Dehumidifier ratings explained: pints, IEF, ENERGY STAR

The short answer

Pints a day tell you how much water a unit removes, rated at 65°F since 2019. The IEF tells you how efficiently, in liters per kWh: higher is better. ENERGY STAR® certification means the model is on the EPA’s public list.

482 models certified for the U.S. market, on the EPA’s public list EPAlist of Oct 15, 2026

Pints a day: water removed in 24 hours, rated at 65°F.
IEF: liters removed per kWh. Higher is better.
A federal minimum IEF applies to every model sold.

On this page8 parts

Pints a day
IEF
The federal minimum
The certification
Most Efficient
Yearly energy
Refrigerant and GWP
Sources

Pints a day

Capacity is the water a unit removes in 24 hours, in pints. Since 2019, the Department of Energy tests it at 65°F instead of 80°F. In cooler air a machine condenses a smaller amount, so the same model gets a smaller number.

That is why old and new ratings don’t match. The EPA gives its own example:

70 → 40–45

pints a day: a unit sold as 70 pints under the old test rates about 40–45 pints under today’s

EPAENERGY STAR, dehumidifier testing and capacity, read Oct 5, 2026

No certified portable is rated above 50 pints now.

IEF

The integrated energy factor tells you how much water a unit removes for each kilowatt-hour, in liters per kWh. Higher means less electricity for the same water. “Integrated” means the test also counts the power used while the fan runs alone and in standby.

On the EPA list, the smallest certified units, up to 25 pints, start at 1.70 liters per kWh. Bigger ones start at 2.01, and whole-house units at 2.22.

The federal minimum

Every dehumidifier made since June 13, 2019, must meet a minimum IEF to be sold in the United States. 10 CFR 430.32 sets it by class:

Minimum integrated energy factor, 10 CFR 430.32(v), for units made since June 13, 2019.
Class	Minimum IEF
Portables up to 25 pints	1.30 L/kWh
Portables of 25 to 50 pints	1.60 L/kWh
Portables over 50 pints	2.80 L/kWh
Whole-house, case of 8 cu ft or less	1.77 L/kWh
Whole-house, larger case	2.41 L/kWh

The minimum applies to every model, certified or not. A model that isn’t on the EPA list can still be sold if it meets it.

What ENERGY STAR means

The certification is the EPA’s efficiency mark. A certified dehumidifier meets the program’s efficiency requirement, under the same Department of Energy test. The current rules, Version 6.0, took effect on Oct 1, 2025, and they cover consumer models only.

The gap shows in the data. Among listed units of 25 to 50 pints, the lowest IEF is 2.01, against a federal minimum of 1.60. The list is public and updated daily: a model either appears on it or doesn’t.

Is it worth it on running cost alone? Not by much. In the DOE database, 116 listings of 45–50 pints rate below the lowest certified IEF, at 1.90 liters per kWh at the median. Certified ones reach 2.01. For the same water, that is about 5% less electricity. On the EPA estimate, it comes to some 30 kWh a year, or about $5 at the U.S. average price.

Most Efficient

A smaller label on top. The EPA gives it to products that lead on efficiency and use recent technology. On the list of Oct 15, 2026, 91 certified models carry it.

Yearly energy

The EPA also lists an estimated energy use a year, in kWh, under typical conditions. For portables, it lines up well across brands: the median is 343 kWh. Multiply it by your state’s price for a yearly cost, as our tools do.

For whole-house units, the yearly figures don’t follow one method that we can cite. We compare those by IEF and by the cost to remove 100 pints.

Refrigerant and GWP

Each record names the refrigerant and its global warming potential, or GWP. The EPA flags 381 models as using a lower-GWP refrigerant. Another 44 use R-290, a propane refrigerant, and their records give no GWP figure.

Noise, pump lift, bucket size, and warranty aren’t rated on the list. Those come from the maker, when it publishes them.