Table Of Content

If you notice a lot of dust inside your machine, you can also use a vacuum cleaner with a brush attachment to pick up any remaining fluff. Because of this recent change, many models are being discontinued and replaced with updated designs to suit the new procedure. For example, the GE APER70LW has been replaced by the nearly identical GE APER50LZ. If something does go wrong with the TP50AWKN, you're covered under Honeywell's five-year warranty. Most of the dehumidifiers we considered come with one-year or two-year warranties, so this extended policy ensures that your investment is protected.
Energy Star Ratings
Emily Long is a Utah-based freelance writer who covers consumer technology, privacy and personal finance for Tom's Guide. She has been reporting and writing for nearly 10 years, and her work has appeared in Wirecutter, Lifehacker, NBC BETTER and CN Traveler, among others. When she's not working, you can find her trail running, teaching and practicing yoga, or studying for grad school — all fueled by coffee, obviously. There's also a washable dust filter and an ionizer to eliminate airborne particles..
Run Time & Other Features
Even though the garage was dustier than the basement, we found that the filter stayed fairly clean and was easy to rinse off when needed. We also found it easy to roll on the caster wheels despite its weight, which came in handy in the garage. We were surprised by how quiet this model was when turned on, which makes it a great model to put in the hallway between bedrooms or even in a common area. While a dehumidifier increases air quality by pulling water out of the air, a humidifier adds moisture to the air when the air is too dry. Costs for whole-house units generally range between $1,100 and $2,500, depending on the size and efficiency level.
Portable Dehumidifiers
The compressors that dehumidifiers use to suck the moisture out of the air tend to be fairly noisy. If a quiet-running dehumidifier is a priority, look for a model that’s advertised as quiet. Happy customers said that this model ran quietly and reduced condensation effectively. They also liked its compact size that made it easy to move from room to room. Alternatively, unhappy customers thought that it had a weak motor because it took a long time to remove moisture and got hot to the touch. Many customers were able to remove moisture from their air in just hours after this dehumidifier arrived, as it was easy to assemble and fast-working.
Dehumidifiers For Basements 2024 - Forbes Vetted - Forbes
Dehumidifiers For Basements 2024 - Forbes Vetted.
Posted: Wed, 17 Apr 2024 07:00:00 GMT [source]
Dehumidifier Costs by Type
We also found that the built-in humidistat reading was consistently 15 percent higher than the external one during the testing period, but that didn't seem to make the room feel too dry. The best part about this model is that it did not take long at all for us to notice a difference in smell and air quality during our testing in a 700-square-foot space. We opted to test this dehumidifier in a basement with a washing machine and sump pump, so it had plenty of forces working against it. We even noticed that standing puddles of water seemed to evaporate faster when this unit was turned on.
What Size Dehumidifier Do You Need? - Consumer Reports
What Size Dehumidifier Do You Need?.
Posted: Mon, 12 Feb 2024 08:00:00 GMT [source]
We evaluated the dehumidifiers we tried—and those we haven’t gotten our hands on yet—based on overall effectiveness, versatility of options and settings, and ease of use within a home setting. We also researched expert and consumer reviews for the options we haven’t tested ourselves. Dr. Flores continues, “By controlling and decreasing humidity levels, these devices create an environment where mold can't thrive, which helps protect against potential health issues linked to mold exposure.
What to Know About Dehumidifiers Before Shopping
The capacity of the water tank in your dehumidifier will dictate how often you need to empty the unit. If the tank becomes full, a float sensor inside the tank will cause the unit to shut off. It’s important to know that dehumidifiers with an increased ability to remove more pints per day of moisture from the air don’t have tank sizes to match since that would make the size of the unit huge. Instead, most standard-size dehumidifiers have tanks that only hold about 1 gallon of water (some hold a little more and some hold less). As a result, if you want the unit to keep working at maximum efficiency, you’ll either need to empty the tank multiple times per day or set the unit up to continuously drain. Our best for apartments pick, the GE APEL50LZ Dehumidifier with Built-in Pump, has a pump that allows it to drain vertically into a sink, shower, or toilet.
