The Best Dehumidifiers of 2023

Whether it’s a humid summer or you have a soggy basement, your home can get too damp for comfort. Muggy weather raises humidity above the comfortable range, and damp basements and bathrooms can breed mold or mildew.

We spent days testing dehumidifiers in our lab so you can solve these problems.

A portable dehumidifier dries the air in your home. Most dehumidifiers work in the same way, cooling room air to condense out excess moisture. However, not all are created equal. Through detailed testing, we’ll help you make the best choice for your needs.

If you combine a dehumidifier with an air conditioner or air purifier, you can keep your home cool, dry, and clean, even on the stickiest day.

The LG Puricare 50 Pint (UG501KOG5) (available at Walmart) with its sleek, easy-to-use design, and ability to stop excess moisture in its tracks is our top pick for making your home drier, safer, and more comfortable.

How We Tested Dehumidifiers

We created the most humid conditions possible to challenge each dehumidifier. We measured how well they remove humidity, ease of use, and power consumption.

The Tester

I’m Dave Ellerby, the Chief Scientist at Reviewed. Living in the damp New England climate, I have a lot of experience using dehumidifiers at home. I have a portable dehumidifier in my damp basement, which is powered up all year round.

Here in New England, the late summer can get sticky, and not only the basement but the upstairs living spaces feel damp. Having lugged a dehumidifier up two flights of stairs more than once, I really care about how portable they are!

The Tests

We used multiple humidifiers to create a disgustingly humid environment in a temperature-controlled room. These saturated the room air with water vapor, leaving the dehumidifiers facing a tough performance challenge.

We placed data loggers to record humidity and temperature around the room. Once we’d hit our peak humidity target, we switched on the test dehumidifier.

Each dehumidifier ran for two hours at its highest fan setting and set to continuous running mode. If that wasn’t available, we set the humidistat to the lowest possible relative humidity level.

Using these conditions and settings lets us test the maximum performance for each model. We used our humidity data to calculate how quickly each dehumidifier reduced the humidity in the room.

We also monitored power use. All the dehumidifiers tested are Energy Star rated, but our harsh tests told us the maximum power consumption under the worst possible conditions.

The performance numbers are important, but a fast-drying humidifier isn’t much use if it’s impossible to use.

Each model was assessed for how easy it was to use the controls. Portable dehumidifiers should also live up to their name and be easy to move!

The water condensed out of the air collects in a reservoir at the bottom of the dehumidifier. Most of the models we tested didn’t have a built-in pump to automatically remove the water. Unless you have a floor drain, no pump means you’ll need to empty the water reservoir yourself. Having an easy-to-remove, carry, and empty reservoir was a major part of our usability testing.

What To Know About Buying Dehumidifiers

How Does a Dehumidifier Work?

First, the physics: The warmer air is, the more moisture it holds. That’s why humidity is more noticeable in the summer. During chilly weather, the air holds less moisture and feels much drier. Dehumidifiers make use of this cooling effect to reduce air humidity.

A dehumidifier is like an air conditioner. It has a cooling compressor linked to cooling coils. A fan pulls air across these, cooling it down, and condensing out some of the water it contains. This drips down into a collection reservoir.

The key difference to an air conditioner is that the air is rewarmed before it gets returned to the room. So, moist air goes in, and drier air comes out at about the same temperature as it started.

Compressors and fans aren’t silent, so expect a noise level similar to an AC unit or refrigerator.

What Size Dehumidifier Do I Need?

Dehumidifiers are rated by how many pints of water they can remove in 24 hours. We tested 50-pint models, which are close to the upper end of the size range. For large spaces or very damp areas, you’ll need a higher capacity model.

It’s difficult to exactly match pint capacity exactly to your square footage. In the real world, dehumidifying needs can vary throughout the year.

High-performance units take up more space, but we recommend going for a larger model. Larger dehumidifiers give you extra capacity to cope with emergencies like leaks or spills that temporarily make your home more humid.

