Met my expectations (and I am picky)
We live in a house built in 1940. The walls are rock, and 13" thick, so no moisture barrier or insulation. Same goes for the slab; nothing to stop moisture coming through. The house has always smelled musty. My wife is allergic to mold, so I needed to reduce the moisture inside the house in order to make it an unfavorable environment for mold growth. When I got the unit, it was plug and play: Just route the drainage hose to the outside, plug into power, turn it on, and let it get to work. Even without ducting, the humidity level in the most distant room reduced to 55% (with the humidity level set at 45%).
Over the past few weeks, I have been ducting it into my HVAC, which could never bring the humidity below 80% (we live in Florida, near Gainesville). I first plumbed the exhaust (dry air) into the return at the base of the air handler. That move brought the humidity in the most distant room to 50%. Next, I bought 75 feet of Cat 8 cable, and installed the remote control near my HVAC thermostat. That worked perfectly. Finally, I cut an opening to my HVAC return 8 feet above where I connected the output duct, and ran flexible 10" ducting (Rubber-Cal HVAC Ventilation-Flex) to the intake on the dehumidifier. I now have even humidity throughout the house. With the remote set at 45%, the RH runs between 42% and 47% in every room. The unit itself is quiet, especially with the ducting connected. I can not wait for summer, when the humidity is so high, you need gills to breathe.
*The remote control is convenient. I mounted it at 60" above the floor, which is the same level as the HVAC thermostat. The screen is readable from eye level, below eye level, and from either side. It is unreadable from above. I am 6ft, and I have to read it from an angle, or stoop to see straight on. If you buy the remote, consider mounting it so the tallest user can see it at eye level. BTW, the CAT 8 is backwards compatible with CAT 5a (supplied), and the 75 foot cable works fine.
*There are scant instructions on hooking up ductwork. The instructions say to limit the total length of ductwork to 10 feet, but no explanation for this limitation. The instructions offer no recommendations for plumbing the unit in to the HVAC. Aprilaire has diagrams and instructions. Researching various other sites I found enough technical instruction to plumb the unit in to my HVAC.
*There are auxiliary electrical connections on the cabinet, but the manual does not say anything about them, other than to illustrate their presence.
*The controls give you the option of running the unit continuously. I am guessing this means the fan will run continuously, and the dehumidification function will cycle on as needed.
I am pleased with the dehumidifier. Our home is so much more comfortable! The user manual could stand some improvement.
The first photo is the installation into my HVAC system. The next photo is the remote viewed at eye level (with me crouching to view). The next photo is the screen when it is below eye level.