How A $260 Appliance Saved The Week (And Has Dramatically Improved Matt’s Quality Of Life)
Before I tell you about last week, I want to back up a bit and give you some background. I grew up in central Texas. I was born in Waco, and lived here until I moved away for college. But even then, I just moved to Dallas for a couple of years, graduated from Dallas Baptist University, and moved right back to Waco after that.
Growing up here, I remember hearing people complain about “the humidity” on a fairly regular basis. But to be honest, I had absolutely no idea what they were talking about. When people would say, “It’s so humid today,” I genuinely didn’t know what they meant, and I certainly didn’t feel it. As a native central Texan, I was acclimated to it, and this “humidity” thing that people would talk about didn’t bother me at all.
Then when I was 27 years old, I moved to Istanbul, Turkey. After being there for about a year, I came back home for a visit to be in a friend’s wedding. I flew into DFW, and I will never forget the feeling of walking out of the airport into the Dallas air that day, and feeling my lungs lock up. It was like I had been submerged into a vat of pudding and was trying to breathe it in. It took a minute for me to catch my breath, but the air felt so thick in my throat and my lungs. I had never experienced anything like that before, but for the first time in my life, I finally understood what people were talking about when they complained about “the humidity.” It took me being away from this climate for a year, and then walking back into it on a very humid day, for me to finally understand it and feel it for myself. After my year-and-a-half in Turkey, I spent three years in Oregon, so suffice it to say that ever since then, I’m very aware of the humidity in central Texas. And lately, it has been awful.
Matt’s experience was quite different from mine. He grew up in California and Oregon, so from them moment he stepped foot in central Texas for the first time, he’s been very aware of the humidity. In addition to that, he also has M.S., and I don’t know if this is pretty standard for most people with M.S., but Matt is super sensitive to heat and humidity. If he gets hot, it completely zaps every bit of his strength. But humidity does the same thing to him. Being aware of these things, I don’t push him to go outside or leave the house when it’s really hot and/or humid outside. I know it’s miserable for him, and zaps his strength and energy, so I know he’s much more comfortable just being inside.
And speaking of inside, Matt’s M.S. and his hypersensitivity to heat and humidity are the very reason that our thermostat stays set at 67 degrees year round. I’ll be honest. I absolutely hate it. I am constantly cold, and very often miserable, in my own home. I wear a sweater year round any time I’m home. It’s just something I’ve gotten used to. If I’m home (which is most of the time), I’m going to be cold, I may be miserable, and I’m going to be wearing a sweater.
I’ve tried many times to sneak that thermostat up a degree or two, thinking that maybe the issue is in Matt’s mind. Maybe he won’t really notice that the thermostat is on 69 if he still thinks it’s on 67. But every single time I try it, he notices. If I turn it up literally one degree, he’ll eventually notice and complain about being hot. Every. Single. Time. So I finally gave up, and I just make sure I’m always wearing a sweater.
But even with all of that, there are days that Matt is just absolutely miserable. And there have been many of these days this year especially. He’ll be lying in bed or sitting in his recliner, and he’ll get so weak that he can’t lift his (one good) arm, or hold his head up, or drink through a straw. It’s like trying to work with a 215-pound mound of Jell-O. And when he gets that weak, he can’t talk. He can’t drink water by himself. It’s awful. And this year, more times than not, when that happens, he blames it on “the humidity.” And what’s worse is that when he starts blaming the humidity, he wants to turn on fans. So now, not only is our thermostat set on 67, but now he wants fans on in addition. And even with my sweater and jeans on, I shiver and freeze. In June. In Texas.
I understand humidity now. I walk out my front door, and the humidity hits me in the face like I’ve run into a wall. The door handle is wet even though it’s not raining. I get it. But what I’ve never understood is how he’s feeling this humidity when he’s inside the house. Even my friends, who are inside my house regularly, have asked, “How is he feeling the humidity when he’s inside? Your house doesn’t feel humid to me!” I didn’t understand it, either.
But this all came to a head last Tuesday. My friend Lori from Houston was coming into town, and she was going to join us for our Wednesday lunch. This has been planned for well over a month. Matt has always been perfectly fine being home during my Wednesday lunches with my mom and brother, and he’s never had a problem. I ask him on a regular basis if he would like me to find someone to stay with him on those days when I’m gone for extended lunches, but he has always said no. So last Wednesday was going to be just like any other Wednesday.
