Best Dehumidifiers of 2026: Picks for Every Room, Basement and Whole Home

The best dehumidifier for most homes is a 50-pint ENERGY STAR model with a continuous-drain option, and our pick is the Midea Cube 50 Pint. If water has to go up to a sink or out a window, get one with a built-in pump like the Frigidaire FHDP5033Y1. Small rooms can get by with about 20 pints a day, cold crawlspaces need a unit rated for low temperatures, and a ducted system such as the AprilAire E080 handles a whole house.

How we chose

We don’t test dehumidifiers. We compared current models using ENERGY STAR’s certified-product data, manufacturer spec pages, carton labels and manuals, checked in October 2026, and recorded everything in our research file. We gave the most weight to:

• Capacity under the current DOE test, taken from ENERGY STAR’s database, so every portable unit is compared at the same 65 °F condition.
• ENERGY STAR certification, which means about 20% better efficiency than non-certified models.
• Drain options: a gravity hose, a built-in pump, or both.
• Low-temperature operation and defrost for basements and crawlspaces.
• Published noise, warranty and recall history. None of our picks appear on CPSC’s dehumidifier recall page.

Every pick is sold new in the US as of this update. Our guide to how we research products explains the process.

The best dehumidifiers compared

Model	Capacity (DOE test)	Water handling	Lowest rated temp	Noise
Midea Cube 50 Pint	49.67 pints/day	4.26-gal bucket, hose	Not published	Not published
Frigidaire FHDP5033Y1	49.95 pints/day	1.9-gal bucket, pump, hose	41 °F	49-51.5 dBA
Frigidaire FHDD2233Y1	22.27 pints/day	0.85-gal bucket, hose	41 °F	47.5-49 dBA
LG PuriCare Sonoran DT501BKR0	49.81 pints/day	14.3-pint tank, hose	Not published	No rating published
AlorAir Sentinel HD55S	36.33 pints/day	Gravity drain only	33.8 °F (dealer)	Under 52 dBA (dealer)
AprilAire E080	65 pints/day (73 °F test)	Drain or optional pump	50 °F inlet air	45 dBA ducted

The best dehumidifiers

Midea Cube 50 Pint

Best for: most damp living areas, basements with a floor drain, and anyone short on storage space.

ENERGY STAR lists the Cube (MAD50S1QWT-A) at 49.67 pints a day under the DOE test, with an Integrated Energy Factor of 2.01 L/kWh. Its party trick is the bucket. Midea’s carton label lists 4.26 gallons, with preset fill levels of 1 to 4 gallons if you’d rather empty a lighter load, and the unit lifts out and turns a quarter turn to sit on top of the bucket, then nests back inside it for storage. You can also skip the bucket and set it over a drain, or run the included hose to a sink or floor drain.

Midea lists automatic defrost, a washable filter with a clean-filter light, Wi-Fi control through its SmartHome app with Alexa and Google Assistant, and a 1-year limited warranty. ENERGY STAR estimates 515 kWh a year, roughly $94 at the US average electricity price.

The trade-off: Midea doesn’t publish a noise figure or a minimum operating temperature on the pages we read, and its US page gives two different coverage claims (4,500 and 1,500 sq ft). The ENERGY STAR record also marks it as not connected-capable, despite Midea’s Wi-Fi claims. If you need a pump, Midea sells a Cube with one built in (MAD50PS1QWT-A), which we cover in our basement dehumidifier guide.

Frigidaire FHDP5033Y1

Best for: rooms where the nearest drain is higher than the floor, such as a laundry sink or a window.

This is Frigidaire’s 50-pint model with a built-in pump. Frigidaire says the pump pushes water upward into a sink or out a window, and there’s a regular continuous-drain option too. ENERGY STAR lists 49.95 pints a day and an IEF of 2.01. Frigidaire says it’s designed to operate down to 41 °F and lists 49 dBA on low and 51.5 dBA on high. Wi-Fi control runs through the Frigidaire app, with Alexa and Google Home support.

The trade-off: the bucket is small for a 50-pint unit at 1.9 gallons, so it really wants a hose or the pump running. Frigidaire doesn’t publish how high the pump can lift water, and the warranty listed is 1 year of labor. If you have a floor drain nearby, the same machine without the pump (FHDD5033Y1) has identical capacity, noise ratings and Wi-Fi.

