On this page10 parts
We don’t test dehumidifiers
Nothing on this site is a test result. We read the data the EPA, the Energy Information Administration, and manufacturers publish, and we show where every number comes from. When a number isn’t published, we say “Not published” instead of guessing.
The base is the EPA’s list of certified dehumidifiers: 482 models sold in the United States on the list of Oct 15, 2026. A model that isn’t on the list gets a page only if we can source its figures elsewhere, and that page says so.
Sizing
The size comes from the ENERGY STAR® sizing table, unchanged (read Oct 5, 2026). It gives a range of pints a day for three levels of dampness, under or over 2,000 sq ft. The EPA adds that it’s better to oversize than undersize, so our guides pick from the top of the range.
Capacities are the EPA’s figures, from the Department of Energy’s test in use since 2019. An older rating of the same machine is higher, so we never mix the two.
Running cost
A yearly cost is the EPA’s yearly energy estimate for the model, in kWh, times the home electricity price of your state (51 prices, EIA). For a size range, we use the median of the portable models in that range: 285 kWh a year for 20–30 pints.
The EPA estimate assumes a typical use. Your bill depends on your climate, your settings, and how many hours the unit runs.
Whole-house units are compared by efficiency (IEF, liters of water per kWh) and by the cost of removing 100 pints of water. Their yearly figures on the EPA list don’t follow one method, so we don’t rank them by it.
Some EPA figures don’t add up. On 9 portable models, yearly energy, capacity, and efficiency disagree with each other. We show them as listed, with a note on their page, and keep them out of rankings, medians, and picks.
Who it suits
Each full model page opens with a short reading of its figures. Its rules are the same for every model.
For the size, we place the rated capacity, rounded as the page shows it, on the ENERGY STAR sizing table. “Fits” means inside the suggested range, “Room to spare” above it, and “Too small” below it.
For running cost, we take the gap between the model’s yearly energy and the median of its size. We count it over 11 years, the mean life the Department of Energy uses for a portable, at your state’s price. When the gap is under 5% of the median, the page says running cost won’t decide it.
When the company that files a model also files another brand’s model with matching capacity, energy use, and efficiency, the page names it. Matching figures don’t prove one machine, so we only suggest comparing prices and warranties. The last card lists what our sources don’t publish and matters most at that size. Ask the seller.
One model, many names
The same machine is often sold under several model numbers or brands. When two lines of the EPA list share a brand and every figure, we show one line and list the other model numbers under it. When one machine is filed under several brands, it gets one page: 72 pages cover more than one brand.
“Filed by” names the company that filed the model with the EPA, its ENERGY STAR partner. It is often not the name on the box, and not always the factory.
How picks are chosen
A guide shows its rule above its picks. It looks at the certified portable models in the size range, sold by a store we link to. It makes one pick per need, and each guide names its needs: no app, a Wi-Fi app, sold by the brand, or EPA Most Efficient. Within each need, the lowest yearly energy use wins, then the higher efficiency, then the larger capacity.
The whole-house guides pick one model per capacity band, the most efficient first. Some subjects aren’t in any public data: noise, a built-in pump, the lowest working temperature. A guide on one of them says so, and leaves it out of the rule.
Lists are sorted by size, cost, or efficiency. A commission never changes a rank, and no brand or store pays for a place.
Store buttons
Amazon first, then the brand’s own store, then other stores in alphabetical order. Each button carries “Paid link”, and we show no Amazon prices, ratings, or reviews. How we make money has the details.
Missing figures
Some figures buyers ask about aren’t on the EPA list: pump lift, noise, lowest working temperature, warranty. We add one only from a source we may reuse, always with a link. That can be a maker’s written permission, a store’s product feed, or a public database. Until then the page says “Not published”, meaning not published in our sources, and our checklists tell you what to ask the seller.
Recalls
We show recalls published by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. A recall is matched to a model only when it names that model number. Otherwise, a page shows the recalls of the brand, or of the company that files it, and says that the model itself isn’t named. Always check your exact model number at cpsc.gov.
Dates
Each page shows when it was published and last updated. The “Updated” date changes only when what you read changes: a figure, a price, a sentence. The data behind it is re-read from each source, and every figure keeps the date of its source.