If you routinely move the units between rooms, particularly between floors, then you may want to go for several smaller units. A 20 pint unit would work well for most small rooms.

How Do You Empty A Dehumidifier?

All dehumidifiers can run in a stand-alone mode where all the water is collected in the reservoir. This means regularly carrying the reservoir to the nearest drain or sink and pouring it out.

If you need to run your humidifier this way, note how easy it is to empty the reservoir by hand.

Most models also include a drain opening that can connect to a hose. When the reservoir is full, any extra water collected runs down the hose. This avoids the hassle of reservoir emptying. It’s only possible if you have a floor drain or a place for the hose to discharge.

Models with a pump are the most versatile. The pump gives you flexible emptying options as it moves the water to a drain point above the dehumidifier.

For example, it can drain into a bathroom sink, out a window, or into your washing machine drain stack. This saves on reservoir carrying and gives you more placement options but adds significantly to the cost.

Summer Humidity Vs. Cold Basements

There are two main situations where we fire up a dehumidifier.

First, is during the sticky summer months to cope with warm, water-saturated air. Second is in cool, damp basements.

Because humidity is removed by cooling the air, dehumidifiers work best when it is warm. All the dehumidifiers we tested have minimum operating temperatures of around 40°F. This means they’ll work just fine in most basements. If you have an unconditioned space that gets colder than 40°F, compressor-based dehumidifiers won’t work for you.

Desiccant dehumidifiers are the best choice for cold areas as they’re not temperature limited.

Cleaning A Dehumidifier

For effective cooling and humidity removal, the heat exchanger needs to be clean. If it gets dusty it won’t cool the air effectively to reduce the humidity. Dehumidifiers have filters to trap dirt before it hits the cooling coils.

Over time these filters get clogged and restrict airflow. Some can be vacuumed clean, and others are washable. Pull out the filter and vacuum or rinse it off every few weeks.

Dust can also get past the filter onto the cooling coils. To remove this, gently run a vacuum nozzle over the coils when you clean the filter.

The damp reservoir can also be a home for mold or bacteria. A gentle wash with dish detergent will take care of that.

The good news is that if you take these simple steps and keep the dehumidifier clean, it will run more efficiently. Also, because there’ll be less stress placed on the components it should last longer.

What Is A Comfortable Humidity Range?

For a typical room temperature of 68°F to 70°F a relative humidity of 30% to 50% is considered comfortable. Some dehumidifiers have a comfort setting that automatically keeps humidity in this range.

Do Air Conditioners Dehumidify?

An A/C system, whether it’s a whole-house system, window air conditioner, or portable air conditioner, will remove some humidity.

Air conditioners have a drain or reservoir to remove or collect condensed water. So, if you have air conditioning it might reduce your need for a dehumidifier. However, keep in mind that drying your air isn’t the main function of an A/C unit.

If your living space is damp and humid, even if you have air conditioning, you’ll likely need an additional dehumidifier.

What Is The Cost Of Running A Dehumidifier?

Running costs vary widely depending on the amount of humidity your dehumidifier is dealing with. In our tests, we challenged the units with an extremely high humidity environment and ran them at their maximum fan settings. This should give a top-end estimate for energy use.

Energy efficiency ratings are based on how much water a dehumidifier removes using 1 kWh of electricity. The most efficient portable dehumidifiers remove close to 2 liters of water per kWh.

Any dehumidifier with a score above 1.8 qualifies for an Energy Star rating. All the dehumidifiers we tested are Energy Star products.

An Energy Star dehumidifier running 24/7 could use about 300 kWh per month, this compares to 30 to 50 kWh per month for a refrigerator.

Basically, dehumidifiers can eat up a lot of energy and significantly raise your electricity bill.

Remember though, it’s very unlikely that you’ll be running your dehumidifier continuously at full capacity. Once humidity hits a comfortable level, the unit will only turn on when needed.

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Other Dehumidifiers We Tested

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