ᐅ Moisture in the Laundry Room – Should You Ventilate or Use a Dehumidifier?

SoL schrieb:

Yep, we are currently using a dehumidifier with a condensate drain.
It costs us about 3.8kW per day... Not cheap, but better than a damp basement. A vent pipe is planned in the medium term.

Not cheap is relative. When you know that resealing basement walls in existing buildings starts at a minimum of 40k.
You could run a dehumidifier for a long time, like 100 years.

And even then, washing machines and dryers still generate a lot of condensation.
What about a dryer with an external vent?
A core drill might cost around 200€ including travel.
At the same time, that allows for air exchange.

PS: I was on a construction site next to a medium-sized river last week.
They sealed the basement with a plastic epoxy resin coating.
25kg costs 150€ and covers 2.5m² (27ft²) 😀 material only, no labor included.

TmMike_2 schrieb:

"Affordable" is relative. When you know that waterproofing basement walls in an existing building starts at a minimum of 40,000 euros (about 43,000 USD).
You can dehumidify for a long time, like 100 years or so.

And even then, washing machines and dryers naturally produce a lot of condensation.
What about a dryer with a vent to the outside?
A core drilling might cost around 200 euros (about 215 USD) including travel.
At the same time, this allows for air exchange.

PS: I was on a construction site by a medium-sized river last week.
They were sealing the basement with a plastic epoxy resin waterproofing.
A 25 kg (55 lb) container costs 150 euros (around 160 USD) and covers 2.5 m² (27 ft²) 😀 just materials, no labor."

Our basement absorbs moisture even though we don’t do laundry or drying there. Otherwise, we would have done the drilling already.

But it’s not a problem, as you say: with electricity costs of 400–500 euros (about 430–540 USD) per year for a dry basement, a renovation wouldn’t be worthwhile, especially since we only have a partial basement, which makes external access difficult.
We are happy with the improvised solution, and the basement is as well.

Addendum: The basement used to be ventilated (a nice way to say "it had no window panes"). Back then, there was no moisture issue, but energy efficiency was terrible because the heating was in the basement and often off, and we had cold drafts and a chilly floor on the ground floor…
That’s how it goes with old buildings: there’s always something…

driver55 schrieb:

Sure, check post #2.

@HubiTrubi40: where are the answers? It would be helpful.

Please pay attention to the units… 3.8 kWh 😉 (3.8 kW (power) cannot be billed…)

Hi everyone,

Thank you very much for your many inputs and advice, and sorry for my late response. I’ve been a bit knocked out the past few days.
We have now tried ventilation, especially in the mornings, and the humidity drops fairly quickly to around 60%. I think in summer this will only work in the morning or evening. Otherwise, I will just monitor it throughout the summer. A friend of mine said he had this problem in his bathroom and installed a core drill vent with an exhaust fan that switches on at 80% humidity. At least for him, it works very well. That might be an option as well.

In our case, airing out quickly is usually enough during winter, but we do have some issues with humidity in the summer. That’s why we got a dehumidifier for the warmer months.