The best dehumidifiers for an apartment

The drain constraint, which nobody writes about

Every buying guide in this category assumes a floor drain. Apartments do not have one. The bath, the shower tray and the kitchen sink are all above the machine, which rules out gravity drainage entirely, and running a hose across a living space is not a thing anyone actually does.

So an apartment dehumidifier is a bucket appliance, and the specification that governs your life is tank volume. Our registry runs from 0.62 to 1.8 gallons. At 30 pints a day, a 0.62 gallon tank fills in about four hours of active running - though in a room that is only moderately damp, actual collection is far lower and a tank may last a day or two.

The practical version: pick the largest tank you are willing to carry, and put the machine within a short walk of a sink. A full 1.7 gallon tank is about 14 pounds, and the awkward part is not the weight but crossing a room with an open container of water.

The bill is yours, so run time matters

Two things reduce that number honestly. Set a realistic target - 50% rather than 40% - because the last ten points of humidity cost disproportionately. And use a schedule if the unit has one: several here run from an app, and running during off-peak hours is a real saving on a time-of-use tariff. Neither of those is a compromise on the result.

Quick picks

#	Product	Best for	Draw	Price
1	Waykar 30 Pint ENERGY STAR DehumidifierA small-footprint unit sized for one room, and one of the cheapest ways to buy an ENERGY STAR Most Efficient claim at this capacity.	An apartment or a single damp room	Not published	Check price on Amazon #ad How we are funded
2	hOmeLabs 32 Pint DehumidifierThe one hOmeLabs unit with a named entry in the ENERGY STAR list, so it is the one where the running cost is a published figure rather than a class estimate.	A bedroom that is damp but not wet	318 W	Check price on Amazon #ad How we are funded
3	Honeywell Smart Wi-Fi 30 Pint Dehumidifier (TP50AWKN)The anti-spill design is the actual selling point here, and it is a better reason to buy than the voice control the listing leads with.	A room you want to run on a schedule	Not published	Check price on Amazon #ad How we are funded
4	hOmeLabs 8 Pint DehumidifierA real compressor unit at a size where most competitors sell thermoelectric toys, which makes it the smallest machine here that actually removes meaningful water.	A closet, a boat, or a single small room	Not published	Check price on Amazon #ad How we are funded

1

Waykar

Waykar 30 Pint ENERGY STAR Dehumidifier

Best for: An apartment or a single damp room

A small-footprint unit sized for one room, and one of the cheapest ways to buy an ENERGY STAR Most Efficient claim at this capacity.

Average draw

Not published

No published wattage. The certified 30-32 pint class runs 293-318 W with a median of 318 W across 21 certified models, and Waykar's own certified CTH120 series sits at 318 W.

What is good

• +Small enough to live in a closet or beside a washer without being in the way
• +Roughly a third less power than a 50-pint unit for a room that does not need one
• +Continuous drainage supported, not just the bucket
• +The most sensible coverage claim in this registry relative to its capacity

What is not

• -0.62 gallon tank, the smallest here
• -No published wattage
• -30 DOE pints is not a basement machine

Who it is for

Apartments, bedrooms, and single rooms where the humidity is a comfort problem rather than a structural one.

Skip it if

Skip it for anything below grade. A basement will beat it, and an undersized machine runs constantly, which costs more than the bigger one would have.

2

hOmeLabs

hOmeLabs 32 Pint Dehumidifier

Best for: A bedroom that is damp but not wet

The one hOmeLabs unit with a named entry in the ENERGY STAR list, so it is the one where the running cost is a published figure rather than a class estimate.

Average draw

318 W

Computed from the ENERGY STAR certified entry hOmeLabs HME0089: 32.46 pt/day at IEF 2.01 L/kWh. This is the only hOmeLabs capacity in this registry with a named certified entry, which is why it is the only one carrying a number rather than a band.

What is good

• +318 W against the 50-pint class median of 488 W - about 35% less to run, hour for hour
• +Named in the ENERGY STAR certified list, so its IEF is public
• +Quiet enough for a bedroom in a way that a 50-pint compressor generally is not
• +Wi-Fi and auto shut-off at a small-unit price

What is not

• -32 DOE pints is genuinely less water than 50 - undersizing a wet basement costs more than the machine saved
• -Gravity drainage only
• -4,500 sq ft coverage for 32 pints is another claim to ignore

Who it is for

A bedroom, a home office, or a small basement that is humid rather than actively wet.

Skip it if

Skip it if the floor is ever damp to the touch or the walls sweat. That is a 50-pint problem, and a 32-pint machine will run continuously and still lose.

3

Honeywell

Honeywell Smart Wi-Fi 30 Pint Dehumidifier (TP50AWKN)

Best for: A room you want to run on a schedule

The anti-spill design is the actual selling point here, and it is a better reason to buy than the voice control the listing leads with.

Average draw

Not published

Not published. Honeywell's certified 32-pint entries, the TPFIT32AWK and TPFIT32WK, compute to 318 W at 32.46 pt/day and IEF 2.01. This is a different product line, so that figure sits in the note rather than in the spec table.

What is good

• +Anti-spill bucket, which matters more than any app feature if the machine lives upstairs
• +Scheduling through the app, so it can run when electricity is cheapest
• +ENERGY STAR certified at a small-room capacity
• +Alerts on the phone rather than only a beep in an empty room

What is not

• -No published wattage, and the certified list carries a different Honeywell line
• -3,000 sq ft for 30 pints is an optimistic claim
• -Depends on Honeywell's app remaining supported

Who it is for

An upstairs room or a rental where a spilled bucket is somebody's ceiling, and where scheduling is genuinely useful.

Skip it if

Skip it if the machine will sit on concrete next to a drain. You would be paying for spill protection and scheduling that a floor drain makes irrelevant.

4

hOmeLabs

hOmeLabs 8 Pint Dehumidifier

Best for: A closet, a boat, or a single small room

A real compressor unit at a size where most competitors sell thermoelectric toys, which makes it the smallest machine here that actually removes meaningful water.

Average draw

Not published

Not published. The certified 8-13 pint class runs 92-128 W with a median of 105 W across 39 models, and the median unit in that class uses 117 kWh a year.

What is good

• +A compressor at 8 pints, so it keeps working where a Peltier unit stops
• +Roughly a fifth of the power of a 50-pint machine
• +Wi-Fi and auto shut-off, unusual at this size
• +Small enough to sit in a wardrobe or a berth

What is not

• -1,800 sq ft coverage for 8 DOE pints is not a serious claim
• -Bucket only - no continuous drain at this size
• -Not ENERGY STAR certified, so no published IEF

Who it is for

Closets, gun safes, boat cabins, and single small rooms where a large machine is absurd.

Skip it if

Skip it for any room where you can feel the damp. Eight pints a day is a maintenance dose, not a cure.

Before you buy: is it condensation or a leak?

Apartment damp splits into two very different problems and they need different responses. Condensation damp appears on cold surfaces - window reveals, external corners, behind furniture against an outside wall - and is caused by ordinary living moisture in a space that is under-ventilated. That is what a dehumidifier fixes.

Penetrating damp or a plumbing leak appears as a patch that is wet regardless of the weather, often with staining, sometimes growing. A dehumidifier will run permanently, remove water indefinitely, and never resolve it - and in a rental, documenting it and telling the landlord is both the fix and your protection. A machine that quietly manages a leak also quietly conceals it.