We've crunched the numbers for the biggest dehumidifier manufacturers, including DeLonghi, Ebac and Meaco, and have calculated a customer score for each, so you know which brands are recommended by owners. Water tank capacity: This is how much water the unit can hold, ranging from around 250ml to six litres. The smaller the dehumidifier, the more regularly you’ll have to empty the tank, though some larger models have a continuous drainage option through a hose. Because we understand how important the views of real people are, we always seek recommendations from the Mumsnet forums to ensure the information we give you is based on unbiased, trusted opinions from those who have bought the products themselves. Expert opinions litres – medium capacity. Suitable if there are more of you creating moisture through activities such as showering, cooking and washing clothes at home, and/or your damp problem is more severe.

Timer Allows you to program the dehumidifier to turn on and/or off after a specified time. This could help you to save money if you're on a tariff offering cheaper energy at certain times of day, or if you want to leave the dehumidifier on for a few hours after going out, but you don't need it on all day.If you have a serious damp or condensation problem, it’s worth buying a model with a bigger tank so that it keeps working all night. How to choose the best dehumidifier for your home A dehumidifier is ideally placed where there is excess moisture, it could be a bathroom, or utility room, or even a bedroom where there damp in the walls

Noise: A dehumidifier's noise levels can fall between 34dB to 60dB - 34dB being a whisper and 60dB being the same as a normal conversation. If you choose to run your dehumidifier at a lower fan speed, it will make less noise but may be less effective. Think about where you are using it and whether it will disturb you.litres – large capacity. A sensible choice if you have a lot of moisture that you need to get rid of fast. For example, clearing up after a flood or dealing with lots of water in the air through drying laundry indoors. The advantages of this type of dehumidifier are that they tend to be larger, more energy efficient and much more widely available. The problem is that they don’t work well in lower temperatures as the coils need to be colder than the room, or they start to freeze. Once that happens, a compressor dehumidifier focuses on de-frosting itself over reducing humidity, so they aren’t a great option for garages or cellars. They also tend to be much noisier, and depending on your noise-level preference, this can irritate people. Should you leave a dehumidifier on all the time? Wheels/castors These could come in useful if your dehumidifier is heavy – they can weigh from 6kg to more than 16kg. Our trials showed that moisture absorbers won’t do much to reduce damp in a room that’s routinely used for drying laundry. So moisture absorbers can help with small day-to-day damp issues, but shouldn’t be relied upon for any serious damp-busting. That said, dehumidifiers aren’t the most stylish-looking devices. Hence, you’re unlikely to want a large unit sitting in the middle of your lounge but still think carefully about its placement. If the moisture comes from a leaky window or front door, place it near them.