I am going to agree with previous posters on several accounts: 1. Depending on where you live and how much annual precipitation your area receives, you may not need a humidifier. 2. Live in the house a little before you purchase a humidifier. This is a good idea for a couple of reasons, one of which is you will want to establish some kind of baseline by buying one of those little digital indoor climate readers that gives you humidity and temperature readings so you know what you're dealing with, and only then will you know the size of dehumidifier (or number of dehumidifiers) you'll need. 3. If you NEED a dehumidifier, do not go too cheap or too small. Read lots of online reviews and make sure you get the right size with the right drainage options. If you're not using the basement frequently (i.e., not planning to check on the unit several times a day during spring rainy season or the humid days of summer) and live in an area with a long summer + high humidity, you may need a larger unit with built-in pump options and a hose attachment that drains to a sink/sump pump. Too big and powerful with infrequently used pump and outlet hose options is better than too small with no pump and no hose options that you have to remember to dump every 3 hours to keep the humidity down to 70% (which is, BTW, waaay too high for most basements). You will end up spending a lot more in the end if you have to deal with mold/moisture remediation.

you might want to consider a small pump that is made for draining HVAC systems - they run around $100. I believe that HD and Lowe's carry them. I have one of these pumps connected to one of two heat pumps in the basment to drain both the A/C and humidifier water generated by that heat pump. The put the pump in because they forgot to install a second drain to handle heat pump number 2. The main drain in the center of the basement was installed to handle heat pump number 1. The pump has a tray at the bottom with a float switch. The two input water tubes (A/C drain and humidifier drain) feed into the top of the pump box. The output line is 3/8 inch copper tubing and runs about 50 feet over to the main drain which then runs into the sump pump. If you use a small pump, then you can dump the water from the dehumidifier into a sink drain line that you know is only carrying water.

Germany is sending all of its money to Greece and Spain, they have to get more somewhere. I am glad that you can get it done under warranty. Scratch me off the Aprilaire potential customer list. If I needed a new kilobuck motor, I would be taking a close look at cobbling something in there or taking the motor to a rebuild shop. Usually the latter only work on large motors so maybe that would not work. One might be able to fit something using your own sweat, but it would not pay to have a pro service guy doing it. When I first read your problem, It brought to mind this kind of central dehumidifier. I've considered doing this once or twice. See page 20: http://www.buildingscience.com/documents/reports/rr-0214-conditioning-air-in-the-humid-south-creating-comfort-and-controlling-cost

The wife was complaining that it got too hot, so I called an a/c company out. They examined the unit and got a head pressure of 140/425 on a 101F day. They diagnosed it as a restricted evaporator coil. I asked them if if could be cleaned, and they said no, you can't clean the freon galleries inside an evaporator, you replace it. My BIL says that they can be cleaned out. I think somehow dirt got inside the sealed system, maybe from deteriorating parts in the compressor? So, for an American Standard 16SEER outside unit, new evaporator coil, new plumbing between the two and a new drain line system the price came to $5K installed. And there was no charge for the service call today. They will start the install at 8am tomorrow. It's a 3.5 ton unit. My wonderful BIL told my wife that we got ripped off on the price. What do you all think?