But on Tuesday, things got awful. As the day went on, he got weaker and weaker and weaker. He wasn’t sick (no fever, etc.), so I had no idea why this was happening, but I couldn’t believe it was happening that day, that week, when my friend was supposed to be here. But the later in the day it got, the worse he got. He couldn’t talk. He couldn’t hold his mouth closed. He couldn’t drink water. He couldn’t move his hand or arm. He couldn’t hold his head up. I felt like we were probably going to be headed to the E.R. at some point that evening. This seemed like the same progression that happens every time he ends up in the hospital.
We have a chart that we use to communicate when he can’t talk, and he communicated to me that his weakness was being caused by the humidity. I just couldn’t understand it how it could affect him inside the house like this, and to be quite honest, I didn’t believe that the humidity was the cause of his weakness at all. But in my desperation to find a solution, keep him out of the hospital, and still have lunch with my friend the next day, I decided to humor him. At about 7:00pm, I started a frantic search for a dehumidifier. I thought that it might even have a placebo effect, which I would happily accept if it would keep him out of the hospital and allow me to keep my lunch date with my friend.
I couldn’t find any dehumidifiers in Waco. I won’t even detail my frustrating experiences trying to locate a dehumidifier except to say that the whole experience strengthened my hatred of Lowe’s. After calling three different stores and spending probably a cumulative 90 minutes on the phone, I never one single time was able to speak to an actual human at any of those three Lowe’s stores in the area. But that’s a whole different topic.
Finally, my brother located a dehumidifier at the Killeen Lowe’s store, so at about 8:30pm, he and his wife headed to Killeen (about a 45 minute drive from Waco) to pick up this Hisense 50-pint dehumidifier. By the time he got back to our house, it was 11:00. We got it out of the packaging, plugged it in, and turned it on. Then he left, and I went to bed and prayed for a miracle.
Well, in the morning, Matt was GREAT! I couldn’t believe it! And at 8:00am, I pulled the bucket out of the dehumidifier to see how much water was in there, and it was FULL! I would guess it holds about two gallons. I couldn’t believe it! It pulled that much moisture out of the air from 11:00pm to 8:00am. I was genuinely shocked. Matt wasn’t making up this whole “humidity” thing after all! He was right!
So that we could have some peace of mind, I did end up having someone from Visiting Angels stay with Matt while I was gone that day. After his horrible Tuesday, I didn’t want to take a chance that he would be by himself and not be able to drink his water. But he did great all day! He didn’t just do great that day, though. Ever since we got that dehumidifier, he has had one good day after another. Heck, he fed himself three days in a row! He hasn’t been able to feed himself all year! Not only that, but he’s actually complained about being COLD several times! WHAT? And he let me turn the thermostat up to 69 during the day! I noticed that I’m only wearing a sweater inside our house about 50% of the time now rather than 99% of the time. There has only been one time since we got the dehumidifier that he has gotten hot, turned on the fan, and I’ve been miserable even with a sweater on. But one time in a week is a lot better than every single day, so I’ll take it!
So not only was I able to have a very long lunch with my friend and my mom on Wednesday, but I was able to spend several hours with them on Wednesday evening, then several more stress-free hours with them on Thursday (as we sat around my work table and painted spoons). And then I was able to have a three-hour breakfast with my friend on Friday morning before she headed back to Houston. And Matt did GREAT during all of that.
I honestly cannot believe what a huge difference this one little appliance has made in our lives, and the effect it has had on Matt’s quality of life. And I can’t believe that I didn’t take action and buy this thing a lot sooner. How have we lived so long in central Texas without a dehumidifier? I’ll never be without one again. And in fact, I’m thinking about getting another one for the other end of the house. But if we get another one, I won’t make such a rushed decision. The one we have has to be emptied manually, and I’ve been emptying it three times a day. (That’s about six gallons of water that it’s removing from our indoor air every day!) But our next one will be the kind with a hose that can drain itself. I’m pretty sure this is the one I’m going to get (affiliate link)…
…but I haven’t made my final decision yet. But quite honestly, I’d be willing to empty buckets of water six times a day after seeing what a huge difference this has made in Matt’s quality of life. I could kick myself for not buying one of these years ago.
