Dehumidifiers are a must-have household item in practically every home. Its major purpose is to remove heat and moisture from the air, which prevents mold spores and household dust from growing. It is an excellent air conditioner substitute.
Let’s take a look at some of the most important aspects of dehumidifiers, such as how many amps and watts they consume.
How many Amps & watts does a dehumidifier use?
On average, a dehumidifier draws 3.2-5.2 amps and consumes 500-600 watts/hour. However, the number of amps and watts used by a dehumidifier varies depending on its kind, model, and time of operation. Different dehumidifiers, such as 20 pints, 30 pints, and 70 pints, utilize different amps and watts.
A dehumidifier is apparently an appliance that reduces the amount of humidity in the air and maintains it to a certain level to provide comfort to its users.
Because they are not very old, dehumidifiers can be considered a recent invention of the twentieth century. It was invented in 1902 by an American inventor named Willis Carrier.
Nowadays, various kinds of dehumidifiers are available in the market. Among them, some are for home use and some are made for commercial use.
The number of amps and watts that a dehumidifier will need depends on the amount of moisture it is able to remove from an area within a certain period. This is referred to as a pint.
The number of amps and watts will increase proportionally as pint increases. Here are the numbers of amps and watts that some popular dehumidifiers consume:
20 pints:
This is the smallest of all dehumidifiers. As this is the smallest of all, it consumes the least amount of electricity to operate. These kinds of small dehumidifiers pull around 2.6 amps and 286 watts which makes the electricity efficient and popular.
22 pints:
This is another small dehumidifier. This particular one pulls around 2.7 amps and297W. Compared with the 20 pints one, this is not much of a difference.
30 pints:
These are widely used in homes for personal use. This kind of dehumidifier is popular for its compact size and cheap price. It draws around 3.2-5.2 amps and needs around 352-572W to operate.
50 pints:
This is another popular form of the dehumidifier. This is widely used in large rooms and personal offices. This dehumidifier uses needs around3.6-7.2 amps and draws around396-792W to operate.
70 pints:
These are used in office spaces and meeting rooms. They are also used in houses where there is a lot of humidity around. These consume the most electricity among all dehumidifiers.
It pulls 3.1-7.5 amps and draws 341-825W to operate properly. Thus, it can be said that this particular dehumidifier is the most power-hungry. Although there are higher pint-rated dehumidifiers available in the market.
Dehumidifier Amps & Watts usage:
| Dehumidifier size | Amps usage in 110V (amps) | Watts usage in 110V (W) |
|---|---|---|
| 20 pints | 2.6 | 286 |
| 22 pints | 2.7 | 297 |
| 30 pints | 3.5-5.2 | 325-572 |
| 50 pints | 3.6-7.2 | 396-792 |
| 70 pints | 3.1-7.5 | 341-825 |
How many amps and watts does a portable dehumidifier use?
There are different types of portable dehumidifiers available in the market nowadays.
Of them, a portable 30 pint uses 3.217 amps and 370W with 115V. Besides, a 70-pint portable dehumidifier uses 6.348amps and 730W with 115V.
Moreover, the overall electricity usage by a portable dehumidifier is not more than 0.89 kW per hour. 5.56 kWh is considered as the most common range of electricity consumption by a portable dehumidifier.
Although, the number of amps and watts could vary depending on the type of portable dehumidifier, its model, and also the voltage.
Do Dehumidifiers Use A Lot of electricity?
There is still a debate going on whether dehumidifiers use a lot of electricity or not. Some sources suggest that it increases your overall electricity bill, and some say that it uses a very little amount of electricity compared to our daily home appliances.
As there are quite strong arguments in favor of dehumidifiers using less electricity, thus it can be said that dehumidifiers do not use a lot of electricity. On the other hand, portable dehumidifiers also do not use a lot of electricity and are quite user-friendly.
Home appliances like a water heater, hairdryer, and AC use more electricity than a dehumidifier. Again, if we look at the electricity usage of a dehumidifier in an hour, we can see that its range starts from 0.20-0.97 kWh.
