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Aug 08, 2023

The 3 Best Dehumidifiers of 2023

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After new tests, we have new picks: The Midea 50 Pint Cube is our first choice, followed by the Frigidaire Gallery FGAC5044W1. The Frigidaire FFAD2233W1 remains our choice for smaller spaces.

If you’ve ever used the words musty, muggy, dank, fuggy, wet, mildewy, or the dreaded moist to describe the air in your home, you may need a dehumidifier.

The huge drainage bucket in this powerful, effective, and reliable dehumidifier means fewer trips to the sink for emptying—but also requires heavy lifting.

The Energy Star–rated, Wi-Fi–equipped Midea 50 Pint Cube is unique among 50-pint dehumidifiers in that it can collect 4 gallons of water—twice the typical amount. That means fewer trips to empty the bucket.

However, to access the bucket, you have to lift off the upper compressor unit, which weighs 38 pounds, and a full bucket itself weighs 40 pounds. If that task would be difficult for you, draining the Cube passively via a hose is an option, or you might look to our other recommendations, which require far less lifting.

The Cube performed very well in our testing, both in its ability to lower the humidity and in the quietness of its operation. And promisingly, Midea dehumidifiers receive far fewer complaints about mechanical failures than other manufacturers’ machines.

That said, the Midea app is buggy, the wireless connectivity works only with 2.4 GHz networks, and Midea customer service gets lousy reviews—though we’ve found that to be true for most dehumidifier makers.

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Capable performance plus remote monitoring via an app make this model attractive for out-of-the-way areas, but judging from our experience, some Frigidaire dehumidifiers last only a few years.

*At the time of publishing, the price was $340.

The ability to monitor and control a dehumidifier remotely is a plus, since these machines are often used in an out-of-the-way corner of a home, such as in a storage room or basement. The Wi-Fi connectivity of the Frigidaire Gallery FGAC5044W1 lets you monitor and control it via Frigidaire's app (iOS and Android), and you can also sync it with Amazon Alexa and Google Home for voice control.

The app is easy to set up. We also found its alerts to be accurate, and we were able to cycle the machine through its settings with a touch of the screen.

The 2.2-gallon bucket in the FGAC5044W1 requires more frequent dumping than that of the Midea Cube, but it weighs only about 20 pounds when full, and it simply slides out, without requiring you to lift a heavy compressor unit.

Among owner reviews, the FGAC5044W1 receives more complaints of mechanical failure than the Cube does, but Frigidaire's superior app makes this dehumidifier worthy of consideration if you value remote monitoring and control.

This compact, efficient, and affordable dehumidifier is designed for smaller spaces such as bedrooms and laundry rooms.

Frigidaire's FFAD2233W1 dehumidifier is smaller than our other picks—think carry-on bag versus suitcase—and costs far less. It's less powerful, too. But all of that makes it a better choice for smaller spaces such as laundry rooms, where a burlier machine would be overkill.

It has Energy Star certification, comfortable pocket handles, and the same handy cord storage that the larger Frigidaire FGAC5044W1 provides.

Like most small dehumidifiers, the FFAD2233W1 lacks a pump, so you have to empty the bucket manually or place the machine where it can drain into a sink or a floor drain—which is rarely practical in a home office or a bedroom.

The huge drainage bucket in this powerful, effective, and reliable dehumidifier means fewer trips to the sink for emptying—but also requires heavy lifting.

Capable performance plus remote monitoring via an app make this model attractive for out-of-the-way areas, but judging from our experience, some Frigidaire dehumidifiers last only a few years.

*At the time of publishing, the price was $340.

This compact, efficient, and affordable dehumidifier is designed for smaller spaces such as bedrooms and laundry rooms.

If you have a cellar or basement—especially one with a persistent musty smell—you may benefit from a dehumidifier. Those spaces are prone to elevated humidity due to groundwater penetration, and humidity that's consistently above 60% or so can promote mold, mildew, and insect infestation. Such spaces frequently lack air conditioning and heating, too, both of which help keep the air dry in the rest of the home. An inexpensive hygrometer, such as the AcuRite hygrometer we use in our testing, can help you pinpoint any suspected problem areas.

Laundry rooms can also get damp, and enclosed porches and garages can be a problem because they tend not to be sealed as well from the outside elements as the rest of a home; they may also benefit from dehumidification.

We do not recommend using dehumidifiers in bathrooms, however, because of the risk of electrical shock. It's safer to use bathroom exhaust fans or to simply keep bathroom doors open to let the air equalize with the humidity in the rest of the home.

Using a window air conditioner or your central HVAC system to dry out your problem area is more convenient and reliable than using any dehumidifier. If possible, look at those options first.

