Over the last few years, I have branched out from doing only arborist, tree trimming, and wood splitting duties and began including general handyman work.

Part of that has just been demand. Yes, there is still plenty of work coming my way that keeps my chainsaw running. But as word has gotten around, people increasingly were asking me to do additional duties.

It varies wildly. I might hang a ceiling fan, pour a concrete pad, install a new mail box, or build a shed.

Recently, a customer asked me to take down an old rotten, leaning pine tree. While I was cleaning up that mess and hauling away the debris, he and his wife mentioned they hadn’t had any water for two days because a water line from their well pump sprang a leak and they were still waiting for a visit from a plumber.

I scoped this out, told them I could replace the entire 100 ft run of black roll pipe with 0.75 in PEX, and get started on it that day. We shook on it, and had his water turned back on by 1 AM!

In the process of replacing his water line, I was in and out of his crawlspace quite a bit. Some sections had some moisture damage and signs of mold. I’m far from a crawlspace expert, but I told them at a bare minimum:
1. they might want to consider laying down some plastic sheeting for moisture control
2. they might want to install a dehumidifier for long-term piece of mind

Before you know it, they had hired me to install a dehumidifier!

Why I Chose an Alorair 70 PPD Dehumidifier

When I started shopping around, Alorair stood out as one of the premium, high-quality dehumidifier brands.

They have been around since 2012, and claim to have sold more than 2 million units! Their customer base seems very loyal.

All of their products carry a 5 year warranty. I think it means something when a company stands behind their products. I didn’t want to sell this elderly couple some kind of cheap piece of junk that would only last a year or two.

Their products are Energy Star Certified. A dehumidifier can use 300-500 watts. Do you want to pay a high power bill to run a sloppy, inefficient unit in your crawlspace? Most people don’t. The Energy Star Certification gives some reassurance towards efficiency and minimal impact on power bills.

They ship from the US, so minimal wait times once purchased.

Because of the crawlspace layout, with a light bulb and an outlet roughly in the middle of the area, I couldn’t count on a gravity feed to get the water collected to flow out. Alorair offers a pump option for most of their models, and include a 19 foot hose to improve mounting and location flexibility.

The area of this particular crawlspace was around 30 feet by 30 feet, so roughly 900 square feet. The Alorair 70 PPD says it’s suitable for up to 1,000 square feet.

AlorAir Sentinel HD35P Specs and Features

For ease of reference, I’ve included the HD35 user manual HERE.

And also the HD35 spec sheet HERE.

The Sentinel HD35P is one of AlorAir’s smallest and most basic models, but this is a semi-commercial piece of equipment packed with performance and durability enhancing features.

It can remove 70 PPD (pints per day) of moisture at saturation temperatures, and 35 PPD at standard AHRAM (this is at 80F and 60% relative humidity).

It weighs 39.7 lbs, but lugging it around is reasonably easy due to the beefy handle integrated into it’s top side.

Its fan flows 115 CFM of air, and manages to do this fairly quietly at under 50 dBA.

It has an auto defrost mode, which is handy because nobody wants to climb down into their crawlspace and defrost a humidifier. Along those lines, it also has a an auto/memory restart. That means if your power goes out or blinks off, once power is restored it starts right back up like it was before, again preventing you from having to climb into the crawlspace to restart it.

It has a Merv-1 filter to keep dust, pollen, and debris out of its sensitive bits. That’s important in a crawlspace, as it can be a grimy environment. Yes, the filter has to be cleaned or replaced every so often, but that’s a lot cheaper than replacing a dehumidifier!

And I guess I should mention the HD35P is set up for a 120V outlet. I saw some big monster dehumidifiers that required 240V, and I did not want to go through that trouble.

My Installation Process and Tips

I guess this is sort of mislabeled, since installing the AloAir unit is so easy that it doesn’t really require any tips.

I put the unit on two concrete blocks. You need it to be reasonably level, so that the pump and drain can work properly.

I ran the (thankfully long) drain hose to a crawlspace vent and poked it through so that accumulated water could be pumped outside.

I plugged the (again, thankfully long) power cord into an existing 120v outlet near the only light bulb in the crawlspace.

And then I followed the directions to turn it on and set the humidity level.

My Opinion

In my opinion, you are not going to find a higher quality, more durable crawlspace dehumidifier at this price point.

This unit was very easy to install, and I fully expect it to last my customer for many years without any trouble.

If you want to look over the AloAir lineup, you can click here…