Frigidaire FHDD2233Y1

Best for: a bedroom, home office, closet area or laundry room that feels a bit damp.

ENERGY STAR lists this 22-pint unit at 22.27 pints a day under the DOE test and an IEF of 1.70, the minimum for its size class. That lands it in ENERGY STAR’s 20 to 30 pint range for slightly to moderately damp spaces. Frigidaire rates it at 47.5 dBA on low and 49 dBA on high, lists 250 W, and says it runs down to 41 °F. It weighs 30.86 lb, about 10 lb less than the 50-pint models. ENERGY STAR estimates 276 kWh a year, roughly $51 at average rates.

The trade-off: the 0.85-gallon bucket fills quickly in a really damp room, so plan on using the continuous-drain hose. There’s no Wi-Fi listed. In our view, it’s the wrong choice for a musty basement; go up to a 35- or 50-pint class unit there.

LG PuriCare Sonoran DT501BKR0

Best for: a dehumidifier in or near living space where noise matters and you want app alerts.

LG’s new 50-pint model was ENERGY STAR certified in September 2026 at 49.81 pints a day and an IEF of 2.01. LG’s own footnote says a third-party lab measured about 50 pints a day under the DOE test (65 °F, 60% humidity) in Boost Mode. LG’s product images advertise 40 dB, but its spec list gives no noise rating. It has a 14.3-pint water tank, a drain hose for non-stop running and LG ThinQ Wi-Fi for monitoring and alerts.

The trade-off: it’s brand new, so there’s no track record yet, and it showed as a preorder or backordered when we checked. LG’s own Q&A says no decibel rating is in its published specs, and the ENERGY STAR record marks it as not connected-capable despite LG’s ThinQ claim. We’d confirm stock and the warranty before ordering.

AlorAir Sentinel HD55S

Best for: cold, unfinished basements and encapsulated crawlspaces with a drain.

Most portable dehumidifiers struggle once the air drops below 65 °F, when ENERGY STAR says frost can form on the coils. The HD55S is built for those spaces: a dealer listing gives an operating range of 33.8 to 104 °F with automatic defrost. ENERGY STAR lists 36.33 pints a day under the DOE test and an IEF of 2.08. AlorAir’s own “55 pints” is an older 80 °F AHAM rating, and its “120 pints” is a saturation maximum, so neither compares with the other models here. AlorAir rates it for up to 1,300 sq ft. The dealer lists under 52 dBA, and AlorAir’s site advertises a 6-year limited warranty (first 2 years full coverage).

The trade-off: there’s no bucket. Water leaves through a gravity drain, so you need a floor drain, sump or separate condensate pump below the outlet. The operating range and noise figure come from a dealer, not AlorAir’s own spec page. Still, for a space that regularly sits well below 65 °F, it’s the one we’d pick.

AprilAire E080

Best for: humidity problems that affect the whole house, or a finished basement where you don’t want a portable unit in the room.

The E080 is a whole-home dehumidifier that can tie into your ductwork or sit on its own in a basement or sealed crawl space. ENERGY STAR lists it at 65 pints a day and an IEF of 2.35, and it meets ENERGY STAR’s Most Efficient criteria. Note that whole-home units are rated at 73 °F, not 65 °F; AprilAire’s spec sheet gives 80 pints a day at the older 80 °F condition. The spec sheet lists 45 dBA when ducted, a washable MERV 8 filter, a threaded drain connection, an optional condensate pump with 22 ft of lift, and a 5-year warranty. AprilAire says it covers whole houses up to 4,400 sq ft.

The trade-off: it needs inlet air of at least 50 °F to dehumidify, per the spec sheet, so it’s not for a cold crawlspace. AprilAire sells it through its network of HVAC professionals, and ENERGY STAR says whole-home drains should be routed by an HVAC pro. Its bigger sibling, the E100, is listed at 85 pints a day.

Buying guide: what matters in a dehumidifier

Pints per day: the 2019 rating change

A dehumidifier’s capacity is how many pints of water it removes in 24 hours, and the number on the box changed a few years ago. DOE now tests portable units at 65 °F, closer to basement conditions, instead of the old 80 °F. Cooler air holds less water, so ratings dropped even though the machines didn’t get weaker.

