Will a dehumidifier increase your electric bill, or will it actually save you money?
Do dehumidifiers use a lot of electricity? How much do they cost a lot to run?
Are they worth the investment?
I am an electrical engineer with more than ten years of experience, and I wrote this article in order to help you make a wise decision on whether to get a dehumidifier or not, how to choose an energy efficient one, and how to run it to keep your bills as low as possible.
Without further ado, let’s jump in!
Do Dehumidifiers Use a Lot of Electricity?
Dehumidifiers do not use a lot of electricity to run when compared to bigger appliances like air conditioners and space heaters, however, having many small dehumidifiers in the same place running all together all the time, or using one big dehumidifier that runs 24/7 might consume a lot of energy.
Note that in some cases, you might not need to keep the dehumidifier on all the time, and many come with a timer or/and a humidistat that would turn it off after reaching the desired humidity level.
In any case, even if it was necessary to run the dehumidifiers all the time, the energy cost would usually be offset by reducing the maintenance costs as high humidity can cause damages to the house walls and furniture, in addition to the savings on medications that come from the health benefits of using a dehumidifier.
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How Much Electricity Does a Dehumidifier Use?
A dehumidifier uses between 0.025-0.075 kW of electricity when it is designed to work for small rooms of up to 300 sq.ft. (28 sq. meters), and between 0.3-0.8 kW when it is designed to work for a big space of 2,000-4,500 sq.ft. (185-420 sq. meters).
To put things into perspective, an electric fireplace consumes between 1,000-1,500 watts of electric power in order to run, and a 1-ton air conditioner uses around 1,000 watts of power to run, and these two are among the biggest contributors to electric bills.
This puts dehumidifiers in the same category of appliances like humidifiers that don’t use a lot of electricity.
The exact amount of electricity a dehumidifier consumes depends on its design, the space it serves, the air flow it is designed to give, and on the manufacturer.
How Much Power (How Many Watts) Does a Dehumidifier Use?
A dehumidifier uses between 24 and 75 watts of power for the small size that is used for small rooms and spaces, and between 300 and 800 watts or more for the big size that serves a whole house, shop, or office.
This is the continuous use of electricity that is required to run the dehumidifier at any moment, and the amount of electric energy that is measured on the meter depends on the power and on the time duration at which you leave the dehumidifier on.
How Much Energy Does a Dehumidifier Use?
A dehumidifier uses between 0.025-0.075 kWh (kiloWatt-hour) of energy per hour of use for the smaller ones that serve small rooms, and between 0.3-0.8 kWh of energy per hour of use for the big dehumidifiers that serve a whole house, office, or shop.
This is how many kWh’s a dehumidifier uses per hour, and it is the amount that is recorded by the utility meter for every hour of operation.
The total amount of electric energy the dehumidifier uses per day or month depends on its actual size and power rating, and on how many hours you leave it every day of the month.
How Much Electricity Does a Dehumidifier Use per Day?
A dehumidifier uses between 0.6-1.8 kWh of electricity per day for the small size ones that serve small to medium rooms of up to 300 sq.ft., and between 7.2-19.2 kWh of electricity per day for big dehumidifiers that serve between 2,000-4,500 sq.ft. areas.
You can find these number by multiplying the energy consumption per hour by 24.
0.025*24 – 0.075*24 = 0.6 – 1.8
And
0.3*24 – 0.8*24 = 7.2 – 19.2
This is assuming that you leave the dehumidifier on and on the highest setting 24 hours a day.
In some cases, you might not need to leave the dehumidifier on all the time, depending on how fast and high the humidity rises.
Some dehumidifiers come with timers and humidistats in order to automatically turn them off after a certain time of operation, or after lowering humidity to the desired level.
This means that the actual use of electricity of a dehumidifier might be much less than these estimates.
How Much Electricity Does a Dehumidifier Use per Month?
A dehumidifier uses between 18-54 kWh of electricity per month for the small ones that serve small or medium rooms, and between 216-576 kWh of electricity per month for the ones that serve big spaces of 2,000-4,500 sq.ft., assuming that they were left on all the time on the highest setting.
This is by multiplying the numbers in the previous sub-section by 30.
The actual electricity consumption per month depends on the dehumidifier’s actual wattage, the setting you leave it on, and the total time it was kept running.
Are Dehumidifiers Expensive to Run?
Dehumidifiers can be cheap to run if you use one or few small ones, even if you leave them on all the time.
For bigger dehumidifier, they can be moderately or expensive to run, depending on their size and on the number of hours you leave them on.
Do Dehumidifiers Increase Your Electric Bill?
Dehumidifiers will add to your electric bill an amount that might ranges from few dollars into sixty dollars a month or more, depending on their size, their power rating, and the number of hours you leave them on.
However, this increase is sometimes necessary in order to maintain a healthy environment that would save you money on medications and on the maintenance bill as moisture can cause damages to home and furniture that might cost a lot of money to repair.