Addicted 2 Decorating is where I share my DIY and decorating journey as I remodel and decorate the 1948 fixer upper that my husband, Matt, and I bought in 2013. Matt has M.S. and is unable to do physical work, so I do the majority of the work on the house by myself. You can learn more about me here.
Yay! Glad you found something that brings him some relief! And allows the A/C to go up a bit for you. I believe you can add a dehumidifier into your HVAC system if that’s something you want to look into.
We’re definitely going to look into it, but Matt wants to get the whole-house generator first. I’ve kept putting that off, but I’m supposed to be calling today to get someone out here to give us an estimate. So after that’s done, we’ll look into the dehumidifier for our HVAC.
That is so awesome! I am thrilled for not only you but especially Matt.
I am in Kansas (KC) and the heat and humidity just started a week or two ago (we have been blessed with great weather so far this year). I broke out the trusty humidifier this weekend and OH YES what a difference it does make! It work miracles and it helps not put so much stress on the AC system. YAY again!
I can relate to this so much! I have Addison’s disease, Lupus and Rheumatoid Arthritis amongst all the complications that accompany autoimmune disease. I live in Oklahoma and I’m from California. The humidity about kills me. I am so sensitive to heat and humidity my thermostat is set to 67 and I run the fans also. My husband like you is in sweats and a heated blanket year round. I never thought of a dehumidifier either. Thank you for sharing. Last year on vacation to Florida the humidity affected me so badly I was in a wheel chair. It literally zaps any energy you have and makes my whole body hurt from head to toe. I’m definitely going to buy a dehumidifier right away! Thanks again for sharing and I’m a so glad Matt got some relief!
Wait…what? This is a thing?
Maybe I should get one of these. I am ALWAYS hot. But I live in Houston, and we laugh when people say Dallas is humid because it is dry compared to Houston. If a dehumidifier would allow me to run my AC less, it may pay for itself in one summer. I’m intrigued! Thanks for sharing this story.
I’m so glad the dehumidifier has helped Matt. I live in the SE and would love it if you’d do a follow up in a couple of months and let me know how it’s affected your electric bill. I keep my AC at 75F-78F just because I understand that most ACs don’t handle more than a 20 degree temperature difference. I’ve though about getting a dehumidifier but but worry about what running it will do to the electric bill. The one you’re looking at doesn’t seem to be Energy Star certified so you might want to consider that.
https://www.energystar.gov/productfinder/product/certified-dehumidifiers/results
Oh gosh…Wouldn’t it be cool if you could run the hose from your next dehumidifier into a drip hose for all that lovely landscaping you’re planning?
It would be free water you’re literally pulling out of not-so-thin air!!! LOL
Absolutely! And it may be potable water anyway. Definitely try to save it, if only for an emergency use, you can still flush a toilet, water pets and plants and even bathe in a bucket if the city water is not working. Isn’t this how a reverse osmosis works? I’ll have to look into that!
It is wonderful you have the answer now to Matt’s troubles. A huge relief to you both!
We have. WHOLE HOUSE dehumidifier. Had it put in w a new AC. Also a bacteria light. It monitors at a set humidity level.
So happy to hear he is doing so well!
Since this is so central to Matt’s well-being, I would also look into a whole-house dehumidifier like an AprilAire.
We’ve run a 70/100 pint Hisense for 18 months and it failed about a month ago. We’ve been going through the warranty process this entire time (still not sure what they’re going to do – replace with a refurbished unit or refund our $500+. Our next purchased dehumidifier will be an installed AprilAire.
I have a large dehumidifier for my for my Conex storage building here in FL. Living near the Gulf ups our humidity. A suggestion for you. Do not get that particular one you’re looking at. The 5 start rating is only about 50%. I bought a Vimex (3000 sq ft) which has a drain for a hose. I set it up on a shelf so there is a good gravity effect to the hose which drains through the floor to the ground. It has a 73% rating. Not as big an area but with the one you have, would be great for your house. And . . . with your house being off grade, you can decide where to permanently install it and run the hose to the outside under the house. Be sure to have a P-trap under the house for bug exclusion!
