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While larger dehumidifiers bring the power, intensity, and awe to get a large room under control, for small jobs in cramped spaces, you’ll do much better using small dehumidifiers. These machines can help take the damp edge off a room, generally don’t require piping or tubes to use effectively, and are much quieter than their bigger cousins. And with the benefits of dehumidifiers being so plentiful as to reduce allergens, help with asthma, and even reduce snoring, you deserve to have one in your room even if you don’t have a ton of space. With all that in mind, these are the best small dehumidifiers for any situation.
Best overall: Breezome 60Oz. Dehumidifier
Best splurge: Tenergi Sorbi
Best design: Posdry 27 Oz. Dehumidifier
Most eco-friendly: ProBreeze Mini
Best budget: Tabyik 42oz. Dehumidifier
How we chose the best small dehumidifiers
Our investigation of the best dehumidifiers for basements focused on the power and intensity of the dehumidifier. In other words, our selections were highly skewed toward dehumidifiers that could suck the most moisture out of the air in the quickest, most convenient, most comprehensive manner.
The best small dehumidifiers will also, naturally, have the capacity to suck a decent amount of moisture out of the air. That’s why we want dehumidifiers in the first place. But they’ll also be able to be lived around. This means quiet dehumidifiers that aren’t space hogs will rule the day. Bonus features promoting healthy air, like air filters for allergens, are also highly sought after, so long as an undue price increase doesn’t come alongside them.
The best small dehumidifiers: Reviews & Recommendations
The following dehumidifiers are small dehumidifiers—emphasis on the small. If you want a slightly larger one, check out our more expansive guide to the best dehumidifiers. Likewise, for the biggest, most powerful dehumidifiers, check out the aforementioned guide to dehumidifiers for the basement. But if you’re looking for a dehumidifier for crawl spaces or one that isn’t so large you have to crawl over it, we’ve got you.
Best overall: Breezome 60Oz. Dehumidifier
Specs
Size: 6.26 x 8.62 x 11.34 inches
Water removal capacity: 750ml per day
Drainage: 1800ml reservoir
Loudness control: 35dB Sleep Mode
Pros
Giant reservoir
Has timer and Sleep Mode
Includes water nightlight
Dual semiconductor technology
Cons
Pricier than most small dehumidifiers
Breezome’s dehumidifier has more power and capabilities than nearly any other dehumidifier of its price and size. Plus, it runs consistently well, utilizing dual semiconductor tech to pull more water out of the air despite the unit’s small size. Customers rave about the consistency of the product in small bedrooms.
A perfect sleep companion, the Breezome has a rectangular, boxy shape for stable placement on a bedside table. Its large, 1,800ml reservoir can even be lit up on demand for a liquidy bedside lamp or nightlight. When you’re ready to sleep, you can set the Breezome to Night Mode at the touch of a single button, reducing the fan speed. This will grant you a comfortable 35dB operating volume, enough to sleep by.
You’ll also find that the Breezome has features outside of its size bracket. While you’ll see the near-ubiquitous auto shut-off feature, there is also an automatic defrost mode as well. Very rare for even the absolute best small dehumidifiers, the Breezome includes a timer, allowing you to set the device to operate for 12, 24, 36, or 48 hours before shutting off. This can save you energy in the long run if you know when you’d prefer to use a dehumidifier but aren’t always around to operate it.
Best splurge: Tenergi Sorbi
Specs
Size: 8 x 8 x 12 inches
Water removal capacity: 750ml per day
Drainage: 1,000 ml reservoir
Loudness control: 35-42dB
Pros
Great water removal ability with decent reservoir size
Comes with HEPA filter for increased air quality
ETL plus CARB certified
Aesthetically pleasing
Cons
Replacement filters don’t come cheap
Air quality and health benefits. To so many people, these are the reasons it makes sense to get a dehumidifier, small or otherwise. The Tenergi Sorbi has a quality combination of providing drier and cleaner air through its system, so while it may be more expensive than the average small dehumidifier, it also does more work.
Depending on your fan speed setting, low or high, the machine will run between 35 and 42 dB and deliver 22 or 38 cubic feet of clean air per hour. In addition to being drier, this air is rated as clean due to the HEPA filter you can install inside. It sorts out 99.7% of particulate matter in the air that passes through it. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has certified this machine’s capabilities.
