hOmeLabs Dehumidfiers HME020030N, HME020006N, HME020031N
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Pros
- Three Different Sizes Available For Your Needs: Thirty, Fifty & Seventy Pints
- Two Year Limited Warranty With Possibility of Six Additional Months If You Register On Their Website
- The Dehumidifier Runs Very Quietly, Lesser Noise Then Other Dehumidifiers
- Multiple Fan Speeds Allowing You To Customize Setting
- Auto-Defrost Setting That Detects And Then Melts Any Ice That Has Formed On The Machine
Cons
- Reports of Failures Out of the Box
- Delivery Issues - Product Should Be Shipped Upright
- Mold Can Grow Inside The Dehumidifier It Not Cleaned
- Some Folks Have Complained That The Water Tank Is Too Small. This Can Become A Hassle Of Constantly Emptying The Tray
There are many reasons to purchase a dehumidifier. It could be that you are looking to air out and remove that damp smell from your basement or laundry room. It could be that you are having trouble with condensation building up on your windows. Or, it could be that you, or someone in your family, are suffering from allergies or even asthma.
If parts of your home, or your entire home, have excess humidity a variety of things can happen. Firstly, you will notice it by the feeling of the room. The higher the humidity the more uncomfortable the room will be during the hot days of summer. It’s not just that though, a home with excess humidity can be a prime candidate for dust mites, mildew, fungi, and even mold. In some cases the mold can begin growing on the walls or your curtains. In extreme cases the mold could begin to grow on your bed sheets and even on your clothes. This mold, mildew, and dust can wreak havoc on allergies. They could result in itchy or water eyes, sneezing, coughing, or even a skin rash. If you are an asthma sufferer then things could get much worse.
Adding a dehumidifier to your home will not only increase the comfort level for your family but it will also make your home less hospitable for these allergens to grow. The question though is what to look for when purchasing a dehumidifier? There are a variety of sizes, considerations, and product features that should all be taken into consideration. In this article we’re going to take an in-depth look at the dehumidifiers that are manufactured under the brand hOmelabs. Are these the right ones for you? Let’s find out.
hOmeLabs
Now before I get into the actual details, Pros, and Cons of a product I always like to take some time and look at the company behind the product. After all, the manufacturing company can say a lot about the quality of the product. Brand names have power. Don’t believe me? Just ask Coca-Cola or Toyota. These names mean something to people when they hear them. While a dehumidifier brand may not mean anything to you I can assure you that the same differences can apply.
Well folks, I looked and looked trying to find information about the company that makes this air conditioner. Here is what I did find. The product comes from a company named hOmeLabs. I was not able to find an about us, a Wikipedia page, or any historical information about the company.
Here is what I did find. They are an appliance company head quartered out of New York. It is a relatively small company of two-hundred people and it was founded only a few years ago in 2016. Their mission is to use the latest computer technology to make the most advanced appliances out there rather they be microwaves, toasters, humidifies, window units, and even crock pots. So, while there isn’t as much information or historical backing with this company they do have the plus of being an innovating and aggressive new company.
If you find that you aren’t comfortable with purchasing from a lesser known company then I would suggest going with a more commonly known name such as Frigidaire. I wrote a product review on Frigidaire’s dehumidifier just the other day. This all basically goes back to the tried and true or the start up. What are you more in favor of?
Product Features
In this section I like to go through the various product features that can be found on this hOmeLabs dehumidifier. This lets you know what you are getting into. Once we are through this we’ll then take a look at the Pros and Cons of the product.
Sizing
First things first though, before we start talking about the various features this product has we need to determine if this is the right dehumidifier for you. This product comes in three different sizes. We have the thirty pint, the fifty pint, and the seventy pint.
There is a method when choosing the right sized dehumidifier for your home, I’m going to give you the quick summary but if you want we have an elaborate dehumidifier sizing guide as well.
- HME020030N – This is the thirty pint model. In other words, it cane remove up to thirty pints of water within a twenty-four hour period. This is the smallest size and while it will work for a moderately damp basement you will get better results if you move to the fifty pint. (If your basement is a thousand square feet or under you can get away with the thirty pint without an issue.)
- HME020006N – This is the fifty pint model. In most cases this is going to cover your needs. Even if you have some moisture beading on your walls. This will dehumidify up to fifteen-hundred square feet as long as you don’t have actual standing water in your home.
