MIDEA MAD50C1ZWS, MAD50C1YWS, & MAD20C1ZWS Dehumidifier
Pros
- Product Comes in Three Different Sizes: 30 Pint, 50 Pint, & 70 Pint
- Even With the Largest Option Selected, the Price is Very Aggressive Compared to Other Models
- The 70 Pint Model Can Dehumidify Spaces up to Two-Thousand Square Feet
- One Year Parts and Labor Warranty From Midea
- Operating Volume Forty-Nine Decibels. This is as About as Loud as a Quiet Conversation
Cons
- These Products Don't Have as Many Features as Some Other Competing Models
- If Your Room is Wet Then You May Need a Larger Dehumidifier, Perhaps a Fifty Pint Unit
- Delivery Issues - Product Should Be Shipped Upright
- Reports of Failures Out of the Box
- Mold Can Grow Inside The Dehumidifier It Not Cleaned
Adding a dehumidifier to your home can solve a host of problems. It could be that you’ve noticed a damp or musty smell every time that you walk into your basement. Perhaps you have even seen some water droplets collecting on your basement windows, or worse yet, standing water on your basement floor. Or, in a less drastic scenario, maybe you have someone in your home who suffers with allergies or asthma. A house with too much humidity creates a breeding ground for dust mites, fungus, and mold. If left unchecked mold can begin to grow throughout your home including on your walls, floors, blankets, and even on your clothes. This mold, along with other allergens, can wreak havoc on someone who suffers with asthma.
Running a dehumidifier in your home can fix a lot of these issues. You see the best humidity for us is somewhere between forty to sixty percent. If you go to far under that forty percent number then you will end up with dry and cracking skin. On top of that, your house will become so dry that your lungs and respiratory tract will begin to dry out. This can lead to more susceptibility to sickness. On the inverse, when humidity is higher then sixty percent, then we run into the allergen problems we mentioned above.
Installing a dehumidifier will allow you to customize the humidity level within your room, basement, or home. Find what’s most comfortable for your and get cracking! The question now though is what dehumidifier should you purchase? There are so many choices nowadays it can be a bit overwhelming. In this article we are going to take an in-depth look at one of those choices. Today we are going to review the thirty and fifty pint dehumidifier models from Midea. Are these the right ones for you? Let’s find out!
Sizing
First thing’s first folks. Before you purchase a dehumidifier you have to understand what size of product that you need. The main thing to understand is that you CAN get a dehumidifier that is too small for your home but you can NOT get a dehumidifier that is too large. This is different then say an air conditioner. With an air conditioner you need to get the sizing rather exact for the room or home you’re trying to cool. With a dehumidifier the rule of thumb is bigger is better, but you also want to be price conscious as well.
- MAD20C1ZWS – This is the thirty pint model. In other words, it can 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 area you will get better results if you move to the fifty pint. (If your area is a thousand square feet or under you can get away with the thirty pint without an issue.) This unit also works great for a small room or bathroom that you are looking to dehumidify.
- MAD50C1YWS – This is the fifty pint model (previously 70 pint). 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. Again, this is great for your basement or large open area within your home or office.
I typically recommend that my readers purchase the larger size and I am going to do the same here… except more so. You see this dehumidifier’s price is quite a bit cheaper then other competing products. That means that a seventy pint with this model is going to be about the same price as a fifty pint of a different model. So, while you’re spending by getting a seventy pint you are also getting more then you normally would through other models out there. I hope that makes sense! I won’t get too much more into sizing requirements here, but if you’d like to read more then I suggest check out our dehumidifier sizing guide.
Product Features
We are now ready for the ‘meat and potatoes’ of my review. In this section we are going to take a look at all of the various features that comes with these three dehumidifiers. Before I get started you should know that most of these features are pretty standard on other dehumidifiers. I did not see anything unique that stuck out to me on these units, but the main selling area is the price point. It is significantly cheaper then other models out there.
All three of these units come with a digitally displayed humidity level. An image of this control panel, with the humidity display, is shown further on in this article. These controls will allow you to adjust the humidity in the room to your liking. It can range from thirty-five percent to eighty-five percent. The product can work within temperatures ranging from forty-one to ninety-five degrees.
A cool feature on this unit is the auto-defrost setting. For those of you who do not know, a dehumidifier works exactly like an air conditioner does. And, just like an air conditioner, a dehumidifier can occasionally accumulate frost or ice on it’s evaporator coils. When this happens the appliance is no longer able to function as intended. Well folks this unit from Inofia has an auto-defrost feature. When frost is detected the compressor and all other sections of the machine will turn off. This prevents any more ice from accumulating. The only thing that remains on is the fan. This fan will constantly be blowing against the ice which will cause it to melt. After the ice has melted the system will turn back on and begin dehumidifying again.
The next major feature to mention here is the water tank. All dehumidifiers come with a water tank… after all that water has to go somewhere, right? The thirty pint model comes with a 0.8 gallon water tank and the fifty or seventy pint model comes with a 1.6 gallon tank. If the tank is full of water then an indicator will flash on the control panel and the dehumidifier will shut-off to prevent any water from overflowing out of the machine and onto your floor. If the prospect of having to empty a bucket again and again doesn’t sound like too much fun there is also a drainage connector that will allow you to screw in a normal garden hose. This hose can then be routed to a nearby drain. This is the best feature if you want to set it and forget it as the dehumidifier will continue to run and drain the water as it goes. It should be noted though that this feature is gravity fed. So, you cannot drain to a sink or other place that is HIGHER then the dehumidifier. Most folks end up using the same drain that their central air conditioner uses in their basement.
