Dehumidifiers are exceptionally useful devices for a plethora of reasons, however, they do come at a price. And unfortunately, in addition to their initial price, they can also have a rather hefty periodical impact on your electricity bill.
So, how much electricity does a dehumidifier use? This will largely depend on the model and quality of the unit you’re using. Generally, a dehumidifier can cost anywhere between $25 and $350 per year. The lower end of that spectrum usually relates to the portable mini dehumidifiers or to homes that don’t use their units too often. Larger units that take up to 70 pints or more of moisture from the air per day every day, however, can reach $350 per year.
Does the Energy Star rating mean anything?
Indeed it does. Dehumidifier energy usage tends to be up to 30% lower for units with identical volumes that have an Energy Star certificate. So, especially if you want a powerful dehumidifier that’s to be used near constantly, picking a quality unit with an Energy Star rating is a great idea, regardless of its initial price.
So, how to know how much power does a dehumidifier use based on its Energy Star rating? Here’s how it works – this rating system divides dehumidifiers into 2 categories based on their capacity. For products with a capacity of <75 pints per day, you’d want an “Energy Factor” (labeled as EF or EEV and measured in liters per kWh) of 1.90 or more. For dehumidifiers with a capacity between 75 and 180 pints per day, you’d want an Energy Factor over 2.80. Anything less than that and your dehumidifier will be consuming more power than it should.
How many watts does a dehumidifier use per hour?
The power consumption of dehumidifiers is calculated in kilowatt-hour, i.e. in thousands of watts per hour. Depending on the individual model’s capacity, its kilowatt-hour (kWh) consumption should be listed on it. As a general rule of thumb, you can expect a good 30-pint unit to consume about 320 watts per hour (0.32 kWh), a good 50-pint unit – ~515 watts per hour, and a good 70-pint unit – ~745 watts/hour. Of course, in any case, you’d want it to have an Energy Star rating.
How much does it cost to run a dehumidifier 24/7 and is that a good idea?
In most cases, you don’t have to let your dehumidifier run constantly. Most modern models come with humidity levels and their automatic settings will turn them off when they don’t need to dehumidify the air anymore. So, it’s perfectly possible for your device to run only 12 hours per day. Nevertheless, however long you use your dehumidifier per day for, just multiply that per the unit’s hourly energy consumption and you’ll have your daily power expenditure.
