Who makes Santa Fe dehumidifiers?
Santa Fe dehumidifiers are assembled in Madison, Wisconsin. Their warranty terms name Therma-Stor LLC, a Madison company founded in 1977, and Research Products Corporation, the company behind AprilAire, lists Santa-Fe among its brands. In 2026 the Santa Fe website carries an AprilAire copyright, and Madison Air lists AprilAire, Santa-Fe and Broan-NuTone among its brands, which puts Santa Fe in the same family as Broan-NuTone.
Santa Fe has also taken over the Ultra-Aire whole-house line, so an older Ultra-Aire in your basement belongs to the same family. We install new Santa Fe units where they fit the house and service the ones already in place. Our dehumidifier service page covers the work in general.
Why does a Minnesota house need a dehumidifier in summer?
Minnesota winters are dry. Summers aren't. In July, dew points climb and moisture settles in the coolest parts of the house: basement walls and floors, and crawlspaces. Central air only dries the air while it runs, and a basement rarely calls for cooling, so it stays damp with the AC humming upstairs. An oversized AC makes it worse, because it shuts off before it has run long enough to dry the air. Lake places around Waconia or Big Lake, with walkout lower levels and crawlspaces near the water, can stay damp from May into September.
Tight newer houses add their own twist. They hold onto moisture from showers, cooking and people, and a correctly sized AC may not run long enough on a mild, sticky June day to pull it out. Santa Fe's FAQ cites 35–50% relative humidity as the ideal, and our post on whole-house dehumidifiers covers sizing and placement.
Choosing a Santa Fe for the space
- Crawlspaces: the Compact70 (70 pints a day, rated for crawlspaces of 1,800–2,600 square feet) or the Advance Dry110 (110 pints, up to 3,600).
- Basements: the vertical Classic (110 pints, basements of 2,500–2,900 square feet) or the Oasis105.
- The whole house: the Ultra series, ducted into the home's air. The Ultra70 fits tight, low-clearance spots and converts between vertical and horizontal discharge; the V100, V125, V155 and V205 cover up to 2,300, 3,000, 3,500 and 5,000 square feet.
- A finished space with no room for a cabinet: the UltraMD33, which fits inside or through an interior stud wall.
We size from Santa Fe's published coverage and the house itself, not by picking the biggest box. A finished basement with a bedroom and a closed-off storage room needs the air path planned as much as the capacity: a room with no way for air to get back to the unit, like a storage room or cold cellar, may need a grille in the door or wall so the dry air reaches it.
Installing and servicing a Santa Fe
Every dehumidifier needs a drain. A floor drain by gravity is simplest; otherwise a condensate pump lifts the water, and a pump is one more thing to check each season. On ducted Ultra units we plan where the air comes from and where the dry air goes, and we use backdraft dampers where the unit ties into the furnace ductwork so the blower can't push air backward through it. The larger Ultra units can also bring in outdoor air: Santa Fe gives the V155 an 8-inch fresh air duct connection and offers the DEH 3000/R control for humidity and ventilation. The Ultra70 has onboard controls plus a low-voltage terminal block, so a control can be mounted where you'll actually see it.
On a service visit we clean or replace the MERV-13 filter, clear the drain, check the coil, and test the unit's humidistat against a separate meter. Santa Fe lists an operating range of 34°F to 105°F for the Ultra V155. When the furnace humidifier comes on for the heating season, we turn the dehumidifier off or its setting well up so the two don't fight. Register a new unit on Santa Fe's warranty registration page and check the current terms.
Booking Santa Fe service
Installed air quality equipment runs $350–$2,800, and a whole-house dehumidifier sits toward the top of that range. A service call on a unit you already own is a $79 trip charge, waived when you approve the repair, with a written price before we start. Call 612-429-3465, 7am–9pm, seven days a week.
Santa Fe questions
What humidity should my Santa Fe be set to?
Santa Fe's FAQ cites an ideal indoor relative humidity of 35–50%. We usually start a whole-house unit around 50% and adjust from there: lower if the basement still smells musty, higher if the unit runs all day without much change. A cheap hygrometer on a basement shelf shows where you are. In winter, turn it off or set it high so it isn't working against the furnace humidifier.
Is Santa Fe the same as Ultra-Aire?
They're one line now. Santa Fe has folded the Ultra-Aire whole-house dehumidifiers into its Ultra series; the Ultra155, for example, was formerly the Ultra-Aire XT155H. Santa Fe's warranty terms name Therma-Stor LLC of Madison, Wisconsin, and the 2026 Santa Fe website carries an AprilAire copyright. For parts, go by the model and serial number on the unit's label.
Does a Santa Fe need a floor drain?
It needs somewhere to send the water. A floor drain close by is simplest, using gravity. Otherwise a condensate pump lifts the water to a drain or laundry sink, and Santa Fe sells a condensate pump kit as an accessory. In a crawlspace we plan the drain route before the unit goes in, because a pump that fails down there can go unnoticed for weeks.
Can a Santa Fe bring in fresh air too?
Some Ultra models can. The Ultra V155 has an 8-inch fresh air duct connection, and the Ultra70 can take outdoor air through a T on its inlet duct. In a tight house that gives you ventilation and drying from one unit in summer. It doesn't replace an HRV or ERV in winter, when fresh air should come in through heat recovery.
Will a Santa Fe work in a lake cabin crawlspace?
The crawlspace models are built for it: Santa Fe rates the Compact70 for crawlspaces of 1,800–2,600 square feet and the Advance Dry110 for up to 3,600. The crawlspace itself matters as much: a sealed vapor barrier, a drain route and power. We check all three before recommending a unit, and we size from Santa Fe's coverage figures, not by picking the biggest box.
Sources
- Santa Fe official site santa-fe-products.com