Suggest Dehumidifier for Boondocking?

[AnotherMike]

If the dehumidifier is truly a 12v unit then I'd look seriously - real seriously - at bypassing the wall wart that comes with it and running it directly off the 12 volt house batteries avoiding the wasteful 12v to 120v to 12v conversion process...
Keep the unit's wall wart handy for testing and simply purchase a duplicate plug that matches the back end of the dehumidifier and solder a cord to it... then connect that cord to the house batteries...

Then simply expand the solar panel array to keep up with the increased load caused by the dehumidifier... and remember that if you have a stretch of cloudy days in a row you may have to haul a generator - even a small one like a Honda 2200 - over to the RV and top off the batteries. The state of charge can be determined with a simple voltmeter and a voltage-to-percentage chart... and there are different charts for wet / flooded batteries (like Trojan T105s) and AGM batteries.

[JM0278]

I plugged the unit in with expected temps and humidity (60's on both) and after running for most of a day, there was about an ounce of water in the tank, at most.

I suspect the Peltier technology just isn't sufficiently efficient at lower temperatures. The specs on most of these units describes the moisture they pull with temps and humidity's in the mid-80's which may be great in the summer but doesn't work well enough in the shoulder seasons.

So...I'm now looking at a desiccant type dehumidifier, specifically the Ivation 13-Pint Small-Area Desiccant Dehumidifier. These cost about $100 more, but their claim to fame is that they work well in low temperatures.

[nothermark]

You need to understand your load. The dehumidifier will need to pull 1-2 quarts of water or more per person out of the air. That is 2-4 pints per person. You will be buying a lot of desiccant or running several peltier devices. A much better answer is the smallest compressor dehumidifier you can find.

[JM0278]

Originally Posted by nothermark

You need to understand your load. The dehumidifier will need to pull 1-2 quarts of water or more per person out of the air. That is 2-4 pints per person. You will be buying a lot of desiccant or running several peltier devices. A much better answer is the smallest compressor dehumidifier you can find.

The units I'm shopping are a different kind of "desiccant" dehumidifier. There is no need to replace the desiccant per the manual. Apparently, the unit somehow regenerates a desiccant drum inside as it rotates. It advertises the removal of 13 pints/day at 60%/68 degrees.

[rebfan]

Originally Posted by AnotherMike

The most accurate answer would require you to provide the voltage and current, or the wattage of the unit you intend to power. Or the make and
model so we can google it and determine those numbers. At that point it's just plugging the numbers into a solar system sizing spreadsheet and (figuratively) cranking the handle and having the numbers fall out...


And how do you intend to get rid of the collected water? I'd suggest a drain hose to the outside of the building...

Definitely want one with a drain hose. I guess what I am trying to figure out is what dehumidifier I can run off a couple of batteries and two 200W solar panels.

[consolenut]

I use a 35 pint dehumidifier and after having one I wouldn't ever be without one again. GE and LG ive used. You can use the bucket or connect a hose. They shut off when the bucket is full. Key is to put it on continous for the first 24 hours then back it off to about 40% after that. Below that I find static electricity starts showing its ugly head.