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 get relief from a dehumidifier.
We say may because, though dehumidifiers do measurably dry the air, they have also long suffered from a shocking rate of mechanical failure. The problem spans multiple brands and years of testing (although we’re cautiously hopeful after the first couple of years with the Midea Cube and its innovative design). With any dehumidifier, we also suggest addressing the causes of moisture-infiltration issues to improve your odds of long-term success.
Our pick
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 Most Efficient–rated, Wi-Fi–equipped Midea 50 Pint Cube is unique among 50-pint dehumidifiers in that it can collect 4.25 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, connecting the Midea app can be 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.
Also great
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.
The ability to monitor and control a dehumidifier remotely is a plus, since these machines often do their work 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 FGAC5045W1 allows you to monitor and control it via Frigidaire’s app (iOS and Android), and you can also sync it with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant for voice control.
The app is easy to set up. We found its alerts to be accurate, and we were able to cycle the dehumidifier through its settings with a touch of the screen.
The 2.1-gallon bucket in the FGAC5045W1 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. Like the Cube, the FGAC5045W1 carries an Energy Star Most Efficient rating.
In owner reviews, Frigidaire dehumidifiers receive more complaints of mechanical failure than the Midea Cube does, but Frigidaire’s superior app makes this dehumidifier worthy of consideration if you need remote monitoring and control.
Also great
This compact, efficient, and affordable dehumidifier is designed for smaller spaces such as bedrooms and laundry rooms.
Frigidaire’s FFAD2234W1 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 Most Efficient certification, comfortable pocket handles, and the same handy cord storage that the larger Frigidaire Gallery FGAC5045W1 provides.
Like most small dehumidifiers, the FFAD2234W1 lacks a pump, so you have to empty the bucket manually (a full bucket weighs about 12 pounds) or place the machine where it can drain into a sink or a floor drain. Although it has performed reliably in our testing, this model, which carries a one-year warranty, shares the common dehumidifier problem of simply not lasting as long as many people expect it to.
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