Tying in Dehumidifier to Crawl Space Drain Pipe

[edjerum]

Crawl space in my home is musty so we've started to run a portable dehumidifier to lower the humidity down there. It's working well, but manually emptying the drain pan by going down to the crawl space is too frequent a task. The unit has a pump that will route the water through a plastic tube.

Tube is 12' long and diameter of 5/16th"
The crawl space has all the house drains running through it and I would like to simply drill a small hole in one of the drains to insert the tube, but I'm not sure where to do this and I'm concerned there might be negatives in doing this.

Question:
What is the most practical way for me to proceed?

Thanks!

 

[Jadnashua]

What you are proposing will not pass a plumbing code inspection. First thing to ask is how high can the pump in the dehumidifier pump the water? Do you have a washing machine on the first floor where you could run the tubing to the stand pipe? If the built-in pump can't manage the required lift or head, you could run it to an auxiliary condensate pump that can. If you have sufficient slope in the landscaping around the house, you might just be able to run it outside, maybe into a flower bed. You'd want it far enough away from the foundation so that it wouldn't come back. I'd also look at where my gutters drained, and run them further out into the yard and make sure the soil is graded away from the foundation at least 5-6', preferably more. A French drain might help, too.

Code requires this sort of thing to be an indirect connection with a trap and venting. NOt the easiest thing to do in a crawl space.

Have you covered the floor space with plastic sealed to the sidewalls? This would help cut down on the moisture, and not cost money to run the dehumidifier most or all of the year depending on conditions.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Cacher_Chick]

Any connection you make to the existing plumbing needs to be properly trapped and vented, and the easiest place to tie in is to an existing sink drain, using a tee above the existing trap.
Here, we just use a short piece of the tubing connected into a new run of DWV pipe which is daylighted to the exterior of the house.

 

[edjerum]

Have you covered the floor space with plastic sealed to the sidewalls? This would help cut down on the moisture, and not cost money to run the dehumidifier most or all of the year depending on conditions.

I bought the plastic to do that four years ago but never completed it. Good idea. Thx

 

[edjerum]

Any connection you make to the existing plumbing needs to be properly trapped and vented, and the easiest place to tie in is to an existing sink drain, using a tee above the existing trap.
Here, we just use a short piece of the tubing connected into a new run of DWV pipe which is daylighted to the exterior of the house.

I should be able to do that. Could you explain
1. What is DMV pipe
2. What is "daylighted to the exterior of the house"?

Thanks very much

 

[Jadnashua]

DWV, drain/waste/vent pipe. Daylight...run it outside into the daylight so it can drain on the ground.

 

[edjerum]

DWV, drain/waste/vent pipe. Daylight...run it outside into the daylight so it can drain on the ground.

Thanks for explaining.

I don't want to have to run a separate pipe to the outside, so I will tie it in to an existing sink drain in the crawl space.

Is there some kind of fitting I can get to transition from the dehumidifier tube to the pipe that will go into the T connection?

 

[Jadnashua]

Depending on the sink, something designed to hook up a dishwasher should work.

 

[Cacher_Chick]

The only proper connection to the existing drainage system is that which tees into an existing sink or washer drain ABOVE the trap.