Water damage in the home requires immediate attention. Knowing what to do—and how to be prepared—saves time and money.

We have always focused on condensing dehumidifiers, the most common and practical type for homeowners. These machines work by drawing air over chilled metal fins, causing water vapor in the air to condense and collect in a bucket, from which you then manually empty the water, pump it out, or passively drain it.

We have also always focused on two "sizes" of dehumidifier: those meant for keeping large or challenging spaces, like cellars, comfortably dry, and those meant for smaller and simpler spaces, such as a bedroom or laundry room. Under current Department of Energy regulations (adopted in 2019, and more reflective of typical real-world situations than earlier rules), these machines are commonly designated, respectively, as 50-pint models (for spaces of up to about 1,200 square feet) and 20-pint models (for spaces of up to around 500 square feet). The pint numbers refer to the volume of water that a dehumidifier can remove from the air over the course of 24 hours, not the capacity of its bucket.

Because the Department of Energy regulations strictly constrain performance and energy-efficiency requirements, most dehumidifiers within a given "size" category work about the same. So we consider several other factors in narrowing our choices, including the following:

Ease of setup, maintenance, and operation: Dehumidifiers are heavy, so it's a plus if they have comfortable, sturdy handles and smooth-rolling wheels. Simple, well-lit controls are nice to have, too, as you may be running one of these machines in a dark basement.

Livability: Quiet operation is important in a dehumidifier, especially one that you’re using in a living space. Features such as built-in cord storage and easy-to-access drainage points (when you’re hooking up a hose for passive draining or removing it when the machine is not in use) make a dehumidifier less of a hassle to operate.

Owner reviews: Dehumidifiers are often asked to work around the clock for years at a time, so the long-term observations of owners is a valuable, if unscientific, record of their common experiences with a given model, both positive and negative.

Pump-equipped options: Pump-equipped dehumidifiers can send the condensed moisture upward into a sink or out a window. That feature lets you use them in almost any cellar or basement, even those lacking floor drains, and theoretically it means that you won't ever have to manually empty the bucket. However, pumps add up-front cost, and pump failures are common. We no longer prioritize a pump option in our picks, though we do note when one is available.

We’ve tested dehumidifiers multiple times, in multiple settings, including in a pair of unsealed, chronically damp basements in Buffalo, New York, but since 2020 we’ve run the machines in a 135-square-foot (13.5 by 10 feet) basement office at Wirecutter's Long Island City, New York, headquarters.

We use one of our humidifier picks to raise the humidity in the room, closing off the air-conditioning vents with tape and foil to minimize their effect on our readings. We then run each dehumidifier twice, once with both it and the humidifier on their highest settings, and once with each machine on low. These tests simulate, respectively, conditions in a very damp cellar after a rain event and conditions in a moderately humid living space. We run each test for an hour, during which we monitor the change in humidity using a digital hygrometer.

To get a sense of the dehumidifiers’ livability in a bedroom or a living room, we also measure their noise output from a distance of 6 feet.

Finally, we run each machine in an overnight shakedown test in the ambient conditions of our 3,100-square-foot open-floorplan basement test space to discern their extended performance and to assess their ability to reach and maintain a target humidity.

When relevant, we test the functionality and ease of installation (or lack thereof) of the apps associated with Wi-Fi–enabled models.

The huge drainage bucket in this powerful, effective, and reliable dehumidifier means fewer trips to the sink for emptying—but also requires heavy lifting.

The Midea 50 Pint Cube is a solid performer that's quieter than any other dehumidifier we’ve tried, and we’ve seen fewer reports of problems with Midea dehumidifiers relative to those from other major brands. The Cube doesn't look or work like any other dehumidifier we’ve tested, and that's a good thing—mostly.

It has greater capacity than other models. Whereas other dehumidifiers are single, self-contained machines, the Cube consists of two parts: a condenser unit and a separate bucket that it sits on top of when in use and nestles inside for storage. That design gives the Cube more than twice the typical capacity of other 50-pint dehumidifiers. It can collect 4.25 gallons of condensed water vapor, so you can go several days without needing to empty it, whereas competitors’ buckets often require daily emptying. This is a major distinction of the Cube, and we believe it adds a lot of convenience, but it can also make the Cube physically difficult to manage.

It has a reputation for reliability. Every other dehumidifier we’ve looked at over the years—even those we’ve made our top recommendation—has had a worrisome number of complaints about short service life and catastrophic mechanical failures. On retailer comment boards, the majority of dehumidifier owners have reported themselves as happy with their machines, but a steady 5% to 10% have reported that their dehumidifier went kaput. The Midea Cube lineup has been available for several years at this point, and reports of such failures for the Cube models are much less frequent.

