Best Smart Dehumidifiers

Prices in this article are U.S. manufacturer prices checked November 2026. All assessments are research-based and untested.

Section 1: Which smart dehumidifier is worth buying? (Introduction)

The best smart dehumidifier is the Levoit Smart Dehumidifier with 24/7 Pump Drainage at $299.99: 25 pints a day under the current DOE test, a built-in pump, a MERV 11 filter and auto-defrost in one unit. The humidistat, not the app, does the work.

A dehumidifier is the one air appliance where the smart features are genuinely optional. It runs for hours at a time, usually in an empty basement, and its job is to hold a moisture level rather than follow a schedule. What decides whether it works is capacity, drainage and the temperature of the room.

The five units below have a published U.S. price and a documented humidity setting. Three are hOmeLabs, one is Levoit and one is Dreo, because those are the brands that publish specifications and prices on their own sites; that is a limit of the market, not an endorsement. Nothing was supplied or tested by a manufacturer. Prices were checked on 10 November 2026, and several are seasonal.

Section 2: How many pints per day does a basement actually need?

Size by pints per day and by how damp the space is, not by the square-footage number on the box, and read the test condition before you compare two ratings.

Capacity is the amount of water a unit removes in 24 hours, and it depends on two things: the size of the space and the conditions in it before you start. ENERGY STAR publishes a table for exactly that, and it is the most useful sizing tool a buyer has.

The agency’s advice on the choice between two rows is blunt: it is better to oversize than undersize. A unit that is too small runs all day without reaching its target.

The rating changed, and the labels did not all change with it. Since June 2019 the Department of Energy’s test procedure has measured portable dehumidifiers at 65°F instead of 80°F, because a basement is closer to 65°F than to a laboratory’s 80°F. ENERGY STAR says the 15-degree reduction means a unit tested to the new procedure will likely report a smaller capacity than the same machine under the old one. Its correlation table puts an old 30-pint rating at about 20 pints today, an old 40 at 25, an old 50 at 30 and an old 70 at 40 to 45.

That matters because both numbers are still on sale. An advertisement that says 50 pints at 80°F is describing roughly a 30-pint unit by the current measure. Three picks below publish 80°F figures and one publishes 65°F, so the columns are not directly comparable until you account for it.

The humidistat is the product. Every ENERGY STAR dehumidifier includes a built-in humidistat, a setting that names a relative-humidity target and cycles the compressor on and off to hold it. That is the whole automation, and it is the part that keeps a basement at 50 percent instead of at whatever the weather sends. The EPA puts the healthy range below 60 percent, ideally 30 to 50, and ENERGY STAR narrows it to 30 to 40 during the heating season to keep windows from condensing.

Wi-Fi adds a narrow set of things to that: you can change the target from upstairs, check the room while you are away, get an alert when the bucket is full, and ask a speaker to switch it off. None of it removes more water. If a unit has no humidity readout, the EPA suggests a separate hygrometer, a gauge that costs roughly $10 to $50.

Section 3: How do the five dehumidifiers compare on capacity and drainage?

The five units differ less on capacity than their labels suggest and more on drainage: only two can pump water uphill. Prices run from $174.99 to $309.99, and the gap between the smallest and largest machine is narrower than the headline numbers imply.

Read the capacity column with the test condition attached. The Levoit figure is a 65°F number. The three hOmeLabs figures are 80°F numbers, and the ENERGY STAR correlation puts a 30-pint rating from that older test at about 20 pints today, so the 25-pint hOmeLabs row lands below that and the 50-pint row lands near 30. Dreo lists 73 pints and ENERGY STAR 6.0 certification but does not state the test condition on the product page, which is exactly the transparency problem this table is meant to expose.

The coverage claims are the least trustworthy column. The Dreo has the highest capacity here and the smallest coverage claim, at 2,000 square feet. The hOmeLabs 50-pint claims 7,500 square feet. Those two numbers cannot both describe the same physics. Coverage is a marketing figure, and the capacity rating plus the ENERGY STAR sizing table is the honest way to choose.

Drainage is the column that decides where the unit can live. Only the Levoit and the hOmeLabs 50-pint have a pump, which lifts water upward to a sink, a window or a utility drain. The Dreo and both smaller hOmeLabs units rely on gravity, so the hose has to run downhill the whole way. A gravity unit in a basement with no floor drain is a bucket you empty by hand.

Compatibility is narrower than the feature lists suggest. None of the five advertises Matter, Apple Home, SmartThings or a local API, so all five are cloud-dependent. The hOmeLabs 25-pint names Alexa and Google Assistant; the other two hOmeLabs models say “voice assistants” without naming them; the Levoit page names the VeSync app but not the assistants; and Dreo’s 733S page names its own app but no voice assistants. Confirm the pairing before you buy if voice control is the reason you are paying for Wi-Fi.

