Ridgid AM2550 Air Mover
Moves a lot of air
We purchased this air mover ($238) over a year ago to deal with a fairly damp basement. We live in the Northeast US where the weather was quite rough during the past year. We have had to deal with the worst snowfall on record, Hurricane Irene, and persistent heavy rainfall. We also live in a high water table region so we are prone to flooding. We are lucky because we have a floor drain and a sump pump in our basement. However the sump pump cannot help when the power in our area goes out.
During Hurricane Irene we were fortunate: we only lost power for eight hours. This air mover really helped dry out our basement quickly. In order for any surface to dry there should be air circulating constantly. In a basement this can prove to be a tricky thing. This air mover is extremely powerful. Damp floors usually dry in an hour or two, while small bits of standing water take a couple of hours to fully dry.
We also used it to dry our old wooden floors when we polyurethaned them recently, cutting the job time by half. When it puddles up on our concrete patio I just move this unit outside and the puddles are gone. Although not one of it’s recommended uses, I also blew everything-including leaves, twigs, debris and some small neighborhood children-off of our driveway for easy collection.
The machine is a beast. I have had this one running for days at a time, and it continues to work just fine. In a basement it has to be moved every couple of hours so the air stream can cover the affected areas. Recently it became covered in hydraulic cement, both inside and out. I thought the machine was finished, but after cleaning some gunk out of the engine it started right up. I have never tried any other air movers so I cannot make any comparisons with it’s competitors, but I bet this one blows the rest away.
06/18/19(This is a Cool Tools Favorite from 2011 — editors)
Ridgid AM2550 Air Mover ($238)
