When you need a dehumidifier, you REALLY need one. Whether you’re dealing with a water leak, mould, rainy days or humidity, a good dehumidifier can help take care of your damp dramas.
But a dud dehumidifier will only extract one thing: the dollars in your bank account.
Not only can dehumidifiers be expensive to buy, they can be pricey to run, so choosing a poor-performing model will see you losing money twice over.
One dehumidifier in our review scored just 6% for water removal.
Choosing a poor-performing model will see you losing money twice over
With a score that poor, you might find that a better use of your cash is to use a fan or a cheap product like DampRid.
Priced between $200 and $419, the four worst performing products in our test fall at the cheapest end of the price range for dehumidifiers and, unfortunately, we’ve found that cheaper models don’t always perform as well.
This Breville model may have very good energy efficiency but its water removal score is poor.
CHOICE Expert Rating: 50%
Water removal score: 15%
Price: $419
This dehumidifier received one of the lowest water removal scores – just 15% – which hurts considering it costs $419.
It fares well for energy efficiency, which means you’ll save a bit of money on its running costs.
(Though that’s arguably not that helpful if it’s not actually doing the job you bought it to do).
Don’t write the brand off completely though – other Breville models fared better in our testing
If you can stretch your budget a little further, our review has uncovered other models that will give you much better overall performance for your money – in fact, we recommend a few models that cost less than $450.
Don’t write the brand off completely though – other Breville models fared better in our testing, so do your research to ensure you buy the right one.
This Kogan klutz scored just 6% for water removal, which was the lowest score of all the models we tested.
In fact, two of the three Kogan dehumidifiers we tested make this list to avoid, and the other only narrowly missed out on being included by a few points, so you’ll probably want to avoid the brand altogether if you’re in the market for this kind of appliance.
Not only do they not perform well, but they also offer only a poor one-year warranty, which suggests that the manufacturer doesn’t have much confidence in the product.
This Kogan klutz scored just 6% for water removal, which was the lowest score of all the models we tested
It did receive a rating of “very good” for energy efficiency and is easy to use, but how beneficial is that if it can’t do the one job you need it to do well?
Efficient and easy to use but not great at water removal.
CHOICE Expert Rating: 59%
Water removal score: 49%
Price: $389
This dehumidifier from Dimplex is very energy efficient, but that doesn’t make up for the fact that it doesn’t score well for water removal, scoring only 49%.
It’s not the worst performer in our review for this test, but 49% is far from a good score.
You’d be disappointed if you spent almost $400 on this model to find it’s not great at the one job you need it to do. If you can spend a little more, there are other options that we’ve tested that’ll give you better performance.
Pru Engel is the Audience and Engagement editor at CHOICE. Her job is to ensure as many Australians as possible know about the great work we do at CHOICE.
She works closely with our testers and experts to find the gems of information in our data and research that will resonate with Australian consumers and help them make the best decisions, whether they're purchasing an air fryer, looking for a new mattress or trying to find the cheapest car insurance. She also helps to drive meaningful change for consumers by collaborating with our Campaigns team on content covering issues such as grocery pricing, product safety and scams.
Prior to CHOICE, Pru worked as an editor at many of Australia's leading food and lifestyle titles.
Pru has a Bachelor of Arts in Communication (Journalism) from the University of Technology, Sydney.
Find Pru on LinkedIn.
Pru Engel is the Audience and Engagement editor at CHOICE. Her job is to ensure as many Australians as possible know about the great work we do at CHOICE.
She works closely with our testers and experts to find the gems of information in our data and research that will resonate with Australian consumers and help them make the best decisions, whether they're purchasing an air fryer, looking for a new mattress or trying to find the cheapest car insurance. She also helps to drive meaningful change for consumers by collaborating with our Campaigns team on content covering issues such as grocery pricing, product safety and scams.
Prior to CHOICE, Pru worked as an editor at many of Australia's leading food and lifestyle titles.
Pru has a Bachelor of Arts in Communication (Journalism) from the University of Technology, Sydney.
Find Pru on LinkedIn.
Rebecca Ciaramidaro is a Content producer in the Household team at CHOICE. Rebecca writes about a wide range of children's and household products, ranging from cots and strollers to ovens, BBQs, espresso machines and electric blankets. And also grocery items such as nappies, sanitary pads and laundry detergents.
Previously at CHOICE, Rebecca worked as a Test officer in the kitchen lab.
Rebecca has a Bachelor of Science (Nutrition and Food) from the University of Western Sydney.
Find Rebecca on LinkedIn.
Rebecca Ciaramidaro is a Content producer in the Household team at CHOICE. Rebecca writes about a wide range of children's and household products, ranging from cots and strollers to ovens, BBQs, espresso machines and electric blankets. And also grocery items such as nappies, sanitary pads and laundry detergents.
Previously at CHOICE, Rebecca worked as a Test officer in the kitchen lab.
Rebecca has a Bachelor of Science (Nutrition and Food) from the University of Western Sydney.
Find Rebecca on LinkedIn.
Alice Richard is a Content creator and marketer. Alice writes on a range of topics, from health insurance to heaters and BBQs to bargain-hunting, always with the aim to help consumers find the best products to buy, and which to avoid.
Alice can take vast amounts of data from CHOICE product tests and turn it into content that is easily digestible and fun for readers.
Alice has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Queensland. LinkedIn
Alice Richard is a Content creator and marketer. Alice writes on a range of topics, from health insurance to heaters and BBQs to bargain-hunting, always with the aim to help consumers find the best products to buy, and which to avoid.
Alice can take vast amounts of data from CHOICE product tests and turn it into content that is easily digestible and fun for readers.
Alice has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Queensland. LinkedIn
For more than 60 years, CHOICE has been fighting the good fight for Australian consumers.
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