- HME020031N – This is the seventy pint model. This is the biggest size of this model range and will be more then big enough to handle a two-thousand square feet area with standing water. Most folks recommend going a size larger then what you need when it comes to dehumidifiers. Your machine won’t work as hard and will last longer.
Ok, so now that we’ve got sizing understood let’s take a look at the various other features that these products have.
Features
Some of you may not know this but a dehumidifier is almost the exact same thing as an air conditioner. Yes, you have nearly all of the same components and even operating cycle that air conditioners or refrigerators have. You see your air conditioner functions as a dehumidifier a well. That is why your inside air conditioning unit has a hose leading to a drain. In my old house this was located in my basement. The hose was only about five or six feet and it came out of the evaporator towards the floor drain. This water that is being drained is the same water that will be filling up your dehumidifier. The only real difference between these two machines is that the dehumidifier has an extra heating element in the last step of the cycle. This is to prevent air conditioned air from flowing into your home. This is also why you may feel some heat coming from your dehumidifier. Just like air conditioners your dehumidifier uses refrigerant. While I couldn’t find the exact refrigerant used with this machine I can only assume that it is the standard HFC refrigerant R-410A. 410A is found in nearly every new central air conditioner here in the United States. It is very safe, non-toxic, and non-flammable.
This dehumidifier comes with a digital readout that allows you to set the humidity to your desired level. All you have to do is press the left or right arrow buttons to tune your humidity. Remember that the best humidity for us is between thirty to fifty percent. If you go too low then you risk introducing dry skin and drying out your respiratory tract and if you go too high then your risk mold and mildew. Try to stay in between that thirty to fifty percent goal. When your dehumidifier does reach the desired humidity setting then it will shut-off. If the humidity in the room changes then your dehumidifier will kick back on.
Along with the humidity setting you can also see a variety of alerts and indicators when looking at the main display. You have your standard alerts such as clean filter, auto-defrost, and water tank is full. You are also able to adjust the fan setting from normal to ‘turbo’ mode or high. There is a twenty-four hour timer that allows you to control when you want the dehumidifier to operate. Lastly, there is a setting called ‘Continuous Mode.’ This is the default setting and when it is on you will not be able to adjust the humidity settings up and down. Continuous mode is basically your default humidity setting, if you want to customize then you need to turn it off.
The water tank tray is located in the very front of the machine and can be easily pulled out. (Refer to screenshot.) It also comes with a water level window that allows you to see where the current water level is at just a glance. This is a nice feature as you don’t have to keep pulling the water tray out and check the level. If the water tank becomes full then the dehumidifier will shut-off automatically until it is emptied. When this occurs you will see the indicator light up on your main dashboard.
If you don’t like having to empty the tray during operation you can also have continuous operation if you connect a hose to the unit and lead the water to a drain. This connection is located on the back of the machine just below the filter. hOmeLabs recommends using a simple garden hose with a threaded connection point. This would work best in basements as you can have it drain through the same place where your air conditioner goes through. Also note that this hose is gravity fed, so the water will not flow unless the drain is lower then the dehumidifier. (Your kitchen sink won’t work.)
Remember earlier how we said that dehumidifiers are in essence modified air conditioners? Well just like with air conditioners there is a risk that your dehumidifier can accumulate frost. I won’t get into why this is, but if you’re interested on the science then read our article on why air conditioners accumulate frost. The good news here is that these dehumidifiers from hOmeLabs come with an auto-defrost feature. If frost is detected on the machine then the compressor will shut off while the fan will keep blowing. This prevents any more refrigerant cycle and instead just blows warm air across the machine. After sometime the frost will melt and then normal functions can begin again.
The last two features that I want to mention before we get onto our Pros and Cons are the auto-restart function and the portability. The auto-restart function is just that. If your power goes out for whatever reason you don’t have to worry about the having to restart the dehumidifier when the power comes back on. My old house was like this with our air conditioner or furnace. If the power went out and then came back on I would have to remember to flip it back to cool or else my house would be an oven after only a few hours. Having this feature gives you peace of mind that there is one less thing you have to worry about when the power goes out.
Lastly, let’s look at the portability of this dehumidifier. The product comes with rollers or wheels for easy transport. It also comes with side handles so that you can easily pick it up and carry. The largest seventy pint model only weights forty pounds so it shouldn’t be too bad at all to move.