Best design: Posdry 27 Oz. Dehumidifier
Specs
Size: 5.7″D x 6.3″W x 9″H
Water removal capacity: Up to 350ml/day
Drainage: 800ml storage tank or 3.28ft drain tube
Loudness control: 30 – 40dB
Pros
Great for any room
Bright light reminds you when tank is full (if not auto-dumped)
Cost-effective
Cons
Might be too lightweight
If you want to drain the excess humidity from your bathroom, kitchen, or RV effectively, check out this model from Posdry. It provides the standard features of a small dehumidifier but also has a quality drainage tube for effortless reservoir clearing. This means you can place it on a shelf and weave the 3.28-foot (1 meter) tube to the side of your sink or into your toilet’s reservoir tank.
Note that we don’t recommend placing this next to your tub for safety reasons. You may also find that the machine’s body is a bit too light, weighing in at just under three pounds. This means that you might pull it off the shelf accidentally when adjusting the tube, or a pesky cat might easily tip it off the shelf. If you plan to use this technique for effort-free dumping, secure your dehumidifier in place.
Most eco-friendly: ProBreeze Mini
Specs
Size: 6.2 x 8.6 x 11.8 inches
Water removal capacity: 18 oz. per day (~540 ml)
Drainage: 52 oz. tank
Loudness control: “Whisper quiet”
Pros
Operating cost of just 12 cents a day
Pulls good moisture from air for its size
Wide, flat bottom
Includes handle
Cons
No sound guarantees
For a powerful small dehumidifier for consistent, around-the-clock use, consider the ProBreeze Mini. Rated to cost less than $4 a month during usage, you can feel comfortable using it for your 250 sq. foot room or crawl space that is getting too much humidity. Its wide, flat bottom will sit well on shelves and tables and isn’t prone to knocking over even when the surface it is on gets knocked.
The only detractor for this small dehumidifier is that the company offers no set decibel guarantee as to its volume, but merely states that it is “whisper quiet.” While this might indicate some variability in volume across units, there are few to any customer complaints about this issue. This is likely due to its use of Peltier dehumidification technology and 40-watt operation.
Best budget: Tabyik 42oz. Dehumidifier
Specs
Size: 5.6 x 6.37 x 11 inches
Water removal capacity: Unspecified (suitable for 320 sq. foot room)
Drainage: 42oz. (1200ml) reservoir
Loudness control: Runs at ~30dB
Pros
Great low price
Surprisingly fully-featured
Large reservoir
5-foot power cord
Cons
Signifies it is full in an annoying way
It is hard to get a dehumidifier under $45, barring sales. Oftentimes, you’ll think you’ve found one, only to realize you’ve only found a storage container for silica packets. Tabyik, however, provides a quality dehumidifier (including all the features you want, like auto shut-off and even defrosting) that we feel comfortable calling your best value pick.
You might be concerned that the Tabyik does not specify the maximum water removal per day and only gives a recommended room size. However, do note that water removal ratings are only for “ideal” room humidity and temperature conditions, and most dehumidifiers will not always reach them. In practice, we find that this dehumidifier works to fill up its large 1,200ml reservoir within just a few days. That’s more than enough to get the edge off of a room, which is the traditional usage for small dehumidifiers.
What we do find somewhat annoying about this dehumidifier is how it lets you know its reservoir is full and ready to dump. Where most small dehumidifiers will have a small LED light that will brighten to let you know they are full, the Tabyik makes its entire reservoir a bright red. This amount of light could potentially disturb your sleep if it happens to go full in the middle of the night.
What to consider before buying small dehumidifiers
It goes without saying that you should pay a lot of attention to a dehumidifier’s (small or otherwise) ability to remove water from the air. When choosing a small dehumidifier, especially for usage in a bedroom or bathroom, other particulars become more critical and can quickly be overlooked in the search for more power.
Water drainage ease
While larger dehumidifiers are usually both manually and automatically (via a tube system) dumpable, small dehumidifiers are more likely to be hand-dumped only. This means that when the reservoir gets full, you must manually dump it down the drain or on your plants.
This may seem minor, but you can expect to do it relatively often. Spilled water is worth no tears, but it can be rather annoying. Look for handles, wave-breakers, and automatic shut-off features that turn the dehumidifier off before it gets to the brim to make your manual dumping easier.
