progress.

My Sani-Dry runs pretty much 24/7/365 in my crawlspace, except when it gets too cold there. I never turn it off; it turns itself off when the temperature drops too low to function. I have a fully lined crawlspace with a French drain and two sump pumps due to the very high water table here. However, I haven't noticed any real increase in my electric bill due to use of the dehumidifier, which I have had (I'm on my 2nd unit) since 2004.

We have a rather new house with a big basement. Dry Basement put in a great water management system, the only thing I dislike is the Sani dry in fact it failed in less than 5 years. I reached out to my local provider who I like but his hands are tied and my options are buy a new one or pay $400 to ship it to their tech office and then pay for any parts that need to be replaced. I have been very diligent in servicing my system so this is not about neglect on my part just poor design on their part. When you add the yearly cost to my electrical bill it is a terrible solution.

We have had our Sanidry CSB for four years, and I loved it until this Spring. It runs 24/7 and doesn't take one drop of moisture out of the basement. I have recently changed the filter, thinking that was the problem, but it still doesn't do anything. I paid $1700 for that dehumidifier! So, now what?

I had a Kenmore from the 1980's. When it was around 15 years old, it started running continuously so I replaced the mechanical humidistat. Got another 15 some years out of it when the same thing happened. Decided to replace it with a medium-sized Frigidaire from the local appliance superstore. It's been working great - about 7 years old. I keep it at 50. In late fall when the heat is turned on, I just unplug it because it never runs in the winter. I've been happy with it. It's got something like a 50 pint capacity and cost a little under $200. Have to empty the bucket by hand.

The basement is about 1200 sq ft. It's a 1950's tract house, so there's no vapor barrier under the concrete floor and the poured foundation walls had a thin, quick tar spray for 'waterproofing' (not really). I've had all foundation cracks repaired, so there's no seepage, but it's definitely damp and musty in summer without the dehumidifier. There is no AC in the basement. I'm in the Chicago area.

Do you really need a high capacity dehumidifier? Do you have moisture problems that should be taken care of first?

Expensive basement dehumidifiers no longer make sense, IMO. Regardless of claims of manufacturers there just isn't enough efficiency difference to get a payback from the high initial cost. There also no reason for a Hepa filter on a dehumidifier.

A $200 frigidaire or similar compressor based dehumidifier is probably the lowest total cost of ownership

For any dehumidifier the key is set the humidity level just low enough. When the frigidaire breaks you just have amazon deliver a new one. A frigidaire probably doesn't break more than a pricey dehumidifier.

I prefer to control my $200 basement dehumidifier with a remote thermostat. It runs less.

I know this is old, but @BrewBeer's statements about power consumption use conflicting units. I just want to clear this up for any future reference.

Power isn't measured in Watts or kW per hour. "Watts" itself is a unit of power, or energy divided by time (Joules per second). So this should read:

15kWh is 15,000 watt-hours, which equates to 625 watts if the unit is running 24 hours per day."

"At 820 watts running for 18 hours per day, gives a total of just under 15 kilowatt-hours."

I see I am not the only one that bought this overpriced boat anchor I have had mine for a little over 3 years and about a month ago or so I started hearing it kicking on and off more and my electric bill was higher I called the number that came with this bucket of crap and talked to someone about the problem he said we need to see if it's the refrigeration side or something else and he told me to push the mode switch and the up arrow at the same time with the unit running once the display starts flashing numbers release the buttons this will show you a charge amount of refrigerant in the system it should be anywhere from 0 to 5 mine was 15 so my unit has a leak in it and I can do a/c work but with the expense of buying 410A refrigerant about a 120 dollars for a 25 pound can and the gauges and you will have to buy nitrogen to pressure the system to find the leak a piercing valve to discharge the system and once you do all this you will have to buy the parts so you could be looking at a bill of way over 500 dollars not worth it so I ordered a 250 dollar one on line, now I know why they will only cover these things for 30 months kind of a weird number for a warranty so that's my story and not a good one at that ,1800 dollars is what I paid for this if you break it down 600 dollars a year plus electric not a good value at all just pure junk I can buy the cheaper units for 250 dollars and even if they only last a few years I can buy a lot more of them never again.

After 8 months running at 55% my Sanidry Sedona is reading an error "fan error - low refrigerant". I will say when it was running it's everything it is cracked up to be, however 8 months is too premature for a problem! This is ludicrous. I can't even call the creeps i bought it from due to issues i can't explain here. Extremely disappointed with unit.

I have the exact same problem I have had this thing running and 55% for about 8 months it's reading the same error report

Same issue and error here. Luckily our HVAC installer has been somewhat responsive though and replaced the unit twice. We are now on our third unit and got the error again today after 5 mos.

My Sedona failed in less than a year. How can it become low on refrigerant in that short a period of time? Sad. I went back to a big box store off the shelf unit that does the same job😢

This thing doesn't' last a year. its crazy. First one died with the same message and you could tell blue refrigerant was leaking out in the tube. and it was replaced, now again our 2nd unit died at around 8 months, less then a year again and this time I can see brown stuff in the tube. It doesn't even run all that often at 55%. Very sketchy product. Is it designed to die around 8 months on purpose by a corrupt industry?

I’m on my third unit. Just over a year and I have error message AGAIN on this one. They sold me on the unit because it should take care of the whole basement, but I hang up the damp rid bags and they fill up. Even in a bedroom right next to the unit. In my opinion it isn’t doing its job if it happens that close to the unit. I keep it at 50%. Since I am not in the basement as much, I’m not sure how much it is running. It seemed to be running a lot before it produced the code. It is at the bottom of stairs where I take my dog out, and it seemed to be running all the time.

Sanidry Sedona SS100 installed with whole Crawl space encapsulation. Dehumidifier is now failing after 3 years with the low refrigerant error message. Company service rep said it just needed to be unplugged and plugged back in to reset. Wrong, still not working. Big expense for something so unreliable.

I've been reading these comments with great interest. Was just quoted $2,275 by a crawlspace company to install a Sanidry Sedona dehumidifier. Doesn't sound like a good value. Kudos to you all for telling your stories. I periodically get water in my crawlspace from heavy rain, sprinklers, and unresolvable grading issues (townhome). This dehu was the suggested solution.

An inexpensive dehumidifier is often the best value after correcting any outside drainage issue. You just need to figure out the drain the condensate.

I recharged my Sedona dehumidifier to clear the "low refrigerant" error. See https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-8DSOeAML0Y