Selected rows from ENERGY STAR’s rough conversion for portable units:

Old rating (through 2019)	New rating (2020 on)
30 pints/day	20
40	25
50	30
60	35
70	40-45
90	55

So an old 50-pint dehumidifier is roughly a 30-pint unit on today’s scale, and a new “50-pint” model is a much bigger machine than an old 50-pint one. Some brands still quote the older 80 °F figure or a “saturation” maximum alongside the DOE number; compare the DOE number, which is what ENERGY STAR lists. Our dehumidifier size calculator converts old ratings for you.

Sizing

ENERGY STAR sizes portable units by floor area and how damp the space is. For spaces under 2,000 sq ft, it recommends 20 to 30 pints a day if the room is slightly to moderately damp (50% to 75% humidity, a musty smell that comes and goes), 25 to 40 if it’s very damp, and 30 to 50 if it’s wet, with seepage or laundry drying. Above 2,000 sq ft, the minimums are 30, 40 and 50. It says it’s better to oversize than undersize, because the humidistat cycles the unit off once the room is dry. Measure first; our guide to checking humidity in your house covers hygrometers.

ENERGY STAR, IEF and running cost

Efficiency is rated as Integrated Energy Factor: liters of water removed per kWh, including standby power. Higher is better. Under ENERGY STAR Version 6.0, in effect since October 1, 2025, portable units of 25.01 to 50 pints a day need an IEF of at least 2.01, and smaller ones at least 1.70. Most certified portables sit right at those minimums, so IEF rarely separates them.

Running cost follows capacity. ENERGY STAR’s annual estimates for our picks range from 276 kWh for the 22-pint Frigidaire to 632 kWh for the AprilAire E080. At the US average residential price of 18.31 cents per kWh (EIA, July 2026), that’s about $51 to $116 a year. The real number depends on how damp the space is and how many hours the unit runs.

Drain options and pumps

You have three ways to get rid of the water:

• Bucket: fine for a slightly damp room, but a 50-pint unit in a wet basement can fill a small bucket fast.
• Gravity hose: runs downhill to a floor drain or sump. ENERGY STAR advises keeping drain hoses away from electrical cords and connections.
• Built-in pump: pushes water up and away, for example to a laundry sink or out a window.

Low-temperature operation and defrost

ENERGY STAR warns that frost can form on the coils below 65 °F, and the compressor may cycle without removing much moisture. If the space is regularly cooler than that, buy a model rated for lower temperatures, ideally with automatic defrost. Frigidaire lists 41 °F for its models; the AlorAir is listed down to 33.8 °F.

Humidistat and target humidity

All ENERGY STAR dehumidifiers have a built-in humidistat. EPA recommends keeping indoor humidity below 60%, ideally 30% to 50%; our guide to ideal indoor humidity explains why. Staying under 50% also matters for allergies: in a 17-month Ohio study, homes kept below 51% saw live dust mites fall from 401 to 8 per gram of dust, as our article on dust mites and humidity explains. We’d check the built-in reading against a separate digital hygrometer now and then, and ENERGY STAR suggests one if your unit’s display doesn’t show humidity.

Noise, filters and placement

Only some brands publish noise, and they don’t always say at which fan speed. Midea and AprilAire list washable filters; clean them as the manual directs, since a clogged filter restricts airflow. ENERGY STAR also advises closing doors and windows to the space and leaving room around units without top-mounted air discharge.

Safety and recalls

Check an older dehumidifier before you keep running it. CPSC says Gree-made dehumidifiers, sold under brands including Danby, De’Longhi, Fedders, Frigidaire, GE, Gree, Kenmore, Norpole, SoleusAir and others, can overheat, smoke and catch fire, and four deaths in house fires may be tied to recalled units. A separate 2023 recall covered about 1.56 million Gree units made from January 2011 to February 2014. To check yours, find the brand, pint capacity, model number and date code on the unit and compare them with CPSC’s list.

What a dehumidifier won’t fix

A dehumidifier removes water vapor; it doesn’t filter dust, smoke or spores, and it can’t keep up with a leak. Our guide on how to reduce humidity in your house starts with exhaust fans, leaks and laundry, and the air purifier vs dehumidifier comparison explains which machine solves which problem. If you see mold, EPA’s advice is that the key to mold control is moisture control: clean it up and fix the water problem, or it will likely come back. If anyone in the house has asthma or allergies, talk to your doctor about which triggers matter most.