The Best Dehumidifiers

The Eva-Dry is a different kind of dehumidifier. It’s filled with desiccant beads using the same moisture-absorbing principles as those ubiquitous silica packages that are tucked into electronic boxes and food to keep the contents dry. The Eva-Dry works without electricity … at first. You simply place your Eva-Dry in your luggage, your car, your boat, RV, display cabinet, or any small space. Over time, depending on the level of moisture, the beads will change from orange to green. When the Eva-Dry beads turn green, it’s time to plug it in to dry out the beads back to orange.

I know I’ve seen the Eva-Dry before I ordered one to demo; I can’t remember if it was in an antique shop or a doctor’s office, but it was familiar to me. Invented over 20 years ago in humid Florida, the Eva-Dry has a full line of desiccant humidifiers designed for portability, and they might offer the right amount of drying power for your needs.

The Midea Cube 20 is a powerful dehumidifier that nests into its own cube for compact storage. I was surprised by how much I liked the user-friendly design. Its intuitive control panel and easy-to-pair smart app make this particular dehumidifier a solid addition for anyone who needs to dry out their home. The Cube is also quieter than other models I’ve tested, humming along at a quiet 20 decibels on its lowest fan setting and at around 40 decibels at its highest. It reminded me of the sound of a small fan. The Cube has three speeds, and there is an option to attach a hose for continuous drainage.

What sets the Midea Cube apart isn’t just its large-capacity 3-gallon tank and solid app, but it also takes into consideration those of us who do not have endless garage space. The fact that I can nest the Cube inside its bucket when not in use means I can tuck the 13-inch square into a storage closet. There are four well-made optional wheels that are easy to mount, making the Cube painless to move around. The wheels are an important design feature for those of us who find its 33 pounds (without water) to be heavy. I had to use my hand truck to transport the Cube up three flights of stairs. And while the Cube doesn’t have a designated “laundry dry” mode, you could easily use its lowest setting to dry hanging clothes or items that take forever to dry, like a weighted blanket.

This 13-pound dehumidifier is without a refrigerant. Instead, it works with zeolite desiccant material. Like Eva-Dry’s Renewable Mini Dehumidifier above, the EVD-4000 works with the same dehumidification principle but at a much larger scale. It has a rotating desiccant ceramic disk to pull in moisture and is able to dry out a 440-square-foot room. It's lighter and quieter than the other dehumidifiers I’ve tested, but that comes with the higher price. And because the EVD-4000 doesn’t require refrigerant, it’s able to work in a variety of temperatures. It has a blue-light ionizer and air filter to capture some particulate matter. And the air blowing from the unit is warm. It is barely audible at its lowest setting and is around a quiet-ish 60 decibels at its highest setting.

When I first plugged in the EVD-4000 it gave off an off-putting smell, like heated plastic, but true to the manual’s word, it soon dissipated. I also worried that the EVD-4000 would somehow impact the indoor air quality of my son's 250-square-foot room. It did not. I set the ideal humidity at its highest setting of 35 percent and checked my various indoor air quality monitors. They were reading a high 62 percent humidity. I wondered how long it would take EVD-400 to deliver its 35 percent target. It took four hours to get to 46 percent humidity, but after seven hours, the tank was filled and EVD-4000 turned off. The EVD-4000 includes a drain hose for continuous drainage, and that would be ideal to use, as its water reservoir is too small for continuous dehumidifying. It also has three swinging louvers, a clothes drying mode, and a pullout tank to collect water.

Like the Honeywell Smart, the GoveeLife portable dehumidifier has an app. It also has a continuous drain hose and a 2-gallon water tank. It’s capable of removing between 49 and 109 pints a day depending on the temperature. The higher the temperature, the more water it’s able to remove. The unit weighs nearly 40 pounds, but I was able to move it around on its wheels. It had that disappear-into-the-room white design, and while I wouldn’t run it at full blast in my bedroom, it was quieter at its lower settings.

It also had something I hadn’t considered before: laundry mode. I was more than curious, as I hate running my dryer and knew that countries like Denmark have drying rooms where they line-dry their clothes with the aid of a dehumidifier. Could I increase my energy efficiency and dry my clothes simply by running my dehumidifier? Why, yes! I was able to dry two bath towels, a cotton T-shirt, a tennis skirt, and several hand towels in four hours. In that time, the 2-gallon tank was almost at capacity. It was also a day with nearly 80 percent humidity. I liked the GoveeLife as a dehumidifier, but the big takeaway was having a real alternative to my dryer.

I love this demure dehumidifier with its seven changing mood lights and clear window revealing its water tank. The Breezome has become my bathroom nightlight and mold fighter all in one. At under $60, the Breezome is not a basement humidifier, nor does it have the power to dry laundry (at least not in a short period of time), but the Breezome is small enough to fit next to the tub in my bathroom. It’s slowly (over several days) filling with water, and it is one of the coolest appliances I have in my home at the moment.

I could see the Breezome being a gateway dehumidifier, and perhaps it will start showing up in dorm rooms too. I like the timer settings that are 12, 24, 36, and 48 hours. There’s also a sleep mode along with overfloor protection. And while its tiny size keeps it from being truly effective at mitigating high indoor moisture levels, it offers some support in small spaces.