Kenmore 35-pint Model # 54351 Dehumidifier

by SuzyQ
(Richmond, VA)

I lived in an energy-efficient apartment which stayed pretty warm in the winter and fairly cool in the summer, so I wasn’t running my heat or air conditioning very much. It was a little humid, but that didn’t bother me until I found mold growing on some of my shoes and in other places. Ewwww. Not knowing what to do, a friend suggested a dehumidifier to draw the moisture out of the air. By the time I went looking for one, they were out of season (I guess the spring and summer months are the times when they’re abundant) and I could not find one to save my life in my area. I could order one, but they said it would take up to four weeks for delivery and I needed one sooner. So I drove about 125 miles to the closest Sears store that had one in stock. It was one of their smaller models – a 35 pint Model 54351. I would have preferred a larger one, but at the time, I was glad to get this one.

I plugged it in, turned it on high (there are two motor settings, high and low) and it immediately started humming away. A few hours later, the front bucket was full of water. So I knew it was working just fine.

This is a very simple and basic dehumidifier. I know there are fancier models, but my objective was keeping my place dry without having to run the heat or A/C when I didn’t really need it. This Sears unit did the trick very nicely. I pretty much ran it 24/7 during the times I wasn’t running my heat or air conditioning. If you set it on high, it was noisy, so I used that setting when I was not home. At night, I turned it to low. There’s an automatic humidistat control, so the unit will cycle on and off as needed, unless you have it turned to the max, which keeps it running continuously. It definitely worked well and I didn’t have any instances of mold after I started running this unit and paid more attention to my heat and A/C.

My only complaint (and it’s not the unit’s fault) is that the bucket had to be emptied too frequently. But it was the only one available at the time and it was the smallest capacity humidifier that Sears sold.

I stopped using the Humidifier when I moved to a house. It is now stored in the shed, but you never know when it might come in handy. It does a good job of drawing moisture out of things, so perhaps the next time I clean carpets, I’ll drag it out.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Pros: Efficient and Reasonably Priced ($139 on sale)
Cons: A bit noisy and a small capacity bucket