These next features are smaller then the previously mentioned ones but they are still worth bringing to light. The first is that the fan on this dehumidifier has two settings. There is a low and a high setting. On the actual control panel you will see the high setting labeled as ‘Turbo.’ This is the same as high. When ‘Turbo’ is on the fan is set to high and when it is off the fan is set to low. Along with the fan settings these models also come with a timer feature. The timer can be set to so that the appliance will run up until the hour limit you determine has been reached. This range goes from zero up to twenty-four hours.
Also on the control panel is a reminder to clean the air filter on this dehumidifier. After so many hours the indicator will light up informing you that it needs to be cleaned. The filter can be easily removed by pulling outwards from the machine. Washing the filter is as easy as running clean water through it and then letting it dry. It is important to note that you should not run the dehumidifier without the filter in it.
The last few features are rather basic. There is a continuous operation option that allows for the dehumidifier to constantly be running. If you experience a power loss in your home the appliance has an auto-restart function. So, when your power comes back on the dehumidifier will start right back up where it left off. This is nice as it’s one less thing you have to remember to reset during a power outage. Lastly, these models come with four wheels to make transport easy. The product itself is rather light as it only comes in at around forty pounds so if you wanted to pick it up and carry it up or down stairs you shouldn’t have a problem.
Pros
First, I have to mention the price point on this product. I know I’ve already said this before but this product is aggressively priced when compared to other models. If you are looking to save a bit of money and not worried about having extra features then I would pick this product! The next pro is the warranty on this product. There is a full one year warranty policy. This is pretty standard for most dehumidifiers but there was something that did stick out to me.
This product is Energy Star certified with the Environmental Protection Agency. The Energy Star program is designed to evaluate various appliances and determine if they meet the EPA’s efficiency standards. An Energy Star appliances is on average about fifteen percent more efficient then a competing machine. What this means is that it will end up costing you less per month then a competing dehumidifier that is not Energy Start certified.
The next Pro is the overall sound of this appliance. This dehumidifier has a decibel rating of forty-nine. That noise level is the equivalent of a hushed conversation within a library. That is quite a difference when compared to other dehumidifiers who range between fifty to sixty decibels. This unit would be great if you need a dehumidifier for your bedroom but you are also a light sleeper. Noise level is also one of the constant complaints that I see on other dehumidifier models. So, this is quite the Pro.
Cons
During my research on these products I found two complaints. The first one was that the timer feature stopped working after a few months of use. While this isn’t a huge deal, it is a major feature that a lot of folks enjoy using. I could definitely see myself running the unit at night with a timer shut-off in the morning, but if the timer isn’t working then that obviously won’t happen. This other con that I saw a couple times was that the dehumidifier gets confused as to how full the bucket is. The bucket may only be twenty or thirty percent full but it thinks it has a full bucket so the unit shuts-off and will not start until it sees the bucket as empty. There are a couple choices here if this happens to you. You could either play around with it and see if you get it to read the bucket correctly. You could set up a hose for continuous drainage so you don’t have to use the bucket, or you could contact the manufacturer and file a warranty claim.
Another important point of note here is that if your unit arrives to your home upside down then do NOT start it right away. As I have mentioned earlier a dehumidifier works just like an air conditioner or a refrigerator does. I’m sure that you’ve heard of not turning a refrigerator upside down, right? Well, the same principle applies. You see if the unit arrives upside down then all of the oil has most likely drained out of the compressor. With no oil this will cause a premature failure and your unit will be useless. If it has arrived upside down then put it right side up and then LEAVE it for a few days. I’d say two to three. By then the oil will have drained back to where it should be and you shouldn’t have any issues down the road. A good portion of the ‘negative’ reviews on this product is strictly because of this problem. It can be avoided though simply by doing the above instructions.
Be sure to clean your dehumidifier often. Also do not let water sit in the tank for a large amount of time. While yes, the dehumidifier removes humidity from your home, it won’t do you any good if you leave it in your dehumidifier. If water is left in there or if you do not clean your unit regularly then you’ll end up mold growing on the inside of the unit. This defeats the entire purpose of having the dehumidifier as you now have your very own mold host! Be sure to clean your unit folks.
Conclusion
Alright folks, we’ve gone over every possible thing that I can think of when it comes to these dehumidifiers. We’ve reviewed all of the features, the Pros, the Cons, and everything in between. Is this the right unit for you? Well, that depends. Are you more of a price conscious consumer and not as worried about various features and options? If so, then this unit is for you. It will get the job done as well as save you some money versus some of the other models. If you’d like to purchase this product please check out our Amazon partner’s product page.
On the other hand though, if you find that you need to do additional reading or need a different dehumidifier entirely please check out our dehumidifier buyer’s guide. This guide will take you through everything you would ever need to know about dehumidifiers. We go into sizing requirements, what features to look for, and many other topics.