Buying the best dehumidifier for your home nowadays feels like an exhausting task – you need to read and research for countless of hours, you need to learn new terms and concepts, you need to evaluate a ton of different measures and calculate the differences between them. It’s like going back to school!
That’s why it’s not surprising why a lot of people are hesitant about getting a dehumidifier for their home. That, and the fact that it isn’t exactly a cheap appliance.
A great dehumidifier can work wonders for your home, however. It doesn’t just remove the mold – something that you can do by hand – but it also prevents it from ever spreading again. It permanently deals with mold, mildew, odors and any excess moisture. A great dehumidifier can also freshen the air and simply put drastically increase the air quality, and as a result – your health and comfort.
But just like any other appliance, a dehumidifier is a great investment only if you get the right one for your home and needs. Otherwise, you might end up throwing a ton of money to the wind.
So, to help you out we are here to review another famous brand of dehumidifier – Comfort Aire. One of the best renowned brands in the US and the rest of the world, Comfort Aire dehumidifiers have been bringing comfort to their customers across the globe and have been awarded for this comfort with a lot of positive reviews and ratings.
How deserved are those reviews, however? Well, let’s see by taking a look at one of Comfort Aire’s signature dehumidifiers:
Comfort Aire BHD701H 70 Pint Dehumidifier
Features And Benefits
The first thing that you will notice about the Comfort Aire BHD701H is its size. If you are looking for a small, discrete, portable dehumidifier for your living room, this is not it. The BHD701H is a big machine for big homes and is here to do quality work.
With dimensions of 23 x 10 x 15 inches and a weight of 39 pounds, this device is best suited for a basement, an attic or a crawl space. This doesn’t mean that you can’t put it in your living room, of course – if you have the right place for it you can certainly do that. Plus, clean and simple design can fit in most rooms without ruining their ambiance. For further comfort, the BHD701H also comes with 4 casters for easier portability.
To look at the more important features of the BHD701H, however, as its name suggests, this is a 70 pint dehumidifier. This is to say that it removes about 70 pints of moisture from any room, garage, basement or home it is placed in. This is quite a lot and if your home or situation doesn’t need such a powerful machine, Comfort Aire also have a wide range of smaller, less powerful dehumidifiers.
This stylish machine has a ton of other features as well, so let’s arrange them in a quick list for convenience:
- While the BHD701H is impressively powerful, it actually doesn’t drain a lot of energy. It works on 720 watts, which is just a little above average and is more than enough to earn this model an Energy Star rating. And if you’ve researched dehumidifiers at least a bit before coming here, you know that the Energy Star rating is something quite rare and meaningful – a mark of true quality.
- The BHD701H also has an auto defrost functions as any good dehumidifier should. The auto defrost function serves to stop any possible damage to the device should an excessive amount of ice form on the evaporator coil. This is a rather common problem for dehumidifiers that need to work at low temperatures, as it often happens during the winter months in basements and attics.
- This model also has an auto shutoff function that stops the work of the dehumidifier whenever it is full. This prevents any accidents should you miss the LED light on the electronic panel that indicates that the condensate container of this Comfort-Aire dehumidifier is full. This is very useful when the dehumidifier isn’t in a room that you visit often and you are likely to forget about it for a while.
- Auto restart is another useful function that the Comfort Aire BHD701H has. In the event of a power outage, the dehumidifier will automatically restart itself to its previous settings and continue working as if nothing has happened. This doesn’t just save you some time and effort, but can be very important for when you are out of town and you need the dehumidifier to keep working.
- As we mentioned above, the dehumidifier has an LED light on its electronic panel that serves to let you know when the condensate container is full. The BHD701H also has another indicator light that informs you when the filter needs to be removed and cleaned.
- Another feature of the BHD701H 70 pint dehumidifier is the 3 minute compressor time delay. This simple feature serves to protect the compressor from starting or restarting prematurely. It is most useful for a basement dehumidifier since there it takes effect more often and ensures that all internal damage will be prevented.
- Another simple and highly appreciated feature of this Comfort Aire device is the sight glass window on its body. This allows you to easily check the level of water in the condensate bucket and to know when is the best time to take it out and empty it.
- Even though it is rather sizable, the Comfort Aire BHD701H is actually quite light for its dimensions and power. That, plus its great design and 4 casters make it easily portable compared to other similar models from other brands. This is not unimportant, since this is a portable dehumidifier and its great design brings you additional comfort.
- Multiple drainage options are the cherry on top for this dehumidifier. Once the water bucket of the dehumidifier is full it can be drained automatically via a drainage hose that can be connected to its outlet. Alternatively, you can also empty the bucket manually. But if you don’t want to bother with that, connecting a drainage hose or a simple garden hose to the adapter can ensure continuous automatic draining that almost doesn’t require your attention. One key thing to note, however, is that a drainage hose is not included with the dehumidifier and needs to be purchased separately if you don’t have a suitable garden hose at home. This is something that is true for most dehumidifiers from other brands, however, so it isn’t any sort of “fatal flaw” for the BHD701H.
- Like any great portable dehumidifier, the BHD701H can work without a problem at low temperatures. Anything that doesn’t go below 41°F will not be a problem for this Comfort Aire device and it will continue working just fine. And, as we mentioned, the auto defrost function is always present to take care of any cold-caused problems that might occur.
- As far as the warranty of the BHD701H is concerned, it comes with a standard 1-year warranty for the dehumidifier’s replacement parts and a 5-year warranty for the sealed system part of the device. This further ensures that you will not be disappointed by the machine’s performance and durability.
Pros And Cons
That is quite a lot of features to process, right? Well, let’s summarize them in a quick Pros & Cons list too:
Pros:
- The BHD701H is a powerful dehumidifier that removes up to 70 pints of moisture per day.
- It is a highly effective and energy efficient machine, especially considering its power.
- The BHD701H is easy to set up and easy to use, thanks to its simple controls and electronics panel, as well as the included manual.
- It is easy to clean with its multiple drainage options and reusable filter.
- Despite its size and power, the BHD701H is actually quite compact and easily portable.
Cons:
- The drainage hose that’s required if you don’t want to empty the bucket manually needs to be purchased separately.
- The bucket itself is not that big, especially for such a powerful model.
- With great power comes a considerable noise. Well, not too considerable, the BHD701H isn’t too noisy, but it is also not the quietest dehumidifier in its power-range on the market.
Final Verdict
If you are looking for a mix of power, durability, energy efficiency and affordability, the Comfort Aire BHD701H 70 pint dehumidifier is an excellent choice. It is not the quieter device of its power-range, but for its price and energy consumption this is more than a fair trade-off, especially if you need it for a basement or a garage.
That near-perfect balance of power, efficiency and affordability are further complimented by the dehumidifier’s many great features like its defrost, auto shutoff, and auto reset functions, its different drainage options, as well as its overall compactness and portability.
All in all, if you are looking for a powerful dehumidifier with a lot of perks and at a great price – the BHD701H is here for you.
Our Rating
