How often should you run a dehumidifier in a basement?

The musty smell is due to water either getting or, or did get in at one time. Not a good sign in a basement. The best way to get rid of the smell is a *good* ozone generator. They are kind of expensive, but they get rid of **everything**....mold, mildew, bugs of any kind rodents of every kind, and usually the 'treatment' lasts for a good while. They usually cost about a couple hundred dollars. You can't occupy the room while they operate tho, and for best results they need to run for at least 8 hours. The amount of water you're talking about is a lot. The humidifier will have to be left on continuously for it to help you, otherwise your belongings will take on the nasty mildew smell. I would suggest you at **least** run the dehumidifier (constantly), but find out *why* it needs to run so much. Is it the air from the upstairs getting down there or are there windows down there or what. It has to be from the air or some water source leaking. Usually basements are cool so a leaking water source wouldn't have enough heat to be liberated into the air to produce the volume of water you're talking about. If there's a drain down there, see about getting a small hose connected to the reservoir and a cover if it doesn't have one to prevent evaporation from working against you. Why dehumidify when evaporation puts it back in the air again.....right? Good luck....hope you get it dealt with.

You should run it until it stops being humid

As a previous answerer said, the dehumidifier should have some sort of sensor switch and turn on by itself as needed, but I believe the model the landlord provided is not exactly state-if-the-art. For about 20 bucks you can buy a hygrometer in any hardware store and check the room's humidity level. It should be kept at or below 60% all the time. Moisture levels above that will cause mold to grow in every organic surface and that includes your books, furniture and clothes. The musty smell you notice indicates already the presence of a significant amount of mold in the environment, as mold starts to smell before it shows. Not all types of mold are toxic but even the non toxic species release spores that trigger allergy symptoms in sensitive people including asthma attacks. Mold is something you do not want around. You might also want to request a better dehumidifier from your landlord. In a basement damp as the one you describe, you'd need a dehumidifier that is tied to a sump pump or a discharge line. Personally I would never accept to live in a place where I had to keep emptying gallons of water from a dehumidifier every six hours just to make it livable. I would also make sure there is nothing else but normal basement conditions making it damp. How old and reliable is the drainage system, for example?

Moisture doesn't sleep. Basements are typically cooler than above ground. When you have that contrast in temperature, moisture is inevitable. I suggest running your dehumidify until the musty smell is minimized. You'll notice much more water being collected during the summer months. However; keep your eye open for basement leakage. Mold can form and present a health hazard if it's continuously damp/wet.

Most dehumidifiers have a setting where it will automatically kick on when the humidity in the room reaches a certain level. If it does not, I would start to run it constantly. And then perhaps a few times a day. A gallon in 6 hours isn't too bad. I've seen worse.

It's normal in basements. You should really just leave it running. After a few days or a week, if its getting only a little bit of water, then you should only turn it on like twice a week. It just depends. Good luck!

Leave it on all the time....it will run whenever it needs to. And over a gallon in 6 is A LOT! But you'll have that whenever you start running it for the first time in a while

That's normal. Especially in the summer. Run it as much as you want. I would run it until the pace of water slows down a bit.

I would run it all the time when i wasnt there........ because they can be noisey and they give off heat.........everyday for atleast 8 hours