It offers solid performance. The Cube reduced humidity just as well as most other 50-pint machines we tested, lowering humidity by about 13% over the course of an hour when set on high and by about 11% on low. (The humidifier we used to create a damp atmosphere was running on the same settings simultaneously.) Thanks to its daily capacity of 50 pints of moisture removal, it's capable of drying out large spaces, up to about 1,200 square feet.

It's energy-efficient. All of the Midea Cube dehumidifiers are Energy Star rated. That said, keep in mind that all dehumidifiers consume considerable power when their compressors are running, namely when they are removing moisture from the air. We measured the 50-pint Midea Cube at 460 watts when it was set on high.

It provides quiet operation. We measured the Cube at 51 decibels from 6 feet away with the machine's fan on high and its compressor running. It's the quietest 50-pint dehumidifier we’ve seen so far in our testing. When the compressor is not running, the fan emits an unobtrusive white noise, akin to that of a room fan or AC vent.

That big bucket comes with a big "but." Taking full advantage of the Cube's capacity can require a lot of fairly heavy lifting. To empty the bucket, you first have to lift the 38-pound compressor unit off. Then you have to maneuver the bucket—which also weighs nearly 40 pounds, when full of water—to wherever you can pour it out. The wide, comfortable handles help, but gravity is unforgiving. Based on our own testing and many positive owner reviews, we believe the trade-off is often worth making, but it's not for everybody.

The casters don't help much. The Cube comes with easy-to-install casters to help you roll it around, but they are cartoonishly small—about an inch in diameter, by our measurements—and they were of little use in our tests on uneven concrete floors, like what you might have in a basement.

If this model is too heavy, you have some options. Midea's 20 Pint Cube is somewhat lighter overall, as its condenser unit is about 30 pounds, and its full bucket weighs about the same. You can also set the 50 Pint Cube to turn off with its bucket less than full, reducing the weight that you have to lift. Or you can passively empty the Cube into a sink or floor drain via the included hose. Alternatively, consider our other picks: The 50-pint Frigidaire Gallery FGAC5044W1's bucket weighs about 20 pounds when full, whereas the 22-pint Frigidaire FFAD2233W1's bucket weighs about 14 pounds; in neither case do you have to lift anything but the tank. A pump-equipped version of the Midea 50 Pint Cube is also available, but if the pump fails—and they are prone to—you’re stuck with manual or passive draining.

The app may cause issues. The most common complaints from Midea Cube owners are that the app is buggy and hard to sync with a smartphone (all the models are Wi-Fi equipped), that the touted Alexa integration is unreliable, and that Midea customer service is of little help. We experienced the connectivity issue, even when using a known 2.4 GHz network, and we were never able to use the app. A Midea representative sent us an internal training video, and it showed that the app, when it's working, displays your current humidity level, lets you turn the machine on and off, and allows you to change settings such as the fan speed, target humidity, and timers. It also sends full-bucket alerts.

A less common but not infrequent complaint is that the Cube's humidity sensor is inaccurate. In our testing, it tracked about 5% above the pair of AcuRite hygrometers we used to take measurements. That result is not ideal, but the sensor is still accurate enough for most people's needs.

The owner manual is sparsely written, and its diagrams are vague to the point of uselessness. Midea's how-to video, thankfully, is a model of clarity.

Capable performance plus remote monitoring via an app make this model attractive for out-of-the-way areas, but judging from our experience, some Frigidaire dehumidifiers last only a few years.

*At the time of publishing, the price was $340.

If smart control is important to you, the Wi-Fi–equipped Frigidaire Gallery FGAC5044W1 has a particular advantage over the Midea 50 Pint Cube: In our tests, its app was stable and easy to connect with, and it delivered accurate alerts when the machine's bucket got full. (Both dehumidifiers work only on 2.4 GHz wireless networks.)

But the FGAC5044W1 has some drawbacks that made us reluctant to select it as our top pick.

It needs more frequent dumping. The FGAC5044W1's smaller bucket capacity (2.1 gallons versus the Cube's 4.25 gallons) is a disadvantage if you have to manually drain it, because it requires you to do so twice as often as our top pick does.

It may not last as long. A portion of Frigidaire dehumidifiers receive reports of mechanical failure from owners, usually after about three years. We’ve seen a similar pattern on competitors from GE that we’ve also tested. So far, Midea's dehumidifiers prompt fewer such complaints by comparison.

But it tests well. On the most important metric—the ability to remove moisture from the air—this Frigidaire model excelled, dropping the humidity in our test space by 12% on high and by 15% on low over the course of an hour. In addition to working with its useful app, it can respond to voice controls through Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant.