Since even the best small dehumidifiers tend to be cheap, you’ll want to be especially careful of any drainage system (whereby the dehumidifier will dump directly into a sink or other drainage port) carefully. Ensure the water out fittings are solid and take any customer reports of leaks seriously.
Loudness
Many of our small dehumidifiers live in our bedrooms with us, especially if we seek to use a small dehumidifier for health benefits. As such, be wary of loud dehumidifiers for bedroom use.
Many manufacturers will list a maximum loudness in decibels (dB) that the dehumidifier is intended to go at, and we will report that to you. Others, however, are variable or utilize other sound-dampening mechanisms.
For example, some dehumidifiers will engage in ‘night mode.’ While the specifics differ from product to product, this sort of mode usually means that the dehumidifier will trade water-removal power for a reduction in operation volume for set periods of time. Other times, however, it means that the dehumidifier will turn off completely during the night, reducing benefits.
Additional features
In general, even the best small dehumidifiers are going to be feature-light. Small dehumidifiers are purchased for their small size and added convenience, not to be multifaceted smart machines.
However, you will see an air purifier on the most premium of small dehumidifiers, such as a HEPA filter. This makes logical sense due to the fact that dehumidifiers are processing and filtering air, in a sense, by default. It’s just normal for them to be filtering the water out of the air. Particulate matter filtration is just one added step along the way.
Don’t, however, come to think that small dehumidifiers are meant to be completely featureless. Important features like automatic shut-off (turning off automatically when the reservoir gets full) are so ubiquitous that it would only be noteworthy if a dehumidifier (of any size) didn’t have such a feature. Auto defrost is also quite common.
What you’re unlikely to see on small dehumidifiers that is quite common on medium and large dehumidifiers is smart-home support or companion apps. And, frankly, you’re unlikely to want or use them. The best small dehumidifiers are used as needed, quietly in the corner.
FAQs
Q: How much does a small dehumidifier cost?
A small dehumidifier can cost anywhere from $40 to $90, with most costing around $60. Since the units are tiny, they will need a lot of extra features (such as air purification) to justify a price too much over the $60 mark.
Q: What is a cheaper alternative to a dehumidifier?
While getting a dehumidifier is your long-run cheapest solution, there are some clever ways to reuse silica gel and silica packets that can soak up some moisture. Depending on your situation, your home may suffer from high humidity due to too much or too little ventilation. Experimenting with opening and closing windows and ensuring your doors are properly sealed could help.
Q: What is the best mini dehumidifier for a small bathroom?
The best mini dehumidifier for a small bathroom is the Posdry 27 Oz. as it has a quality drainage tube. This means that you can use the dehumidifier on a shelf above your sink or toilet in your bathroom and have the condensed humidity automatically fall into the sink or toilet basin.
Final thoughts on the best small dehumidifiers
Best overall: Breezome 60Oz. Dehumidifier
Best splurge: Tenergi Sorbi
Best design: Posdry 27 Oz. Dehumidifier
Most eco-friendly: ProBreeze Mini
Best budget: Tabyik 42oz. Dehumidifier
The preceding small dehumidifiers represent your best options for getting a dehumidifier at an affordable price for your small room. They all emphasize affordability, tolerability, and everyday function over intensity and power. Remember, the best small dehumidifiers—if placed in typical locations for them—are objects to be lived around and should have the same feeling to be around as fans and other moving objects that are in our rooms but don’t affect our other activities greatly.
Why trust us
Popular Science started writing about technology more than 150 years ago. There was no such thing as “gadget writing” when we published our first issue in 1872, but if there was, our mission to demystify the world of innovation for everyday readers means we would have been all over it. Here in the present, PopSci is fully committed to helping readers navigate the increasingly intimidating array of devices on the market right now.
Our writers and editors have combined decades of experience covering and reviewing consumer electronics. We each have our own obsessive specialties—from high-end audio to video games to cameras and beyond—but when we’re reviewing devices outside of our immediate wheelhouses, we do our best to seek out trustworthy voices and opinions to help guide people to the very best recommendations. We know we don’t know everything, but we’re excited to live through the analysis paralysis that internet shopping can spur so readers don’t have to.
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