One of the best appliances to have in many homes is a basement dehumidifier.  These units will help keep your basement dry, and mold free when used properly.  If you have dampness or smelly odors in your basement this could be caused from high humidity and owning one of these units could help you control that.

Basement dehumidifiers can be either portable or more stationary. Before purchasing one decide how you will use it.  If you plan to move it around at all then a portable model with casters and a handle will probably suit you best.  If you are planning to leave it in one spot and not move it then a more stationary model might work well for you.  You will also need to size the unit to the amount of air to be dried, to do this figure the square footage of the entire basement, multiply that by the ceiling height and that will give you the cubic feet of air to be dried.  Then find a machine that can process that air 2-3 times an hour.

These dehumidifiers work by bringing air in over some cool coils and then condensation forms and is collected in a pump where it is then pumped out through a drain hose.  A good more efficient basement dehumidifier will pass the air over the coil twice before it exits the machine as dry air.  This causes it to remove a lot more water than a standard or commercial grade dehumidifier that would only pass the air over the coils once before leaving the machine.  This is an extremely important feature and units like this are referred to as low grain refrigerants (LGR). If you choose a model that is an LGR you will get greater water removal, a more efficient unit in power consumption, and be more satisfied with the results your new unit produces.