A Sizable, Energy-Efficient Pick With A Convenient Built-in Pump

For a dehumidifier that’s packed with both features and power, this option from GE is the way to go. It’s a bit heavy at 44 pounds, but you can still easily move it about thanks to the included wheels and handles. The Frigidaire FFAD3533W1 can dehumidify up to 4,500 square feet, making it a great pick for large spaces. We tested it in our 700-square-foot basement which houses our sump pump and laundry room. The device was nearly ready to use straight out of the box and took us just 10 minutes to set up.
Q. Do whole-house dehumidifiers use a lot of electricity?
This GE model removes up to 22 pints of moisture per day in rooms as large as 1,500 square feet, making it perfect for even the roomiest garages. A Smart Dry feature actively monitors the humidity level in the room and automatically adjusts the fan speed, so you don’t need to constantly keep tabs on it. There are three different fan speeds to find the setting that’s right for your garage.
But we liked that it allows you to thread a hose into the connector or use a piece of tubing (non-threaded), depending on what you have handy. You also can't use the lower-cost, appliance-grade units because they will not be able to keep up with the humidity levels or the colder temperatures. To work with a 2,000-square-foot space, consider a unit that draws up to 90 pints per day. 70 pints per day would accommodate a 1,800- square-foot area, and 155 per day would accommodate a 3,600-square-foot space.
We buy most of the products we test ourselves, but occasionally we are provided samples by companies if buying isn't an option. In these cases, we use the same testing criteria we use to test the purchased products. Beyond a timer, this pick doesn't have any smart features or connectivity, though we didn't feel like we were missing anything without them. During testing, this Energy Star-rated unit dried out a humid bathroom extremely quickly and was quiet while running, too—we were able to carry on a conversation without raising our voices.
It isn’t a practical option for spaces larger than a couple hundred square feet, but this Gocheer model is a great choice for very small spaces, like bathrooms, RVs, or basement offices. The GE device also comes with a direct LED display of the humidity percentage in the room, an aut0-defrost feature, a timer setting, and even a light indicator for when it's time to clean the filter. A smart and energy-efficient option from GE, this dehumidifier has the power for larger spaces without giving your energy bill a punch in the teeth.
The top models in our ratings are champs at removing excess moisture from a room. And they protect your home and your health by making spaces less susceptible to mold and mildew. Even better, today’s best dehumidifiers are reasonably quiet and fairly energy-efficient, meaning they won’t disrupt your conversations or jack up your electric bill. The dehumidifier was fairly noisy, but not enough to hear it from our main living areas upstairs. If you're placing this in a higher traffic area, three different fan settings can help adjust the noise output.
Additionally, we were able to set our location in the app, which helped the machine’s temperature control settings. The app also alerted us as to when it was time to replace the tank and when the machine needed to be cleaned, which was easy to do. Speaking of, there’s no waste water bucket in the EO80—this dehumidifier has a pump-driven exhaust that you can run to a drain. You can dial in the desired humidity level and leave it to run automatically. Nitrio said she’s become more impressed with the Frigidaire dehumidifier line.
Currie tests dozens of products for The Spruce, including humidifiers, fans, and gardening products. She updated this list to include our latest testing insights, which include how these dehumidifiers performed over six months of daily use. Living in an old home with a large basement, Currie has personally carried, emptied, and spilled many dehumidifier tanks, so she looks for options that make it less of a hassle. The built-in humidistat is a great feature if you have an ideal humidity level in mind, and you can also set a 24-hour timer if you experience an especially humid day. We also appreciate that this model has a small tank window so you can easily monitor the water level and empty it at appropriate intervals. On average, dehumidifier rentals cost $40 to $50 per day, depending on the size of the machine.
To help you sift through it all, we gathered a list of the best dehumidifiers in a variety of categories, based on extensive research. This AprilAire dehumidifier comes with caster wheels that are designed to make it easier to roll the unit into place on a hard surface, such as a concrete basement floor. There’s no water tank to monitor or dump—optimally, condensation is routed through a pipe or tube into the same drain the HVAC uses. However, if the unit is located in a spot with no drain, such as a crawl space, a separate condensate pump will be necessary to remove the collected water to a suitable drain.