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The 6 Best Dehumidifiers of 2022
With the heatwave on blast, the best dehumidifier will quickly reduce any residual moisture effectively, which is often the case if your home has humidity. The best dehumidifiers will prevent a build-up of mold, mildew and water stains over time. More importantly, dehumidifiers will improve overall air quality, particularly for allergy sufferers, alongside the best vacuum cleaners.
That’s where a dehumidifier comes in. Unlike a humidifier, which adds moisture to the air, a dehumidifier removes excess water from your environment, preventing mold, mildew and other issues that can harm your health — or your home. Most dehumidifiers draw humid air in through an inlet using an internal compressor and fan. The air goes through cool coils that pull out excess moisture and condense it into the reservoir. Dry air is then propelled back into the room.
Eva-Dry Electric Petite Dehumidifier
Waykar 2000 Sq. Ft Dehumidifier for Home and Basements
Pro Breeze Electric Mini Dehumidifier
hOmeLabs Energy Star Dehumidifier
TOSOT 4,500 sq ft Energy Star Dehumidifier
How We Selected the Dehumidifiers
When selecting dehumidifiers, we spoke with allergists and spent hours combing the web for the best and most effective products. After taking all of our options into consideration, we determined which to feature based on a few key criteria: reservoir size, portability, auto-off features, and programmability.
Once we narrowed down our options, we compared each dehumidifier’s benefits to its price tag. While some choices on our list may be more expensive, we wanted to give a wide range of options that would fit all needs and budgets. Based on all of these factors, we compiled this list of the best dehumidifiers.
Regulations
In 2019, the U.S. Department of Energy instituted new dehumidifier testing standards(opens in new tab). Nowadays, dehumidifiers are assessed at lower temperatures to better simulate being placed in a real-life environment, such as the basement.
As a consequence, the biggest dehumidifiers, which originally offered 70-pint capacities, have now been reduced to capacities of 45-50 pints. This is because warm air can hold more water than cool air, so the dehumidifier will naturally absorb less in lower temperatures.
Medium-sized models, on the other hand, have been reduced from 50 pints to 30 pints capacities. Whereas small dehumidifiers have moved from 30 pints to roughly 20 pints.
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. We’ll update these rankings as we get more information.
Type
There are different types of dehumidifiers on the market. The most common type is a condensing dehumidifier, which pulls the absorbed air over refrigerated coils, which cools it enough the condense and separate the moisture.
Other types include desiccant dehumidifiers, which will use a water-absorbing material, and thermoelectric dehumidifiers, which operate with charged plates. Generally speaking, neither of these latter two types are as effective as condenser models, which is why we only recommend this type in our list.
Capacity
Dehumidifiers generally come in three sizes: large (45-50-pint capacity), medium (30-pint capacity) and small (20-22-pint capacity).
Under the old regulations, these sizes were 70, 50 and 30 pints, respectively, and you’ll see such numbers with three older models above.
How to clean a dehumidifier
When you consider that bacteria and mold is being sucked into your humidifier, it’s no wonder that it needs an occasional clean. This isn’t as difficult as you might think, simply follow these steps if none are given in your manual:
1. Unplug the humidifier from the wall. You don’t want to risk an electric shock!
2. Remove the water reservoir bucket and tip out any residual water. Clean this with warm soapy water and a microfiber cloth.
3. While that’s drying, wash the filters. The filters collect any impurities so it’s essential that these get an occasional clean. You should have a main filter and potentially a much smaller bucket filter. If you’re not sure where to find these you can refer to your manual. Both need to be washed in warm soapy water, rinsed and then left to dry.
4. 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.
5. Lastly, give the outside a once over with a microfiber cloth for finishing touches.