It's pretty easy to live with. A tuck-away handle and a cord hanger make the FGAC5044W1 easy to move in and out of storage. The hose attachment—which you use for passive draining into a sink or a floor drain—is easier to access than some competitors’ cramped, knuckle-scraping designs. And the FGAC5044W1 is much quieter than its predecessor, the Frigidaire FGAC7044U1, our prior smart-dehumidifier pick.

A note on air filtration: Beyond its primary dehumidifying function, the FGAC5044W1 also contains an ionizing "air purifier." As we do with the ionizers found in some of our air-purifier picks, we recommend leaving that feature off, as ionizers are of dubious utility and can generate small amounts of ozone. But in addition to the washable prefilter that the machine comes with, which is there to capture relatively large airborne contaminants such as pet hair, Frigidaire sells two upgraded filters, the RAC-1 and RAC-2, that can capture small airborne particles such as pollen and mold spores; these are not true HEPA filters, but they are worth considering if you’re concerned about the air quality in the space you’re dehumidifying.

This compact, efficient, and affordable dehumidifier is designed for smaller spaces such as bedrooms and laundry rooms.

If you need to dehumidify a smallish space (up to about 500 square feet), such as a laundry room or bedroom, a 20-pint dehumidifier is plenty—and will cost you less up front and to operate over the long term. Our pick among such machines is the 22-pint Frigidaire FFAD2233W1 dehumidifier.

It performs well for its size. This model tested well in our office-sized test space, dropping the humidity by 6% in an hour on both high and low (with a humidifier constantly adding moisture back into the air at the same time). That's about half the performance we got from the more powerful 50-pint machines, which makes sense: The FFAD2233W1 has only about half the larger machines’ moisture-removing capacity. Its bucket, at 1.125 gallons by our measurement, is the smallest among the models in our test group and the easiest to lift when full.

It's decent on design, power consumption, and noise. The FFAD2233W1 is Energy Star rated, which means it meets federal standards for energy efficiency. With the compressor on, it draws 260 watts—less than half of what its 50-pint cousins use—so it can save you a few bucks on your electrical bill. And it's no louder than the larger Frigidaire dehumidifiers, measuring 57 dB and 47 dB on high and low, respectively. The low setting is quiet enough to sleep near, and the sound mostly consists of the white noise of the fan, not the mechanical chugging of the compressor. The FFAD2233W1 also shares several of the design details that give the 50-pint Frigidaire models the edge in their category, including the cord hanger and the user-friendly external drain-hose attachment.

Frigidaire, maker of several of our picks, is switching to the newer, more efficient R-32 refrigerant in spring 2023, and we’ll look at those models when they become available. We also plan to look at the smaller Midea 20 Pint Cube as a possible budget/small-space pick.

The pump-equipped and Wi-Fi-enabled GE APHR50LB performed fine in our 2023 testing, but design shortcomings such as slippery, shallow pocket handles—really not safe for moving a 44-pound machine—and a hard-to-access hose connection for passive draining prompted us to dismiss it.

The Hisense HT5021KP is inexpensive for a 50-pint dehumidifier, and it could be worth a shot if you need help with a temporary humidity issue such as wet drywall from a minor plumbing leak. But the high rate of mechanical failure evident in buyer reviews led us not to recommend it.

We looked at and dismissed hOmeLabs's dehumidifiers, which had design shortcomings similar to those that led us to pass on the GE APHR50LB and were very similar to that model in overall form. We were never able to reach a company representative or get any useful information about the machines from customer service.

Two LG dehumidifiers, the barebones LG UD501KOG5 and the pump- and Wi-Fi–equipped LG UD501KOJ5, performed just as well as other 50-pint models in our testing. However, their compressors emitted a persistent mechanical hum that we easily heard over their fans’ white noise. They also have the most difficult passive-drain hose hookup of all the dehumidifiers we’ve tested, requiring you to remove an extremely stiff cap from the body of the machine and then thread an adapter into the tight confines of the bucket compartment.

Toshiba's TDDP5012ES2 (a Home Depot exclusive) is a pumpless 50-pint machine; the company also has a newer version with a pump included. For the TDDP5012ES2, we’ve seen an alarming number of complaints about the condenser icing up, the bucket leaking, the motor overheating, and the controls not working.

Overblown claims and questionable customer support led us to dismiss Tosot and Vremi dehumidifiers.

For previous versions of this guide, we had difficulty getting customer support from Whynter; again, we believe that better-known brands will serve you better on warranties and repairs.

This article was edited by Harry Sawyers.

Tim Heffernan

Tim Heffernan is a senior staff writer at Wirecutter and a former writer-editor for The Atlantic, Esquire, and others. He has anchored our unequaled coverage of air purifiers and water filters since 2015. In 2018, he established Wirecutter's ongoing collaboration with The New York Times's Smarter Living. When he's not here, he's on his bike.

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