AprilAire E70 Pro 70 Pint Dehumidifier for up to 2200 sqft

In my crawlspace under the house, I installed the Aprilaire E70 Dehumidifier with the Little Giant VCMA-20ULST condensate pump. You can get all the parts you need on Amazon. Here’s what I learned:- Cut the end of the dehumidifier output clear hose (see pic) before you insert into the condensate pump.Get some 3/8” ID (inner diameter) tubing for the condensate pump output (Clear Vinyl Tubing Flexible by 3/8 Inch ID). The tubing is ½“ OD (outer diameter) so get some ½“ clamps to hold it in place (see pic). The VCMA-20ULST does not come with this 3/8” output tubing.- You’ll need 3/8” x ¼” MIP barb (see pic) to go into PVC pipe. I got mine at Low** but you could use one like this (Brass Hose Fitting, Hose Barb Adapter, 3/8-Inch Barb x 1/4-Inch NPT Male Pipe, Male Threaded End). Drill the hole in PVC pipe just a little smaller than the ¼” threaded part of the barb. Wrap the threads in Teflon tape for a better seal (see pic). I tapped into a ¾" PVC HVAC condensate drain line to get the water out.- Copper is antifungal by nature, so I put some stripped pieces of leftover electrical wire (Romex) into the condensate pump tank to keep algae down. I’ll also put in some tablets (Nu-Calgon 4296-60 Pan-Treat Scum 200 Tablets OR SimpleAir SACF Drain Line tabs) every 3 mo or so to help with that.- Safety switch: used an old piece of Romex (see pic). On the input end where the control panel is, that’s where you hook the wires for the condensate pump safety switch. There are two wires on the condensate pump; these two wires get hooked into the dehumidifier panel per the manual. As far as I can tell you can’t get these two wires mixed up, so just hook both into the control panel like it says in the manual. On the dehumidifier panel where you hook these wires in, be sure to unscrew the small screws ALL THE WAY OUT before you remove the wire that’s there from the factory; I didn’t do this and almost messed it up. Then insert the Romex and tighten. I used wire nuts on the other end of the Romex to attach to the two wires from the condensate pump. If you use 3-wire Romex, be sure to use the white and black wrapped wires--don’t use the bare copper one.- I used 8’ flex hoses for the input/output (TerraBloom 8" Air Duct - 8 FT Long, Black Flexible Ducting with 2 Clamps, 4 Layer HVAC Ventilation Air Hose) and hung them to floor joists with webbing straps (Cambridge Duct Support Webbing 50-ft x1 3/4-in, Black). When you cut the webbing, have a lighter handy to seal the ends or it will start to come unraveled. I also folded the ends over just an inch or so to give it more strength where I screwed it to the floor joists. I used 1.25” outdoor screws with a washer. I also stapled the straps to give them a better grip on the flex hoses (see pic). You don’t want the input hose lying on the ground since it might draw in debris, and it also makes for better circulation.- After it’s all hooked up, pour some water in the Little Giant condensate pump to ensure the pump kicks on and check for leaks in your output hose.- I plan to order another Little Giant CV-10 Check Valve to keep on hand as a spare. They tend to go out now and then--and when you figure out that you need one, you need it right away. I’ll probably just tape it to the unit under the house so I’ll know where it is when I need it. Same with the leftover drain & output hoses.

I have a pretty crappy Crawlspace situation and this thing is still working like a champ

Suspended #70 in attic with 1 intake and 1 outtake on ceilings at opposite sides of 1,500 sq ft tight house. It blows out warm air each approx. 15 min cycle. Comes on about every 2 hours. That’s a lot of warm air being added and yet it feels great most of the time. Outdoor humidity has been over 85% since installed two weeks ago and it is set at 45%.The must-have and easy connection wall controller is not as sensitive as an HVAC controller, its range is wider. Turns on at preset and off when it’s below 3% to 4% preset. The ON and OFF buttons do not work.Overall, I love it! The a/c runs a lot less but when on, it needs to cool the warm air being added.(Neighbor professionally added a dif. brand “gold standard” in crawlspace. Aprilaire is far superior.)The discharge water pipe sweats! Use 1” or more rigid pipe and trap for peace-of-mind in a gravity fed installation and insulate where indoors. Trap should be at end of pipe. Really important.It’s rewarding to see a gallon of waste water every cycle.Bought a rubber boot tray and easily installed a float switch to dehumidifier. Also added a smart water sensor in tray.

Had mine for years now. Keeps working and crawl space humidity down.

It has a great warranty and I’ve had no problems with this!

for the price, i was disappointed it stopped working after ~8 months in my crawlspace. started throwing (in)famous E4 error. ran the diagnostic procedure and provided results to support, who verified it had lost refrigerant and needed replaced.luckily that was covered under warranty. support worked with me to ship a replacement and covered return shipping (my primary concern given how much it weighs). this could have been a fluke, a design issue which has since been resolved (perhaps in the E80), shipping damage (UPS is certainly not gentle, the boxes come beat up)... not sure, but happy they stood by their product and got me a replacement. rare to see this level of customer service today!if you have an area where a week to get your dehu swapped out would cause concern, probably good to keep a backup unit on hand...but otherwise this works well, is reasonably quiet (E80 is quieter but also moves less air), doesn't draw too much power, and gives you peace of mind with the bumper to bumper warranty -- even when installing yourself.

Best Dehumidifiers on the market.Installed at least 85 of them with no issues.

Received this after 2 week shopping wait.within 10 mins of installing it continuously went from dehumidifying to defrosting. After calling tech they had me open the unit switch wires around then said the freeze sensor was bad so I waited another week for that installed that?(Still can’t figure out why I had to do surgery on a $1300 brand new unit but ok)Installed the new sensor and it Worked!!For ten mins then went into e8 error mode.Turns out it only works over 50 degrees ( on my monitor it was 56.Then I find out it also won’t work with a dew point under 40 degrees.In my area 5000ft up in the Carolina mountains I’ve had one day in the last 2 weeks with a dew point of 43 degrees and that was the day it worked for 10 mins!Total waste of time and money.Now I’m waiting upto 30 days for a refund before I can afford to buy one that does work meanwhile my crawlspace is over 65% humidity after spending $24000 on mold remediation.Absolute nightmare!