DampRid - Fragrance Free Mega Refillable Moisture Absorber - (5 lb.) - Traps Moisture in Basements & Large Areas for Fresher, Cleaner Air

I bought two of these containers for areas that I felt had high humidity. We live in Northern Illinois near Chicago, and the summers here can be very hot and humid. One of these containers went into the basement and the other into a room that we keep multiple pet parrots. The bird room can get warm in the summer since it is not connected to the central heating and air conditioning used for the rest of the house. This room has its own heating, but the air conditioning is drawn into the room by a ceiling fan used when door to the main part of the house is open. At times, this room gets warm in the summer and sometimes feels very sauna-like. The basement is the normal below ground basement that often becomes humid when the ground outside absorbs a lot of rain.At any rate, I put one of these containers in the bird room and one in the basement in a central area. After two weeks, absolutely no water was collected in either container. My first thought was that I did something wrong in setting up the containers or maybe they just don't work as I expect them to. So, I did my usual internet research to find out the answers. I also put a hygrometer into the bird room to find out what the percentage of humidity is in the room. At the time I checked the humidity, it was 42% in this room although it may have been higher those times that the room felt like a sauna.In my research, I found out the substance in the container is calcium chloride that attracts and absorbs moisture in the air. First of all, the substance will attract moisture only in a very near vicinity of the container. Secondly, it will not start to absorb moisture until the humidity is at 60% or higher. So, what I thought was high humidity was not high enough for these containers to be useful. I still gave these containers a 4-star rating since they would probably be effective in a rain forest, a flood area, or a flooded basement. They just don't work for me.UPDATE 7/24/18:Well, I have to admit that these DampRid containers are working. I guess I don't have the 60% humidity in the air most of the time, but the containers have both collected some water. In my bird room, there is some humidity in the room because of evaporation from water bowls. It may sound gross, but in past summers the humidity in the room has caused some fuzzy growth on dropping in cages. Since using the DampRid container in the room, this isn't happening. The container in my basement is also starting to collect moisture from the air. If these containers don't work right away, at least they are a safeguard to prevent the development of mold and mildew.UPDATE 8/03/18:OK, I am finally a true believer that the DampRid units work. They seem to take a while to get started so that you can see any collected moisture, but there is now a measurable amount of water collected in the container in my basement. Although the humidity in my bird room is consistently about 42%, I am now seeing moisture collected in that room in the other container. Although the DampRid web site says that moisture over 60% is collected, it's obviously these collect moisture in the area with humidity at a lower percentage.In my pet bird room, we have 13 pet birds which means 13 water bowls that add to the humidity in the room, especially when it gets warm. Although we totally clean all of the cages every week, we had been seeing the black fuzzy growth on the bottom of the cages in warm weather within the week. Since we have this DampRid container in the bird room, we have not been seeing any of this the growth we had seen previously. This can only mean that the environment is healthier for my birds and for us. I hope it doesn't sound like we let our bird cages get really dirty because we don't. With high humidity, it doesn't take long for mold growth on anything damp. Fortunately, the DampRid container has completely eliminated this problem.UPDATE 08/10/18:OK, I have to admit that I was not a believer in the DampRid units initially, but I am now a true believer that these things work. They take a while to see anything happening, but the unit in my basement has collected a lot of water and the moisture absorbing substrate is almost completely gone. In a couple of days, we will have to dump the water and refill the unit with the moisture absorbing refill that I bought. The one that I have in the bird room is also collecting moisture even though the humidity in that room is consistently at 42%. Although I initially had a lot of doubts as to whether the DampRid units worked, I am now a believer, and will continue to refill the units that we have.These things are well worth the cost for the mold and mildew damage they prevent.UPDATE 10/18/19:I am now growing a variety of herbs and veggies in my basement, which releases a lot of moisture into the air from the moist soil. I had forgotten to check the DampRid container to see if it was filled and needed more moisture absorber, for the first time in a long time, the basement smelled like a damp basement. I immediately dumped the water from the DampRid container and added fresh moisture absorber. By the next day, the damp basement odor was totally gone. If you have a basement or live in a humid area, I would definitely recommend you try DampRid. It really works.I hope this review was helpful for you. I will update my review if I learn more about this product or change my opinion.

My father's basement was covered with mold. I purchased many, many of these to try and get rid of the moisture in the air. I placed them all in the basement and came back in a week. The mold smell was completely gone (now it smells a little musty) and all the containers had a lot of water in them and the media was about 70% gone. It may be been expensive to go this route, but I don't have the time to keep going up there to empty a dehumidifier or running a hose to the outside. I will continue refilling these until the smell goes away.

I cannot find these anywhere local and I am so glad I was able to find one here. Damp rid is great for damp places and I have them in several rooms. I keep this one in a large room that I use for storage. I have not had musty smells since using these.

Very expensive, but reusable. I had accidentally purchased the refill gallon for this size tray and no trays were for sale at the place of purchase-so I had to order it from Amazon. It came in a reasonable amount of time and was as described.

Don’t know what warmth and thickness means in the ratings. I gave scent a 3 because I bought an unscented one and therefore there is no scent. It’s been a few weeks and it has just now started to drip water. Happy to see that. Look forward to filling the container up. Will definitely purchase a refill when needed. Good value for the $$.

These do what they are supposed to do, but not very effective for a small room- need several to lower the humidity I guess-

I have an exspensive truck camper and found my storage compartment was always growing mushrooms due to excessive moisture. I put one of these containers in the compartment a a small dehumidifier for campers in the main area of camper and my problems with moisture went away.

These are by far the best for large size basements. Easy to empty out and refill