Dehumidifier and dirt floor

ChrisJ

I have a dehumidifier I run occasionally if I'm going to be working in the basement or if we get a lot of rain.



My foundation is made from fieldstone and a probably 50% of my basement floor is dirt while the other 50% is concrete.  My question is if I dig a small pit maybe 2 feet down and fill it with some stone can I simply drain the dehumidifier into that?



I got the idea after seeing several people running their dehumidifiers into their sump pump.  I figure, whats the difference other than my pit will actually be smaller and mostly dry.  I'm thinking most of the water will simply drain down through the dirt rather than coming back up and evaporating.



What do you think?  Good idea?  Counter productive?

Big Ed_4

Counter Productive

Or water circulation could be a better way to put it ... Collect it then get it out of the basement .. Some how ... A small condensation pump would be a good idea.

ChrisJ

getting rid of water

My 4" cast iron sewer line runs low enough at one point but I don't see how I could build a setup for that.



Obviously I'd need a trap, but how can I built a trap without a sink?



Is there a way to plumb a dehumidifier into the sewer line *to code"?

icesailor

Condensate Pumps:

Skip all those complicated, time consuming ideas.

Buy this pump, drain the dehumidifier into the condensate pump, run some vinyl hose to the outside and pump it out.

Done all the time.



http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&cp=16&gs_id=1q&xhr=t&q=condensate+pumps&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.,cf.osb&biw=1093&bih=479&wrapid=tljp1339720560899030&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=15526620775138547426&sa=X&ei=c4PaT_-4KIjf0QH0suGsAg&sqi=2&ved=0CNYBEPMCMAE

ChrisJ

Pump

I'm considering the condensate pump, but before I do would this work and are there any code violations? Being the sewer line is right there it seems like it would make more sense to drain into it then run a hose outside and run a pump.



My opinion is it would function perfectly and have no cons but maybe I'm not thinking of something? I included a union to make it easy to remove in case I actually need the cleanout.

jumper

why on floor ?

Put dehumidifier higher & drain outside.

If your idea of a drywell doesn't work what have you lost ?

Patchogue Phil_2

circular water flow

If you just dump the water into a pit,  eventually you will just be moving the water again in a circular pattern.  The water in the pit will become airborne and you will just pump the same water over and over.



Pump outside.  Easiest done with a condensate pump.



Possibly make a stand-pipe with a trap like used for a washer machine,  that flows into your sewer line.  But that's actually much more work.  And I'd want some kind of check valve so that poopy water doesn't get back-flowed into the condensate pump.  No idea how o make that to code.



A related comment.  Cover the dirt floor with minimum  6 mil plastic sheeting.  The dirt is putting moisture in the air down there.

ChrisJ

Pump

Decided to order a condensate pump today and 100' of tubing.

Also considering covering floor with plastic as suggested.





Thanks for the help, It is greatly appreciated!

ChrisJ

The pump

Finally got the pump installed today. I have the 3/8 vinyl hose run through one of my crawlspaces out into the backyard. Tried to keep the line pitched as best I could and most of it ends up dry after a while until the pump runs again of course.



Yesterday it squeezed 4 gallons out of the air which meant carrying the bucket up stairs twice, I won't miss that.





Thanks for the help!