Buyer’s Guide: How to Buy the Best Dehumidifier for Your House

 Last Updated on October 19, 2022 by Justin Williams

When you do not have air conditioning, a good dehumidifier steps in and helps protect you, your family and your home from excess moisture. Air conditioners do some dehumidifying as well, but they are not always going to clear the room of that excess moisture.

The main purpose of an air conditioner is to release cool air to your room to help cool down the temperature, not to dehumidify. Thus, running a dehumidifier is essential when it comes to getting rid of water from the air to take the high humidity levels back to normal.

Dehumidifiers are designed to remove all that excess moisture and make your home or room much more comfortable to live in. It is important to keep a dehumidifier running in your house if you are living in a humid climate like we are in Florida. Mold and mildew growth caused by excess moisture is very harmful to you and your family.

What follows is our buying guide. It is designed to help you find the right dehumidifier for you and your home.

If you want to check out different models, click this link to read our dehumidifier review page. It is filled with important information on top of the line dehumidifiers

What Does a Dehumidifier Do

When you spot condensation your windows or see some mold, mildew or dust mites in different parts of your house, then you may have a moisture problem. As the weather gets hotter and more humid, window air conditioners and other air conditioning models may not be enough to stop the excess moisture from entering your home. Or, there is water damage or leakage in your house.

In this situation, you need a machine that is dedicated to removing that moisture and keeping your home nice and dry. That is what a dehumidifier does. It removes that excess moisture and brings your interior humidity levels down to where they are comfortable.

As your new dehumidifier works, it either sends that excess moisture to a built-in and removable water tank. Once that tank gets full, the dehumidifier will turn off and wait till you empty the water tank. Then the unit will fire up again.

Or it uses the continuous water drain feature you set up. This feature spares you the trouble of constantly emptying the water tank.

Where Should You Place a Dehumidifier

“Where is the best place to put a dehumidifier in a house“, you asked?

You can place these appliances in just about any room you want. The trick is, of course, not to put them in a room they are not rated to work in. If you put a small dehumidifier in a large room, then you will not remove any excess moisture from that room.

You need the right-sized and rated dehumidifier for the room it has to work in. Here are some of the prime locations to place your new dehumidifier:

• Basements
• Crawl spaces
• Bedrooms
• Bathrooms
• Living or family rooms
• Kitchens
• Workshops or garages
• Gun Safes
• And so on

The key to getting the best results is to make sure the dehumidifier is not near a wall or other obstacles. These items block the air flow and make your dehumidifier work harder.

How Does a Dehumidifier Work

Unlike an air conditioner, a dehumidifier doesn’t really cool the air in the room. It simply removes the excess moisture and lowers the humidity levels inside your home. The dehumidifier does this in several ways. The most common way is for the unit to use a compressor and fans to bring the moist and warm air over cooled coils (refrigerant dehumidifier). It is also how a dehumidifier helps cool down the air in your home.

This draws the moisture out of the air and sends it to your water tank or continuous drain feature. Another method is the desiccant dehumidifier which has materials inside to soak up that moisture and send it to the water tank.

How to Choose a Dehumidifier

There are several criteria you need to use to determine which dehumidifier you buy.

• The square footage of the room – if you have a 1000 square foot room that needs help, then you need a dehumidifier rated for 1,000 square feet or higher. See the sizing guide here.
• Capacity – capacity is the amount of water that a dehumidifier can remove in a 24 hour period.
• How many pints per day will it take out of the air – dehumidifiers come in a variety of sizes from 30 on up to 70 pints. That number tells you how many pints per day the dehumidifier will clear out of a room. The heavier the humidity in your area means you want a larger capacity dehumidifier
• Energy efficiency – you want one that does not use a lot of power while it does its job.

The Dehumidifier’s Sizing Chart

How Many Types of Dehumidifiers?

There are 3 basic types of dehumidifiers. They are:

• Desiccant dehumidifiers: always come in small sizes. Desiccant dehumidifier is popularly used for closets or gun safes.
• Refrigerant dehumidifiers: are also known as portable electric dehumidifiers. They come in various sizes from 25 to 70 pints. This type of dehumidifier is recommended to use in single rooms like bathrooms, laundry rooms, bedrooms, basements or crawl spaces…etc
• Whole house dehumidifiers: are attached to your existing HVAC system so they do not take up spaces in your rooms.

How to Use a Dehumidifier Properly?

Here are a few tips to help you use your new dehumidifier correctly:

• Make sure there are no obstructions blocking the air flow
• Keep the filter clean and replace on a regular basis
• Make sure all vents and exhaust fans are working properly
• Plug the appliance into the correct electrical outlet
• Vacuum so you do not clog the air filter