In the United States of America, the most common range of electricity usage of a dehumidifier for an hour is between 0.418-0.547 kWh. In addition, the amount of energy used by 30 pint and 70-pint dehumidifiers are only 300W and 700W respectively.
Therefore, it can be said that dehumidifiers and portable dehumidifiers both use less amount of electricity while running.
How expensive is it to run a dehumidifier?
Based on 573 models of dehumidifier, the average cost of a dehumidifier to run per hour, per day, per month and per year are as follows:
Cost per hour to run a dehumidifier:
On average, the cost of running a dehumidifier for an hour is 6 cents in the United States of America. But, this cost could vary depending on the cost of electricity and the type of dehumidifier that you are using.
The per-hour electricity cost while running a dehumidifier can be 3.5-14.8 cents. Again, in most of the places of the USA, the common hourly cost is usually 7-8 cents.
Cost to run a dehumidifier for a day:
The average cost to run a dehumidifier for a day is $1.56. Although, the range of cost starts from $0.83-$3.54 per day. In most of the places of the USA, the common daily cost is usually $1.98.
Cost to run a dehumidifier for a month:
On average, the cost of running a dehumidifier for a month is $46.08 in the United States of America.
But, as it has been also mentioned before, this cost is not fixed and could vary depending on the cost of electricity, the type, and the model of dehumidifier that you are using.
Cost to run a dehumidifier for a year:
The cost to run a dehumidifier for a year can range from $25-$350. The common yearly cost in a major portion of the USA is usually $59.15.
An estimated price chart of a dehumidifier of 50 pints with the rate of $0.057 per kWh is given below:
The estimated cost of running a Dehumidifier:
| Time | Electricity usage(kWh) | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Per hour | .35 | $0.01 |
| Overnight | 4.20 | $0.24 |
| 1 day | 8.40 | $0.48 |
| 1 month | 235.2 | $13.41 |
| 1 year | 3066.00 | $175.76 |
Does a dehumidifier use more electricity than an air conditioner?
No, a dehumidifier does not use more electricity than an air conditioner. But there are a few factors that might be responsible for varying the amount of electricity usage in both of these appliances.
For example, if an air conditioner runs for 24 hours and a dehumidifier runs for 12 hours, definitely, the electricity usage by the air conditioner will be more compared to that of the dehumidifier and vice-versa.
But, if both the appliances i.e. the air conditioner and the dehumidifier, are run for 24 hours straight, the electricity usage by the dehumidifier will be 5.52 kWh. On the other hand, the average electricity usage by an air conditioner for 24 hours is about 15.4kWh.
Therefore, compared to the air conditioner, a dehumidifier uses less electricity.
Do older dehumidifiers use more electricity? Are new ones more energy efficient?
Yes, older dehumidifiers use more electricity compared to those of modern-day dehumidifiers. Besides, the new and modern dehumidifiers are more energy-efficient as well.
The old dehumidifiers use up to 23.8 kWh in a day on average. Moreover, the energy consumption by energy-efficient dehumidifiers is only 5.52 kWh which is very much less compared to that of old dehumidifiers.
Thus, older dehumidifiers use more electricity and the new dehumidifiers are very much energy efficient.
Does a dehumidifier reduce or increase your electric bill?
A dehumidifier reduces your electric bills as it overall consumes very little amount of electricity.
The function of a dehumidifier is to reduce the moisture in the air in order to keep your surroundings cool and fresh. Therefore, as the air already remains cool, it becomes almost unnecessary to use an air conditioner on sunny days.
As dehumidifiers consume less electricity than air conditioners as we have already discussed before, dehumidifiers allow you to do savings, reducing your electricity bill.
Final thoughts
Dehumidifier draws around 3.2-5.2 amps and consumes 500 – 600 watts/hour on average. Although, the number of amps and watts will vary based on the rate of humidity it can remove from the area. The high amount of humidity that a dehumidifier can remove, the more amps and watts it will need to run.