Home › Guides

What Does a Dehumidifier Cost to Run? Data From 552 Models

Last updated September 26, 2026 · How we calculate

Short answer: based on ENERGY STAR ratings, a typical certified 50-pint-class portable dehumidifier is rated at about 520 kWh a year, roughly $95 a year at the U.S. average price of 18.31¢/kWh. A typical 20 to 30-pint unit is rated at about 283 kWh, roughly $52 a year.

Those ratings assume a standard amount of use. A unit running around the clock all summer will cost more; one that runs a few weeks a year will cost less.

What we analyzed

On September 26, 2026 we downloaded the EPA's full list of ENERGY STAR certified dehumidifiers: 552 listings (528 portable, 24 whole-home) from 137 brand names. Each listing includes the rated water-removal capacity (pints per day), the efficiency (integrated energy factor, IEF, in liters per kWh) and a rated annual energy use in kWh. Many listings are the same machine sold under several brand names, so the number of distinct designs is smaller than the number of listings.

Yearly energy use and cost by size

Rated capacity (portable)ModelsMedian kWh/yrRange kWh/yrMedian yearly cost*
Under 20 pints/day88181105–413$33
20 to 29.99 pints/day177283242–886$52
30 to 39.99 pints/day94374333–388$68
40 to 60 pints/day169520430–530$95

*At the U.S. average residential price for July 2026 (18.31¢/kWh). Source: our analysis of 552 ENERGY STAR listings retrieved 2026-09-26.

Two patterns stand out. First, energy use scales with capacity: a bigger unit uses more electricity per year in these ratings because it is assumed to remove more water. Second, efficiency is tightly bunched within each size, because most models sit just above the ENERGY STAR minimum. In the 30 to 60-pint range the median IEF is exactly 2.01 L/kWh, which is the Version 6.0 threshold for portable units rated 25.01 to 50 pints per day.

Don't oversize (but don't undersize either)

Since the rated cost rises with capacity, buying far more capacity than you need can mean paying for a bigger machine that is assumed to use more power. On the other hand, a unit too small for a very damp space may run constantly. When comparing capacities, remember that ratings changed in 2019: the Department of Energy test now runs portable units at 65°F instead of 80°F, which produces lower pint numbers. ENERGY STAR's own comparison says an old 70-pint unit is roughly a 40 to 45-pint unit on today's scale, an old 60-pint roughly 35 pints, and an old 50-pint roughly 30 pints. Advice written for the old ratings will point you to a bigger number than you need.

How to compare two models

  1. Match the capacity first (within a few pints per day, same rating system).
  2. Then compare IEF. Higher IEF means more water removed per kWh.
  3. Price the difference. Our dehumidifier cost lookup ranks every certified model in a size class by rated yearly energy use and prices it at your state's electricity rate.

ENERGY STAR also marks some models as "Most Efficient". In our download, 126 of 552 listings carried that label, most of them in the smaller size classes.

A note on data quality

For each listing we checked whether the rated annual kWh is consistent with its own capacity and IEF. For most models the numbers line up with roughly 1,100 hours of operation per year. A few listings do not: several report two to three times more energy than their capacity and IEF would imply, a few whole-home units report noticeably less, and one lists a capacity equal to its IEF, which looks like a typo. We have not removed them from our lookup, but we flag them so you can double-check the listing before relying on it.

Related

Sources