Cost to run a dehumidifier per day and per month

What a dehumidifier costs

At 17 cents a kilowatt hour, a dehumidifier costs 5.1 cents an hour while it is drawing power. 12 hours a day with 100 percent average draw is 3.60 kWh a day, $18.36 a month and $223.38 a year. Change any of those three numbers in the calculator and the answer moves with them, because there is nothing else in the sum.

The label figure is 300 watts. That is what the device draws while it is working, not what it draws around the clock.

Hours of use a day	Energy a day	Cost a month	Cost a year
1 h	0.30 kWh	$1.53	$18.62
2 h	0.60 kWh	$3.06	$37.23
4 h	1.20 kWh	$6.12	$74.46
8 h	2.40 kWh	$12.24	$148.92
12 h	3.60 kWh	$18.36	$223.38

What changes the number

• Compressor models draw 250 to 350 W while the compressor is running. Desiccant models draw slightly more but keep working in a cold garage, which is where compressor units stop removing much water.
• The load follows the humidity, not the clock. A sealed damp basement can run near-continuously in spring and autumn, while a dry room may need two hours a day.
• Every litre of water removed costs roughly 0.3 to 0.5 kWh, so a unit pulling 20 litres a day is the expensive end whatever the wattage says.

Find your own wattage

On the rating plate, usually next to the water tank. The current draw in amps multiplied by your mains voltage gives the same figure.

What this does not include

It does not count the extra heating or cooling that follows from drier air feeling warmer or cooler, which is real but small in a basement.

Check it against your own numbers

The [running cost calculator](../index.html?device=dehumidifier) opens with this device already selected and its wattage filled in. Replace the wattage with your own reading, set the hours you actually use, and the monthly and yearly figures update in place.

Related: [A 1,500 W space heater](../space-heater/index.html), [An electric blanket](../electric-blanket/index.html), [A window air conditioner](../window-ac/index.html).