There are some threads at GW on dehumidifier brands. A central dehumidifier would be quietest, as it's part of the central HVAC system, which is usually in a separate room. However, the cost will be five-10 times that of a stand-alone unit. FWIW, I've always used basic stand-alone models from Woods. The EPA says 30-50%RH; CMHC (Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.) says below 60%; Woods recommends 50%RH. This post was edited by worthy on Mon, Apr 15, 13 at 18:38

I know from a bit of research that your world is not really that of technology-- and that is OK. But since one unit at your premises is not lowering the relative humidity level to 50%, it is axiomatic (at least that is the word I would use if I was an educated person) that more capacity is needed-- at least for the time being. Do you disagree with that? If so, why? If you do agree, why then are you continuing to expect just one unit to do the job within a few hours? Units in multiple locations give better coverage-- my basement has two. It is my belief that controls placed away from the units offer more accurate readings, other things being equal. To that end, I use wall mounted Honeywell humidistats set at 50% which control single receptacles with the dehumidifiers plugged into the special .receptacle. And I trust the Honeywell controls. I set the dehumidifier to the lowest possible setting. When the wall control is "satisfied", all power to the dehumidifier is interrupted and the fan does not run continuously. By no means am I recommending that you personally undertake to do such an (electrical) installation. But I do believe that my approach is technologically sound and practical.

I second the post from dry dog. I had to install a Sante Fe unit into our new home to get rid the the very smell you mentioned. The problem is that with a tight house and a basement that is 3/4 below grade, the moisture coming through the foundation walls and concrete floors has no place to go. We noticed the problem on days when the humidity was very high outside but the temps were too low for the Ac to come on. I bought a humidistat and measured the basement humidity was abobe 70% on some days which is not good. Started to notice wet spots on the concrete floor and the musty smell. For a short term fix I just ran the AC way below the set point and presto - smell and spots went away. I then ordered the Sante Fe unit and that has been a great permanent solution. I bought mine from iaqsourrce.com. If you get one of these, you will need a drain because it sucks out a lot of water. I installed mine of top of 4" solid conderblocks to elevate it for drainage and the drain dumps into the sump pump basin. The air output directlty in front of the Sante Fe output vent feels dry and warm but once the basement gets down to a decent humidity - say 50% - it actually feels cool and crisp. You can hook up your DH in a variety of ways. I chose the standalone configuration which sucks air from one side of the basement and dumps it at the other end. I then use my HVAC fans to circulate air from the basement to the rest of the house and back. My HVAC unit is in the basement, and there are large air intake vents in the basement and upstairs that feed the main input duct so I get good air circulation between the floors. I bought an IAQ thermostat (Honeywell Vision Pro) that allows me to program the HVAC system fan to turn on for up to 20 minutes every hour to circulate the air even if the HVAC is not running for AC or heat. The Vision Pro also has it's own built in humidistat and can be programmed to use the AC as a dehumidifier if the humidity detected at the tstat is above a programmable amount. The combination of the two features - the whole house DH in the basement and the ability to automatically run the AC below the set point when humidity is too high upstairs - has been a terrific solution to our moisture problems. One thing to note - my Sante Fe unit has an anolog knob for setting the humidity level (no digital output). To get the humidity just right in the basement, I used a battery operated humidistat and kept adjusting the knob until I found the spot where it would keep the basement at a 50% humidity level. I also have a separate Energy Recovery Vent system in my house which I use to bring fresh air in and exhiust stale air from the house. I am very careful with this unit and only turn it on when the humidity outside is low because I don't want to suck in fresh moist air. That would only make the Sante Fe unit run more. I learned that through trial and error - mostly error. If I were in your shoes, i would first fix the humidity issue with a whole house DH. Put one in the basement and then manually turn on the HVAC fan when you want to circulate air between floors. If you get tired on the manual switching of the fan ON, you can add a tstat that provides an automatic air circ feature. After that, then decide if you want to add a seperate air ventilation system in. These are recommended for very tightly sealed houses. If the house is older, you may get enough air infiltration through the walls already. You can fix your issue for a lot less than 2300 dollars. I think the Sante Fe runs around 1100 or so but deals can be found. BTW - don't go cheap on the DH unit becuase you really get what you pay for with these things. Do searches and read reviews. Check the specs and see how many pints of water per 24 hours the thing is rated to extract. Check the air flow rate (usually a CFM number) to see how much air it pushes. Beware of systems that don't have a drain (they use a pan instead) unless you plan on dumping the pan every day or more depending on your humidity problem. Good luck.

Saltidawg, "So why does your thermostat even have a Humidity setting- with a Maximum setting of 65%?" That was EXACTLY what I was wondering. What I learned is this: The maximum setting tells the system to go to work - if the maximum setting of 65% were ever reached, it would cause the system to work more to pull the humidity down. By turning the thermostat humidity setting to OFF, I removed simply the maximum setting from the equation. My misconception was in thinking I could set the humidity to 60 or 65% and it would go UP to that level. Not so. And now that I understand just a bit better about the setting and what it's for, I will turn the Humidity setting to ON, and not concern myself about it as long as it's comfortable in here. And, yes, the temperature was controlled just fine as the humidity went from 45 to 50%. The Carrier Infinity brain controls so much of what goes on, it's hard for mere mortals to know what it's doing and why. I think the biggest thing I learned is that service techs are trained as sales people, too, (at least where this Carrier Infinity system is concerned) and to question whatever advice they give before purchasing anything. I would have spent more than $1000 on an unnecessary UV system if I had listened to the tech without question. Caveat emptor! Buyer beware!