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If you've ever used the words musty, hot, humid, foggy, damp, musty, or terrible humidity to describe the air in your home, you may need a dehumidifier. We've been testing dehumidifiers for nearly a decade, and we've found that many of the best ones work as expected for a few years and then, crazily, die. Our last hope for a longer-lasting machine that makes life easier to use is the Frigidaire Gallery FGAC5044W1 with Wi-Fi. The reality is that all the dehumidifiers we've tested perform about the same, but the Frigidaire Gallery's ultra-quiet operation and ability to alert you when it needs emptying sets it apart from the competition.
Top Rated Dehumidifiers Consumer Reports
Designed for spaces up to 1,200 square feet, the gallery's Wi-Fi connection alerts you when the tank is full. Its app is stable and easy to install, and it also works with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant.
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There aren't many smart dehumidifiers out there, but we found the ability to monitor and control remotely to be a real plus. Collection containers for dehumidifiers often need to be emptied by hand and are often used in a remote corner of the home, such as a storage basement. Knowing from a distance when the tank is full (and simply knowing if the machine is working properly) can save you extra trips and checking things. This makes the Frigidaire Gallery FGAC5044W1 our top pick for dehumidifiers. Its Wi-Fi connection lets you monitor and control it via the Frigidaire app (iOS and Android), and it syncs with Amazon Alexa and Google Home for voice control. The app is easy to set up, we found its alarms to be accurate, and we were able to navigate through the machine's settings by touching the screen. It is suitable for up to 1200 square meters and is Energy Star certified. We wish it had a pump to eliminate the need to manually drain the water, but if it can be placed near a drain, the Gallery (like all dehumidifiers) can be set up to passively drain through a hose.
This model is powerful enough for up to 1,200 square feet, its built-in pump offers multiple drainage options, and design details make life easier.
Otherwise, this dehumidifier does not have a pump, which limits the manual emptying of the tank or the passive drainage of water through the floor drain. It's also cheaper.
The Frigidaire FFAP5033W1 is powerful enough to reduce humidity below 50% in wet basements – helping prevent wood rot, mold and other infections that can damage your home and trigger allergies. Above, it can maintain humidity in rooms up to 1,200 square meters in conditions that are comfortable for most people. It's Energy Star rated and has a number of nice design details (like a flat handle and built-in cord storage) that make it easy to move around the house and store during the dry season. We love the versatility the pump provides: all dehumidifiers require regular drainage of water extracted from the air, and the FFAP5033W1 pump allows you to automatically direct water to the sink or out the window. Nevertheless, the pump is an additional part that can fail, and some negative owner reviews mention it. (The dehumidifier will still work if the pump fails.) We've also seen several reports in recent months — just a fraction of all reviews — of this model failing completely within a year of purchase. This is not unique to Frigidaire machines, but a real disappointment for those involved. We spoke with a Frigidaire representative who shared with us internal help desk logs that showed no increase in error complaints.
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If you don't mind emptying the tank by hand (which may be necessary several times a day) or, if you can, draining the water down the basement drain via a gravity garden hose, the otherwise identical Frigidaire FFAD5033W1 is pumpless. cheaper option.
This GE matches the performance of the top-rated Frigidaire, but is less user-friendly due to the clunky drain connector and lack of cable storage.
The GE APER50LZ is nearly identical to the Frigidaire FFAP5033W1 in key ways: It has the same daily water removal capacity, is Energy Star rated, and has a pump to help drain water into the sink or out the window. Compared to the Frigidaire, some of the minor drawbacks of the APER50LZ are the narrow, pocketed handles that provide a less secure grip, and the lack of room to wind the cord when moving or storing the machine. . As with Frigidaire models, the proportion of negative reviews indicates early failures around two years.
The Frigidaire FFAD2233W1 Dehumidifier is smaller than our other picks—think carry-on instead of suitcase—and costs a lot less. It is also less powerful. However, this makes it a better choice for smaller spaces such as laundromats where filling machines are overloaded. It's Energy Star certified, has comfortable pocket handles and the same convenient cord storage as the larger Frigidaire series. But like all small dehumidifiers, the FFAD2233W1 doesn't have a pump, so you'll need to manually empty the reservoir or place the machine where it can drain into a sink or floor drain—rarely feasible in a home office or bedroom.
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If you have a basement or ground floor or garage - especially one with a lingering musty smell - you may need a dehumidifier. These spaces experience increased humidity due to groundwater intrusion, and constant humidity above 60% can encourage mold, mildew and insects, some of which can aggravate certain allergies. These rooms often lack air conditioning and heating, which helps keep the rest of the home dry in the summer.
Above-ground spaces can also suffer from increased humidity. The laundry room is a common example due to the frequent presence of wet clothes. Enclosed porches can be a problem because they are usually not as well insulated from the outside elements as the rest of the home and, like basements, may not be connected to air conditioning and heating. The same applies to attics, garages, closets and other spaces that are not well equipped with air conditioning and heat.
Your nose can help you determine if you have a moisture problem: Persistent wear is a sign of mold and mildew, which indicates elevated moisture levels. (An inexpensive humidity meter, like the AcuRite hygrometer we used in our testing, can help identify suspected problem areas.) Even without signs of odor, problems can occur in spring and fall in four-season climates with moderate temperatures and low heating. or using an air conditioner can cause higher humidity throughout the home.
The dehumidifiers described here have limitations. If your basement is chronically very wet, this is only a temporary way to reduce the symptoms until you tackle a significant, often expensive, permanent solution to the underlying problems. (The Old House's guide to wet basements is helpful.) Dehumidifiers aren't powerful enough to deal with regular basement flooding or to dry out saturated walls and floors after a flood or other major weather event; these jobs require large fans and potentially a commercial portable dehumidifier. (Both are available for rent locally in many regions; search online for flood control specialists.)
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The models in this manual work by drawing air onto cooled metal fins, causing the water vapor in the air to condense and drain into a tank where it drains. The mechanism is similar to air conditioners (and refrigerators), but since dehumidifiers don't cool the air in a particular room by transferring heat to the outdoors like air conditioners do, they can operate at low temperatures - anything below 40°C is above F or so - that is usually in uninsulated rooms. As a result, dehumidifiers raise the temperature of the room in which they are located. If you want the room to be drier and cooler, air conditioning should be your first choice if possible, whether it is installing a window or a new one. central air ducts.
We've always focused on condensation dehumidifiers, which are by far the most common and practical type for homeowners. They are available in a variety of sizes that maintain comfortably dry air in large and small rooms; like air conditioners and refrigerators that work similarly, they are strictly regulated for energy efficiency; and like them, they are set-and-forget devices.
In 2019, the US Department of Energy (DOE) revised its performance and efficiency testing standards for dehumidifiers to better reflect typical use cases than before. (The new tests are conducted at a lower temperature—65°F vs. 80°F, which is similar to conditions in typical basements.) This meant that manufacturers had to redesign their dehumidifiers, which in turn resulted in a major overhaul.
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