Also, during the summer, high humidity makes it feel even hotter, and a dehumidifier might help bring down the humidity level to where you don’t need to run the air conditioner that consumes a lot of electricity, which helps in lowering the air conditioning bill that is reflected on the electric bill.
How Much Does it Cost to Run a Dehumidifier?
On average, a dehumidifier costs around 16.8 cents a day, and around $5 a month for a single room dehumidifier that uses around 50 watts of power to run, and it costs around $1.85 per day, and around $55.4 per month for the whole house big dehumidifier that uses an average of 550 watts to run.
This is based on the average electricity rate of 14 cents per kWh, and on the average size of single-room dehumidifiers and whole house dehumidifiers, assuming that they were left on all the time.
The actual cost of running the humidifier changes based on its actual power consumption, on how many hours you leave it on, and on the electricity rates that change from one company to another.
For example, in Idaho, consumers pay less than the average electricity rate, and in California, consumers pay more than the average.
How Much Does it Cost to Run a Dehumidifier 24 Hours a Day?
The cost of running dehumidifier for 24 hours a day is between 8.4-25.2 cents per day for the single-room ones that use between 25-75 watts to run, and between $1-$2.7 per day for big dehumidifiers that use 300-800 watts to serve an area of around 2,000-4,500 sq.ft.
How Much Does it Cost to Run a Dehumidifier per Month?
The cost to run a dehumidifier per month is between $2.5-$7.5 for a small dehumidifier that serves one room, around $30 for a dehumidifier that serves a space of around 2,000 sq.ft., and around $75 for a dehumidifier that serves around 4,000 sq.ft. space.
This is considering that they where left on for 24 hours a day, and based on the average price of 14 cents per kWh.
The average cost might be lower if you don’t need to keep the dehumidifier on for 24/7 in order to maintain a healthy a comfortable humidity level.
And the actual cost could be different depending on the actual energy price, and on how much power your dehumidifier uses, as some dehumidifiers consume more power than others even if they were designed to serve the same area.
How to Choose Energy Efficient Dehumidifiers?
When buying a dehumidifier, it is good to consider buying ones that are energy efficient and fit for the use, and to do so, consider the following:
- A dehumidifier that is designed to serve an area that is equal or a bit larger than the area you need it for.
- The energy efficiency of the dehumidifier as some dehumidifiers use more than others even when serving the same area.
- The CFM (cubic feet per minute) rating as different dehumidifiers that are supposed to serve the same area might have different CFM ratings, which affects the dehumidifier’s ability to extract humidity.
- The availability of multiple settings, a timer, and a humidistat that can help in regulating the operation of the dehumidifier instead of running it on the highest setting all the time.
Energy Star Dehumidifier
Dehumidifiers that are Energy Star certified consume less energy than comparable dehumidifiers in the market, and there are many brands that sell dehumidifiers that have the Energy Star certificate, such as:
- Honeywell TP30WKN 30-Pint Energy Star dehumidifier for spaces of up to 2000 sq. ft. (298 watts)
- Honeywell TP50AWKN Smart 50-Pint Energy Star dehumidifier for space of up to 3000 sq. ft. (319 watts)
- Honeywell TP70WKN 70-Pint Energy Star dehumidifier for spaces of up to 4000 sq. ft. (759 watts)
- hOmeLabs dehumidifiers with the coverage area of 1,500-4,500 sq.ft.
There are many other dehumidifiers that don’t consume a lot of electricity even though they might not be Energy Star certified, such as:
- Pro Breeze electric dehumidifier for spaces up to 215 sq. ft. (23 watts)
- SEAVON dehumidifier for spaces up to 240 sq. ft. (22 watts)
- Lexenic dehumidifier for spaces up to 320 sq.ft. (45 watts)
- Crane 1.5-pint compact dehumidifier for spaces up to 300 sq.ft (75 watts).
- Gocheer dehumidifier for spaces up to 480 sq. ft. (48 watts)
- HUMILABS 22-pints dehumidifier for spaces up to 1,500 sq.ft. (165 watts)
- ALORAIR LGR industrial dehumidifier for spaces up to 2,300 sq.ft. (618 watts)
- BlueDri BD-130P 225PPD industrial dehumidifier for spaces up to 4,000 sq.ft. (800 watts)
And many others.
Conclusion – Dehumidifiers Can Lower Your Bills
Dehumidifiers don’t use a lot of electricity when sizing them properly and when regulating their usage through timers and humidistats.
They can actually be money-saving as they can help improve the living conditions, and they can reduce your maintenance bills if your place gets a high humidity level in a way that might cause property damages.
Also, they can help you save on the cooling bill in the summer as they can be used to give comfort during the hot whether in high-humidity situations without having to keep the air conditioner on all the time.
I hope that my short article was helpful and that I have answered you on all of your questions!
If you still have more questions or need help on this matter, please, tell me in the comments’ section below, and I will do my best to help you out 