As for your current one, take the drainage container to a plumbing supply store or HD and ask about the fittings to put a hole in it and set it up to automatically drain, as well, with the addition of a hose. Any container, metal or plastic can be retrofitted with a drain hole with proper fittings. Use the smallest one in your bedroom/bath area and a 3K sq ft one for the rest of the house. Until you get one for your HVAC, two smaller ones would be better than one big one due to air flow in your house.
I searched You Tube for “install a drainage hole for a hose in a dehumidifier”. There are a ton of videos and I am positive none of them are outside the ability of our favorite DIYer/decorator in Waco! You could do this right now and save yourself alot of time! Apparently you’re not the only person with this problem! LOL Any chore we can automate is always a win!
Hi, in the winter in the colder parts of Canada, we add humidity to the air otherwise we get shocks from doorknobs and things. One thing to add to anyone who is using a dehumidifier, don’t take the water and water your indoor plants with it. You are just putting water back into the air. I’m glad Matt is feeling better.
We have a whole house dehumidifier because of our children’s musical instruments (piano and violin). These things are expensive! ha!
The dehumidifier is wonderful! I am so glad we have it.
We also have a monitor that tells us the humidity in the house at all times.
There are many benefits to keeping your house at a constant humidity – one of which is death to dust mites and other unwanted creatures.
Definitely look into a full house dehumidifier. You won’t regret it.
Growing up in Texas, with many of my young years in Houston, I know about humidity. I don’t know anything about M.S. , but I’m sure Waco humidity would affect Matt’s condition to the highest degree. I’m glad you found the dehumidifier and it makes things much better for Matt….and you. You will doing the right thing by looking into the dehumidifier in your HVAC.
I’m so glad this has helped your husband so much–what a relief for you.
I live in North Texas and have toyed with getting one. I’ve been told they make all the difference in the house and I’d certainly like to be more comfortable and up the thermostat. Your post has convinced me–thanks!
Kristi, we had two whole house dehumidifiers installed with the new HVAC systems a couple of years after we moved into our house here in East Tennessee. I went to Walmart, got a bunch of the thermometers that would tell you what the high and low of the day was, or every 12 hours, and they also had a humidistat that gave you the same information, how humid a room was for 12-hour periods. I used these things all over the old farmhouse to get a good idea of what my weak zones and good zones looked like throughout the day and of course with the change of the seasons. My HVAC guy thought these things were genius. It was a slow process, we are still renovating, but finally getting to the pretty stuff, but we were able to have two systems put in, and two whole house dehumidifiers. I’m from Colorado originally and my husband is from upstate NY, we have a tough time with hot and humid, but after living all around the world for the Army, East Tennessee is a lovely place to settle. Our systems weren’t overly expensive, we just needed two of them for the way the house is. They drain automatically and I change the filters every 3 months on them, and life is nice and dry. Helps keep my silver from tarnishing faster also.
I have Lupus and asthma and I can tell you; these things are the only way to face that hot and humid weather that always seems to arrive when you least want it. We did the small stand-alone ones for the first few years, and I would take the water and put it into a rain barrel outside for the plants, but I am so happy these things just run by themselves and all I have to do is change a filter. Good luck and I am so glad that Matt is feeling good with this change.
Cheers!
That’s good news! Glad to hear it. I bet you see other benefits from having drier air inside your home. My daughter has sensitivities to mold and in her home uses dehumidifiers to prevent the (usually unseen) growth of mold and, mildew. Since parts of your home are older, there is probably some mold behind walls and under floors. You can’t put a price on good health!
I believe you can get whole house dehumidifiers built into your a/c system
So happy that you found one that has made Matt’s life so much better.
I am sooo happy to hear that the dehumidifier made such a difference in Matt’s (and your) life. I live in Florida and, fortunately, neither my husband nor I have MS issues. I just wanted to share with you that I keep my thermostat at 76 (down from 77 from about 15 years ago). Sometimes, even at that temp, I get chilled and sometimes, my husband thinks I won’t notice and turns it down to 75. As you say, ONE freakin’ degree and my body knows it’s too cold! I’ve had several people say to me, throughout my life, “how can one degree make such a difference?” All I know is it does, so you’re not alone!