Section 4: What goes wrong when a dehumidifier runs in a cold basement?

Below 65°F the coil frosts, and a unit without auto-defrost can cycle on and off without removing water while still drawing power.

Frost is the first failure. ENERGY STAR warns that frost can form on the condensing coils when the air drops below 65°F, which makes the compressor short-cycle and stop pulling moisture. The fix is to switch the unit off and let it defrost, or to buy a model with an anti-frost sensor that does it automatically. The Levoit and the Dreo 733S both list auto-defrost. A cold northern basement in January is the case that separates them from a unit rated only for a warm room.

Drainage decides how often you touch it. A gravity hose needs a continuous downhill run to a floor drain or sump, with no loop that traps water. ENERGY STAR warns against running a drain hose near electrical cords or circuits and against stretching a long hose across a walking path. If the unit is nowhere near a drain, the bucket is the plan, and a full bucket is heavy: water weighs a little over eight pounds a gallon.

Placement is simpler than it used to be, with one caveat. Most portable dehumidifiers now discharge air from the top, so they can sit against a wall. If yours does not, leave space around it for air to circulate. Close the doors and windows to the space while it runs, and keep it away from sawdust and dirt, which clog the coils and the filter. A dehumidifier fighting an open window is a dehumidifier drying the outdoors. Do not mistake the warm air around it for a fault: ENERGY STAR notes that a dehumidifier warms the space slightly as it condenses moisture, which is a small bonus in a cool basement and a reason not to expect air conditioning in summer.

The bucket is a standing-water problem. It is the part that smells, and the part no app cleans. Empty it, wipe it dry and wash the filter on a schedule you will actually keep. A washable filter, which the Levoit and all three hOmeLabs units list, is the low-maintenance choice. Empty the bucket before a long trip rather than leaving a full one to sit for two weeks.

The internet is not the dehumidifier. Every pick depends on a cloud service for remote control. When Wi-Fi drops, the buttons and the display still work, but the app stops reaching the unit and any schedule stored in the cloud stops running. No model here advertises a local API, so there is no Home Assistant workaround. Test the offline behavior in the first week, and set the humidity target on the unit itself as well as in the app.

Efficiency is the number the app cannot fix. A dehumidifier is a compressor appliance that can run for hours a day, so the running cost matters more than the control interface. ENERGY STAR measures efficiency as an integrated energy factor in liters of water removed per kilowatt-hour, and certified models use about 20 percent less energy than a comparable conventional unit. The Levoit is ENERGY STAR Most Efficient 2025 certified and the Dreo carries ENERGY STAR 6.0 certification with a 30 percent energy claim. None of the three hOmeLabs pages publishes an integrated energy factor. Dreo’s app tracks energy and cost in real time, which is a genuinely useful feature rather than a gimmick.

Fix the water before you buy the machine. ENERGY STAR’s own list of alternatives starts with the building: extend downspouts away from the foundation, clear the gutters, make sure the soil slopes away, vent the clothes dryer outdoors, run the bathroom and kitchen fans, and repair leaking outdoor faucets. A dehumidifier in a basement with a downspout dumping water at the wall will run forever and lose.

Section 5: Which dehumidifier fits which space?

Buy the Levoit for most basements, the Dreo 733S for a wet one, the hOmeLabs 50-pint for a very large space with somewhere to pump the water, the hOmeLabs 25-pint on a budget and the hOmeLabs 8-pint for a closet or a small damp room.

Levoit Smart Dehumidifier with 24/7 Pump Drainage: best overall

The Levoit is the best overall because it is the only pick that gets capacity, drainage and cold-weather behavior right at once. It removes 25 pints a day under the current 65°F test and up to 84 pints a day at 104°F and 95 percent humidity, covers a claimed 4,500 square feet, and offers four drainage routes: pump, hose, gravity and tank. It adds a MERV 11 filter, a washable pre-filter, auto-defrost, auto-restart and a 42 dB noise claim, and Levoit backs it with a two-year limited warranty.

The trade-off is the published detail. Levoit does not list the tank capacity or the wattage on the product page, and it names the VeSync app without naming the voice assistants it works with. At $299.99 it is also the second most expensive pick here. Buy it if you want one unit that can be plumbed, pumped or emptied and left alone.

Dreo 733S: best for a wet basement

The 733S has the highest published capacity here, at 73 pints, for less than the Levoit. Dreo lists a 22-to-73 pint range, a 7-liter tank, 42 dB operation, auto-defrost, a plus or minus 5 percent humidity accuracy claim and ENERGY STAR 6.0 certification with a 30 percent energy claim. It costs $279.99, and the 95-pint version is $299.99.

