The 5 Best Dehumidifiers of 2023 ( Local Tips & Reviews)

If you’ve ever used the words musty, muggy, dank, fuggy, wet, mildewy, or the dreaded moist to describe the air in your home, you may need a dehumidifier. We’ve been testing dehumidifiers for almost a decade, and we’ve found that many of the best perform as expected for a few years, then—maddeningly—die. Our latest hope for a longer-lasting machine that makes life easier in use is the Wi-Fi–equipped Frigidaire Gallery FGAC5044W1. The reality is that all the dehumidifiers we’ve tested perform about the same, but the Frigidaire Gallery’s especially quiet operation and ability to alert you when it needs to be drained set it apart from the competition.

Our pick

Frigidaire Gallery FGAC5044W1

Made for spaces of up to about 1,200 square feet, the Gallery’s Wi-Fi connectivity 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.

Buying Options

*At the time of publishing, the price was $310.

There aren’t many smart dehumidifiers available, but we’ve come to believe that the ability to monitor and control them remotely is a real plus. Dehumidifiers often need to have their collection tanks manually drained, and they’re also often used in an out-of-the-way corner of a home, like a storage cellar. Knowing from afar when the tank is full (and simply knowing whether the machine is operating as it should) can save you from extra trips to check on things. For that reason, the Frigidaire Gallery FGAC5044W1 is our top pick among dehumidifiers. Its Wi-Fi connectivity lets you monitor and control it via Frigidaire’s app (iOS and Android), and it can also be synced with Amazon Alexa and Google Home for voice control. The app is easy to set up, we found its alerts accurate, and we were able to cycle the machine through its settings with a touch of the screen. It’s suitable for spaces of up to about 1,200 square feet, and it’s Energy Star rated. We wish it had a pump, which eliminates the need for manual drainage, but if you can place it near a drain, the Gallery (like all dehumidifiers) can be set to drain itself passively via a length of hose.

Runner-up

Frigidaire FFAP5033W1

This model is powerful enough for spaces as large as 1,200 square feet, its built-in pump offers lots of drainage options, and design details make it easy to live with.

Buying Options

*At the time of publishing, the price was $289.

Frigidaire FFAD5033W1

Otherwise identical, this dehumidifier lacks a pump, limiting you to manually emptying the tank or passively sending the water down a floor drain. It’s also cheaper.

Buying Options

*At the time of publishing, the price was $279.

The Frigidaire FFAP5033W1 is powerful enough to drop damp cellars to less than 50% humidity—which helps to inhibit wood rot, mildew, and other infestations that can damage your home and trigger allergies. Upstairs, it can maintain the humidity in spaces as large as 1,200 square feet at conditions that are comfortable for most people. It is Energy Star rated and has several nice design details (such as a lay-flat carry handle and built-in cord storage) that make it easy to move around your home and to store in dry seasons. And we like the versatility its pump affords: All dehumidifiers have to be regularly drained of the water they remove from the air, and the FFAP5033W1’s pump lets you automatically direct the water into a sink or out a window. That said, the pump is also an extra part that can fail, and some negative owner reviews mention this happening. (The dehumidifier still works if the pump breaks.) We’ve also seen a number of reports in recent months—representing a tiny fraction of the overall reviews—of this model failing completely within a year or so of purchase. This isn’t unique to Frigidaire machines, but it’s a real disappointment to those affected. We spoke with a Frigidaire representative who shared with us internal help-center logs that showed no uptick in the number of failure complaints.

If you don’t mind emptying a tank manually (which may be necessary several times a day), or if you can can send the water down a basement-floor drain via a gravity-fed garden hose, the otherwise identical, pumpless Frigidaire FFAD5033W1 is a less expensive option.

Also great

Frigidaire FFAD2233W1

This compact, efficient, affordable dehumidifier is designed for smaller spaces such as bedrooms and laundry rooms.

Buying Options

*At the time of publishing, the price was $199.

Frigidaire’s FFAD2233W1 dehumidifier is smaller than our other picks—think carry-on bag versus suitcase—and costs far less. It’s less powerful too. But this makes it a better choice for smaller spaces such as laundry rooms, where burlier machines would be overkill. It has Energy Star certification, comfortable pocket handles, and the same handy cord storage the larger top-pick Frigidaire provides. But like all small dehumidifiers, the FFAD2233W1 lacks a pump, so you have to empty the tank manually or place the machine where it can drain into a sink or floor drain—which is rarely practicable in a home office or a bedroom.