Pros
Most of the Pros we covered in our product features section but I do have a few things to discuss here as well. The first is that you get three different sizes to choose from with these hOmeLab models. This will allow you to save money by not buying the largest option available. That being said, a lot of folks recommend purchasing a larger size then you would normally need. This ensures that your humidity problem is taken care of and that your dehumidifier is not being overworked. With these three models I would say that the fifty pint model is the best choice. It gives you a happy medium between the two and will most likely handle the demands of your home. If you do have a very large home then you should look at the seventy pint.
The other big pro here is that hOmeLabs offers a two year warranty on their products. That is double what the competing Frigidaire model offers. On top of that hOmeLabs will actually stack on another six months to warranty if you take the time to register the product on their website. Lastly, many folks have stated that these dehumidifiers from hOmeLabs run much quieter then competing models. While I wasn’t able to find a specific decibel level for this machine the crowd doesn’t lie. Person after person raves about just how quiet this machine is.
Cons
Every product, no matter who makes it, will have drawbacks. That’s just how it is. That being said, it was difficult to find specific cons on these products. Instead, nearly all of the complaints that I read through were towards the delivery of the product. Remember before how we stated that dehumidifiers are very similar to air conditioners and refrigerators? Well, just like with refrigerators you cannot turn or ship a dehumidifier upside down.
Just a few days ago I was helping my father move a refrigerator and we were very careful not to tilt it too far. The reason for this is if the refrigerator or dehumidifier is upside down or tilted too far then the oil can drain out of the compressor. Without proper lubrication your compressor will fail and the compressor is by far one of the most important components of your air conditioner, refrigerator, or dehumidifier. Many folks have reported premature failures of their dehumidifiers… but this is most likely due to them turning on the product right away after it being upside down. If the product did arrive upside down then turn it right side up and then wait for quite a while, maybe even a day. Then, start your dehumidifier up and you shouldn’t have any issues.
It also may be best practice to wait a day or two before turning on your new dehumidifier. The product may come to your home right side up, but who is to know if it was like that earlier that day. Always better to be safe then sorry. In fact, even hOmeLabs instruction manual states this on the very front page:
To prevent any internal damage, it is very important to keep refrigeration units (like this one) upright throughout their journey. Please leave it standing upright and outside the box for 24 HOURS before plugging it in.” – source
The good news here though is that if your dehumidifier does end up not working after a few weeks or months hOmeLabs offers a two year warranty. From what I have read from other users hOmeLabs has excellent customer service and is willing to work with you to solve any problems.
Cleaning
One of the main objectives of a dehumidifier is to lessen the possibility of mold growing within your home. But, what happens if the very thing that is supposed to be preventing the mold starts to grow mold itself? Well, this problem has happened to a lot of folks. Some may argue that this is a manufacturing defect and others would say that the consumers who had this problem didn’t take care of their dehumidifier in the first place.
A dehumidifier needs to be cleaned regularly. That means checking and cleaning the filter. The filter is located at the back of these machines as shown in our previous screenshot. Again, I couldn’t find this information to be one-hundred percent sure, but most of these dehumidifier filters come with what’s known as an anti-bacterial mesh. This mesh aims at preventing bacteria. If you attempt to clean the filter with water then you risk washing away this protective coating. Instead you should either try to shake it out or use a low powered vacuum with a hose attachment. This will clean the filter and still protect your coating. It’s not just the filter though that needs to be cleaned. Ensure that the machine itself is as clean as can be and if you began to suspect mold growing within it then take it apart and try to identify the culprit area. When dealing with water day in and day out there is always a chance that some could spill and get isolated within the machine only to stay there and become stagnant. This is a prime candidate for mold growth. This is why you need to stay vigilant and ensure the unit is as clean as it can be.
Conclusion
Ok, folks. We made it through! We covered absolutely everything on this product that I could fathom. If you are still thirsty for more information please check out our ‘Important Links,’ section below for the official instruction manual, installation guide, and more. If you are interested in purchasing this unit then please click here to be taken to our Amazon.com partner where you can have the product shipped right to your door.
Lastly, if you find that you have more questions or think you may need a different dehumidifier you can also check out our dehumidifiers buyer’s guide.