6 Best Dehumidifiers Under $250, Tested by Our Experts
These reasonably priced models from Midea and TCL can help you keep your indoor humidity in check
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The old adage “you get what you pay for” doesn’t necessarily apply to dehumidifiers. Some of the highest-rated models in CR’s tests cost less than $250, which is good news in the middle of a summer that’s been brutally sticky across much of the country.
The heat dome that settled over the central and eastern U.S. during the Fourth of July weekend put roughly 150 million people on alert. But scorching temperatures tell only half the story. It’s the moisture in the air that makes that heat so oppressive, especially when you’re trying to sleep.
High indoor humidity also breeds the dust mites, mold, and musty odors that make a home miserable long after a heat wave breaks.
That’s where a dehumidifier comes in. It’s a simple appliance that can draw excess moisture from the air, taking some of the load off your air conditioner.
This helps to prevent the spread of dust mites and other allergy triggers that can be found around your home. It can also rid a space of musty odors while deterring a host of potential health problems that can arise from high humidity levels. A number of models in our dehumidifier ratings deliver that kind of performance without high prices.
But which model should you buy? When shopping for a dehumidifier, let your room’s square footage guide you. In our lab tests, we divide dehumidifiers into three categories based on how much water each model is supposed to remove from the air in a day. For example, a small-capacity dehumidifier can remove up to 30 pints of moisture per day, while a large model can handle 40 or more pints per day.
Our experts suggest that you consider buying a dehumidifier with a larger capacity than you might technically need. It will dry your room faster, and you won’t have to empty the tank as often. Read our sizing guide to determine the right humidifier for your space.
Below is CR’s roundup of the best dehumidifiers under $250, including models of all sizes.
You may also be interested in our article on the best dehumidifiers as well as our dehumidifier buying guide, which offers insights into how CR tests dehumidifiers, the features that matter most, and what to consider when shopping for a dehumidifier for your home.
CR members also get access to our full suite of dehumidifier ratings, so you can really dig into the data.
Best Large-Capacity Dehumidifiers Under $250
A large-capacity dehumidifier can easily run north of $300, but you don’t have to spend that to get one that performs well. The TCL TDW40E20 is not only the highest-rated large-capacity model at this price but also one of the more budget-friendly picks, period. It’s advertised to pull 40 pints of moisture from the air per day, and it backs that up with a very good score for water removal and an excellent score for energy efficiency, so it won’t punish you on your electric bill. It’s also fairly quiet, has a 14-pint tank, and includes convenient touches like auto-restart, which returns the unit to its prior settings after a power outage. It doesn’t have a built-in pump, so you’ll have to drain it using gravity or empty the tank by hand. As a brand, TCL earns good marks for reliability and midlevel ratings for owner satisfaction for its dehumidifiers in CR’s member surveys.
If you’d rather have a built-in pump to push water up and out a window, the Midea MAD50PS1AWBL is a 50-pint alternative. It’s advertised to remove 50 pints of moisture from the air per day, and according to our testers, it’s decent at meeting that claim. The 13-pint tank, however, is on the smaller side relative to that capacity. But you might not have to worry about emptying the tank, because the model comes with a hose that can drain the water into a sink or outside a window.
This dehumidifier scores well in our tests for energy efficiency and is also fairly quiet. As a brand, Midea’s dehumidifiers receive a favorable rating for reliability and a midlevel rating for owner satisfaction in CR’s member surveys.
Best Medium-Capacity Dehumidifiers for Under $250
The medium-capacity Midea MAD35S1QWT is the highest-rated model in our dehumidifier ratings, and at this price, it delivers a lot of value. Able to remove 35 pints of moisture per day, it knocks our water-removal, energy-efficiency, and convenience tests out of the park and earns an excellent score for noise, making it one of the quietest in its class. It has a digital display, a built-in water pump, a drain hose, and a timer, plus a very large 37-pint tank that holds more than many large-capacity models.
The Midea MAD35C1AWS offers great performance at a budget-friendly price. This medium-capacity model should be all you need for a typical room because it pulls more than 30 pints of water per day, earning a stellar rating for water removal. The machine is also very quiet, though its humidistat accuracy is only so-so. The dehumidifier has Energy Star certification and also scored well in our energy-efficiency tests. It doesn’t come with a hose, but the 14-pint tank is relatively large for its capacity, meaning you won’t have to empty the tank frequently.
Best Small-Capacity Dehumidifiers for Under $250
Our top-scoring small-capacity dehumidifier is the Midea MAD20S1QWT. This model earns standout ratings for water removal, noise, convenience, and humidistat accuracy in CR’s lab tests. It’s also relatively energy-efficient, comes with a drain hose, and features some nice bells and whistles, such as a timer and an auto-restart feature that turns the machine back on to its prior settings after a power outage. It has a 28-pint tank, which is fairly large for this category.
Available for the lowest price in this roundup, the small-capacity TCL TDW20E20 is hard to beat. It rates near the top of its category, with excellent marks for both water removal and energy efficiency. Claimed to pull 20 pints of moisture per day, it’s a strong fit for a bedroom, office, or other modest-sized room. The 7-pint tank is on the small side, so if you don’t want to empty it often, you can run it with a gravity drain hose. All in all, this model is proof that keeping a room’s humidity in check doesn’t have to be expensive.
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