Even though today is Friday the 13th, the bad luck associated with it hit palatial St. John Manor Thursday night. Ugh.

Like many of us here in Minnesota, my wife and I use a dehumidifier in our basement during these humid stretches of summer. We have a walk-out basement that's finished, so things don't get quite as moist (an acceptable use of that word, no?) as some fully-enclosed basements, but using the dehumidifier still helps keep things dry when it's really humid-- as it has been lately.

Or at least that the way things are supposed to work, anyway. But not with our lovely dehumidifier. No, instead of removing moisture from the air, it actually ADDS moisture-- to our carpet, that is, when it continually leaks water and completely soaks things close to where it's sitting downstairs.

We bought this unit about three years ago, and while it appears to be working correctly, the bucket where the water collects sometimes doesn't seal properly-- which then allows it to leak water all over our carpet. Which is a lovely feature!

And being that the dehumidifier is located downstairs-- and because we spend most of our time upstairs-- we don't notice the leak until it's completely soaked the carpet-- again.

You'll note I said again. That's right. This same thing has happened several times over the three years we've owned the unit. And every time I think I've figured it out and it seems to be working properly, it goes and floods the carpet again. Which is what it did last night. Stupid, stupid, stupid!

I love the irony of owning an appliance that's supposed to help remove moisture-- but instead does the exact opposite and actually ADDS water to your house. Sheesh.

After trying to soak up as much as I could with a brigade of towel last night, I send a tersely-worded email to the manufacturer about how unreliable their product is. And it looks like we're in the market for a new dehumidifier.

Has this ever happened to you?

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