I had to smile at your post. My husband says the same thing to me…up one, down one, I KNOW!!! We live in Florida too…sometimes I say it feels warm, and within seconds the A/C comes on…probably JUST getting up to the temp to start on again. He can’t believe it, but WE KNOW! 🤣
We LOVE our dehumidifiers at our home (have two). I have two half below ground floors at our house that suffer from being humid in the summer. I would encourage you to think about purchasing the warranty from Amazon when you buy your dehumidifiers. Ours normally stop working after 2-3 years, within the extended warranty period. They all stop working eventually and no one fixes these small appliances. We’ve learned that paying $30 for the warranty that we always use beats shelling out another $200-$300 every few years.
Wow. I’m so happy you found something to make life so much better for both of you. I would be in a sweater freezing also! 🙂
Oh, what a wonderful thing! He must be so sensitive to humidity. You and others did not notice the humidity, yet all that water was taken out of the house air, even with the A/C jacked up. I am so happy for him…he seems to be feeling so much better with it. I am so happy for you…better late than never! Keeping him feeling great and comfortable is very important to you, and you have found another solution.
Yes, you will like the one that drains itself…I had one in the basement room of our house in NY. Winters it would not even run…summer it would run constantly, and I had to empty the water too. If it went off for a few days while I was away I would come home to a damp/musty smelling basement room. UGH. I really am so happy for him to feel so much better…he really did know it was humid!!!
Get a whole house dehumidifier it attaches to your air conditioning and heating unit and then drains into the water drain where those appliances are it’s a life changer.
When we built our current house and had hardwood floors for the 1st time installed, the builder had to bring in 2 large dehumidifers to lower the moisture before they could install our flooring. It was August, during a heat wave, and also they were mudding and taping the drywall and had windows open all day when working. The humidity was crazy! The first few days, the levels were not going down, and no one could understand why. Then we happened to stop by to talk to the guy installing our range hood as he wanted to know how high he should put it, and we saw EVERY WINDOW and door was open while the dehumidifier was running away! They were told by the flooring guy to keep them shut as much as possible, but of course it was very hot, and the AC was not hooked up yet. So we got the AC guy to come and hook it up and we put signs up all over the house to keep the house closed up. It took almost a week to lower the humidity enough for the flooring to get laid. And we also had the HVAC guy add a dehumidifier to our HVAC system, and it drains right into the sewer line by the unit in the basement, so we never have to empty anything! I am comfortable, even though I have hot flashes and sleep hot, but I also run a fan on me to cool me at night. Neither of those episodes last more than a minute or two! I am so glad that Matt is finding himself so much more comfy. I’ve been in Texas in the summer, and it is no joke how damp it feels!!! Maybe you should look in to adding one to your HVAC when the remodel starts!
Get one that automatically empties itself to save you some trouble. I live in Middle Tennessee and am very used to humidity. Just YUCK. I’ve been here most of my life and it still is awful. And to think I grew up on a farm and was in this heat and humidity my entire childhood.
That is SO exciting!!! Don’t waste regret on lost time, just be happy that this blessing is in your lives now! 🎉
This.
May I suggest that you get a second unit soon to save as a backup? Because this makes such a huge difference for Matt, if/when it fails (though probably not soon), it is better to have a spare waiting in the wings rather than having to find a new one in a pinch. I do this with hairdryers too—they never quit at a good time!
Wish I could hit a “like” button on this comment! So smart and true!
I am so thankful you were able to make Matt’s life more comfortable. I know Matt is glad too. When he is better, you are better. Glad you got to enjoy your friends visit, also.
I’m just wondering why you went to Turkey to live?
We have two of them, bought in 2014 and 2016 and they’re going strong. Our have the Frigidaire brand name on them, both bought on Amazon. They both have the opening to connect a hose so you don’t have to empty them and one sits in an unused shower draining there. They are great, they really do make you more comfortable with less AC, even for us in GA. I did learn that it’s important to clean the filter (easy to do.) One of ours was neglected and the only sign was a little bit of a rattling noise that caused me to investigate. The filter had gotten so dirty it was frozen with ice in place. I took it outside and saw that not only was there ice, there was a lot of dust/debris in there. I saw a man on Youtube take his outside and hose it. His looks exactly like ours. Instead of hosing it like the man did, I carefully removed all the plastic housing and meticulously cleaned it then reassembled. That was two years ago this summer and it’s still going strong. Great little machines. “A dry heat is an elegant heat!” like they say in Scottsdale!
