Why the Frigidaire Dehumidifier Blows Hot Air: Main Reasons and Fixes
There are many reasons why a Frigidaire dehumidifier blows hot air.
If you have the 70-Pint Frigidaire dehumidifier that we reviewed earlier for basement usage, you might ask why it is blowing hot air.
This is not unusual at all. Dehumidifiers are supposed to blow dry and warm air into the room.
All the same, this air should not be so hot as to heat the room. It should just be warm, mostly when a big portable dehumidifier is used in a small room.
If a dehumidifier makes the air too hot, something could be wrong. Likewise, if the dehumidifier is blowing cold air, something is wrong.
When is the dehumidifier’s air too hot?
In this write-up, we’ll mention many times that a dehumidifier is supposed to blow warm to slightly hot air.
But how hot is too hot for the air coming from your unit? Where do you say, okay, we have a problem?
If the air coming from the unit’s vents is 32.2 degrees Celsius (90 degrees Fahrenheit), that’s very hot.
Again, if the dehumidifier air lowers the room temperature below 21.1 degrees Celsius (70 degrees Fahrenheit), that is too low.
When a dehumidifier blows out cold air, something is wrong, because it should not do that.
Frigidaire Dehumidifier Blowing Hot Air: Main Reasons
A dehumidifier that does not produce warmth is faulty. On the other hand, a dehumidifier that heats the room too much is also faulty.
The most important thing is to balance all the comfort factors in the room. The air will be at room temperature, and the humidity will be just right, at 30 to 55%.
Here are some reasons why your Frigidaire dehumidifier is blowing hot air:
1. The dehumidifier bucket is full
Portable dehumidifiers have a bucket where the water that they draw from the air collects. Once full, the unit will stop working. It won’t draw more moisture from the air.
The unit keeps moving the air, but since it does not remove humidity, the air remains hot instead of cooling down some.
2. You have set it to fan instead of dehumidify
If you set the dehumidifier to fan, it means that it is only blowing the same hot summer air back into the room. The Frigidaire dehumidifier does not remove the humidity from the air.
Your dehumidifier removes excess moisture from the air in your home. At the same time, it should also make the summer air a bit cooler.
What to do: Set the dehumidifier to dehumidify, and it will start lowering humidity soon after.
The solution – Just empty and clean the bucket so that the unit can start removing moisture and cooling the indoor air again. You will be happy to know that you can use dehumidifier water on your plants.
3. You have run the unit too long
Running a dehumidifier too long, non-stop, is going to strain its internal parts. The compressor (where air exchange happens) will start overheating. You can even start to feel a burning smell.
For small dehumidifiers for bedroom, don’t run them for more than 5 hours. Do give it a break every five hours.
Big portable units, like the best dehumidifiers for mold can run for 12 hours. But don’t run it longer than that without giving it a break.
To know whether the dehumidifier has been running too long, touch it. If it is hot, you need to turn it off and give it some time to cool down.
The solution: If the dehumidifier feels hot to the touch or gives a smell of burning, it is running too long. Unplug it and give it some time to cool.
4. The condenser coils are dirty
When your Frigidaire dehumidifier coils are too dirty, they could release too much heat into the room. Thus, you need to check them!
Think about it: when did you last clean the dehumidifier coils? If it has been some time, well, they could be the cause of the dehumidifier blowing hot air.
To clean the coils, read the instruction manual that came with your unit.
5. Using a big dehumidifier in a very small space
The 50-pint Frigidaire FFAD5033W1 Dehumidifier that you can buy on Amazon.com has a space rating of 4500 square feet.
But think about it: do you need such a high-capacity dehumidifier? Is your basement at least 4000 square feet?
If you run this type of dehumidifier in a 2000-square-foot space, it will make the room hot.
On the other hand, if you use a small dehumidifier in a big room, it will try to work too hard to lower the humidity. This can compromise its internal parts.
When looking for a dehumidifier, make sure it comes with enough functions and accessories. For instance, an auto-shut-off function when the bucket is full is very welcome.
A drain hose attachment will also help keep the unit running continuously for hours, since the bucket won’t get full.
If you are using it in the basement, a dehumidifier with a pump can dispose of the water vertically.
6. The dehumidifier is faulty
Your Frigidaire dehumidifier has many electrical and circuitry parts that could fail. If any part fails, you cannot know how the unit is going to behave.
If you don’t clean the filters or change them, they will affect how your unit works.
When the compressor is broken, the unit is not going to work. This is where the air exchange happens. Therefore, the dehumidifier might start making cold or hot air.
Remember the saying that anything that can go wrong will go wrong? Check your dehumidifier parts for performance.
How do I fix the F0 error on my Frigidaire dehumidifier?
The F0 error is common across different dehumidifier brands. Mostly, when you get the error, it means the sensor is going bad.
If the humidity sensor is faulty, the dehumidifier will not sense when there is a need to lower the humidity level. Therefore, you could end up having runaway humidity levels even with the unit running.
If the sensor needs cleaning or changing, you will see the F0 error displayed in green on the display screen.
Cleaning the sensor is quite a process since you have to remove the bucket and the grille. However, it is important because if it is caked in dirt, the dehumidifier will not work.
If the sensor needs changing, you will find its replacement on marketplaces such as Amazon.com. You could also order the part from Frigidaire.
To fix the F0 code in the Frigidaire dehumidifier, watch the video below so that you can do it on your own:
Final thoughts: Why Frigidaire dehumidifier blows hot air
To answer the question of why your Frigidaire dehumidifier blows hot air, you can now troubleshoot it easily.
If the Frigidaire dehumidifier is blowing cold air, it is faulty. It should blow warm air all the time – not too hot or cold at all.
People also ask: Are there dehumidifiers that don’t blow hot air? The answer is no. There aren’t. Please remember that by hot, we mean warm air.
In a large room, this warm air hardly has any effect on the temperature because it cools down before it can spread too far.
