I recently had my crawlspace encapsulated and treated, and I'm noticing some strange humidity issues. It's about 1100 sqft, and I had it soda blasted before sealing off the vent holes and adding 3-inch foam to the walls with a 5-inch termite gap at the top. I installed an Aprilaire model E070 dehumidifier to help with drying it out a few months ago. The problem is, the humidity levels drop to around 47% before the dehumidifier turns off, but within an hour, it jumps back up to 54-55%. This has gotten very predictable: the dehumidifier runs about 18 hours a day, and I see the temperatures rising to around 80°F. I've been told by the installer, who claims to have done thousands of these, that it should only run about 2 hours per day, keeping the temps stable around 65-70°F. I've already had the install company come back multiple times, and they can't find anything wrong or offer any new solutions. I even paid another company to spray foam my rim joists as a last resort, but nothing has changed. I've checked for possible leaks and sealed any cracks I could find, but I'm still stuck with the same humidity cycling. Any thoughts on what else I should try?
1 Answer
Where does your dehumidifier drain to? That can sometimes be the source of hidden moisture if the drain isn’t set up properly. It’s a pretty common thing to overlook, so might be worth checking out!
It drains through a condensate pump that goes about 8 feet into a basin outside.