I’ve read through most of the comments and didn’t see mentioned that these dehumidifiers create quite a bit of heat. (I’ve got two in my basement that run non-stop, but the added heat there isn’t a problem.) With this in mind, a whole-house unit sounds like a more energy efficient way to go, assuming the price to install one isn’t to crazy. I’m going to have to look into that.
I’m a Florida native and can totally relate to your humidity story (though in my area we call it “muggy”). I had no idea what people meant until I flew home from Colorado and walked out of Orlando International Airport that August. I compare it to trying to breathe with a warm wet washcloth covering your face. And now, I know what humidity is.
Sometimes I wish I could return to my blissful ignorance, when I didn’t know what it was and it didn’t bother me…
I’m so glad that helped Matt. Where did you put in your house and is it loud? I have a basement and ours stopped working!
Thanks
Kristi, I was listening to some old Paul Harvey podcasts and one of them had a bit with someone with MS and they mentioned cooling vests. So, though you probably have heard of this or even tried it for Matt, I felt it couldn’t hurt to mention. So glad he and you have found some relief with the dehumidifier. Have a good one!
Hey from Georgia!
We had a large dehumidifier a few years ago. What a difference it made! It was a Hisense from Lowe’s. We opted for the type with a pump, so we could pump the water out from the basement up through a higher drain spot. It worked very well, but the pump was very loud when pumping. Then after a few years the pump quit, so we had to empty it by hand daily. Sometimes in the summer, twice daily.
You’ve got lot of different options, but regardless of the drain line, keep it clean, just like your HV/AC drain line. And like others have said, keep the air filter clean.
I trust with your skills and creativity you’ll find the perfect set-up for your home.
I’ve been away for weeks and just saw this post of yours. The problem you describe–having to keep very cool temps year-round, cooling too much/too quickly without enough humidity pulled from the air–signals that your HVAC system is too large for the space! When you add onto the house, get a size evaluation by an HVAC engineer–and if you’re on the cusp between sizes, go with the SMALLER size unit. This seems counterintuitive, but I’ve had to learn: too large a system causes more on/off cycling, too much humidity left in the air and too-rapid cooling and heating. Yet your space remains at an uncomfortable temperature! A smaller unit will run longer, but pull more humidity out of the air before becoming too cool and will maintain a consistent warmer temp in winter without blasting heat and then cycling off. I learned this the hard way. And also, before getting a new dehumidifer, check with the company that made your HVAC air handler to see if they have a component that can be added that goes with your unit and drains along with your AC. It might be cheaper and more efficient to get an attachable whole-house unit that goes with your HVAC system.
And yes–inability to regulate body temperature efficiently is a symptom of many neuromuscular conditions. Check with Matt’s physicians to see if there is any medication or other suggestions they have that might help him with this.
For Matt’s discomfort with humidity, the medication to ask his physician about is a potassium channel blocker called Ampyra (dalfampridine). This is usually prescribed for MS patients to improve walking ability, BUT one of its off-label uses is for improved body temperature regulation! (I couldn’t remember the name of this drug and asked my cousin with MS this morning). It doesn’t work for everyone, but many MS sufferers have reported improved body temperature stability and heat/humidity tolerance from this medication.
Also, the MS Association of America has cooling products such as cooling vests, gel pack pockets, and cooling clothing to help sufferers tolerate heat or spending a little time outdoors, and they have a cooling distribution program you can apply for to help defray the product costs: https://mymsaa.org/msaa-help/cooling-products/
Hey Kristi,
I am ready getting ready to purchase a dehumidifier and I was wondering if you ever upgraded yours and what unit did you end up buying? Thank you for always sharing with us, it is more helpful than you know!
Toni
We never did upgrade. We’re still using this one, and it’s been running nonstop since I bought it without any problems at all. The thing is a workhorse, and it does an amazing job. I’m sure we’ll upgrade eventually, but for now, we’ll keep using this one as long as it keeps going.
Thank you so much!