The trade-off is drainage and documentation. It is gravity-drain only, so it needs a floor drain or a downhill hose, and it will not pump up to a sink. Dreo also does not state the capacity test condition on the page, so the 73-pint figure cannot be checked against the Levoit’s 65°F number without asking the company. Buy it for a wet basement with a floor drain, where raw capacity matters more than a pump.

hOmeLabs 50-Pint Wi-Fi with Pump: best for a very large space

The 50-pint hOmeLabs is the pump-equipped pick for a big, damp area. It has a built-in pump, a claimed 7,500 square feet of coverage, 218 CFM of airflow in turbo mode, wheels, a removable tank with a full-tank alert, a washable filter and a 3.3-foot drain hose. It costs $309.99, the highest price here.

The trade-off is the rating. The 50-pint figure is measured at 80°F and 60 percent humidity, which by the ENERGY STAR correlation is roughly a 30-pint unit under the current test, and hOmeLabs describes voice control without naming the assistants. Buy it when the space is genuinely large, the pump saves you a daily bucket, and you accept that the headline number is an older measure.

hOmeLabs 25-Pint Wi-Fi: best budget

The 25-pint hOmeLabs is the least expensive pick with named Alexa and Google support. It has a 1-gallon tank, a 47 dB noise claim, a washable filter, casters, an included drain hose and ENERGY STAR certification. It costs $219.99.

The trade-off is the same 80°F rating, which puts it well below the current-test capacity of the Levoit for $80 less, and 47 dB is the loudest claim in this group. Buy it for a medium room where the bucket is easy to empty and the price decides.

hOmeLabs 8-Pint Wi-Fi: best for a small room

The 8-pint hOmeLabs is the small-space unit: 8 pints a day at 80°F, a 38 dB noise claim, the quietest here, a removable tank, a drain hose, a washable filter, a carry handle and app control. It costs $174.99.

The trade-off is the coverage claim, which does not survive the sizing table. ENERGY STAR asks for 20 to 30 pints for a slightly damp room under 2,000 square feet; an 8-pint unit is not that, whatever the 1,800-square-foot figure says. Buy it for a closet, a bathroom, a camper or a single damp bedroom, and ignore the square footage.

Section 6: What is the final call? (Conclusion)

The default answer is the Levoit Smart Dehumidifier with 24/7 Pump Drainage at $299.99, because the pump and the four drainage routes let it be installed once and left to hold a humidity target, and its capacity is rated on the current 65°F test. The hOmeLabs 25-pint at $219.99 is the budget answer if a bucket and a medium room are acceptable.

Skip all of these if the basement has active seepage, a wet wall or a downspout emptying at the foundation. A dehumidifier treats the symptom, and ENERGY STAR’s own guidance starts with gutters, grading, dryer venting and fans. Skip them too if the space stays below 65°F for most of the winter and you will not buy a model with auto-defrost; the coil will frost and the unit will stop removing water. And skip the smart models entirely if you will not empty and clean a bucket; a hygrometer and a manual unit are the better choice.

Before ordering, do two things: put a hygrometer in the space for a week to see the actual relative humidity, and measure the floor area. Then match the room to the ENERGY STAR table rather than to the largest coverage claim on the box.

Where to buy

Related reading

• Best Smart Humidifiers — the opposite season, and why a humidity target matters in both directions.
• Best Air Purifiers — the other half of air treatment, and where filtration earns its money.
• Air Quality 101 — how humidity, particulates and ventilation interact in a closed room.
• The Smart Home Maintenance Guide — the cleaning and filter intervals that keep a dehumidifier working.

Sources

• Dehumidifiers — U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of Energy, the sizing table by room size and dampness, the advice to oversize rather than undersize, bucket and hose drainage, the 65°F frost warning, anti-frost sensors, the integrated energy factor in L/kWh, the 20 percent energy saving, placement guidance, the 30 to 50 percent humidity range, the 30 to 40 percent heating-season range, the built-in humidistat and the source-reduction checklist, checked November 2026
• Dehumidifier Testing and Capacity — U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of Energy, the June 2019 DOE standard, the switch from the energy factor to the integrated energy factor, the change from 80°F to 65°F test conditions and the old-to-new capacity correlation table, checked November 2026
• A Brief Guide to Mold, Moisture and Your Home — U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the instruction to keep indoor humidity below 60 percent and ideally between 30 and 50 percent, and the $10 to $50 humidity meter, checked November 2026
• Levoit Smart Dehumidifier with 24/7 Pump Drainage — 25 pints/day at 65°F and 60% RH, 84 pints/day at 104°F and 95% RH, 4,500 sq ft, pump, hose, gravity and tank drainage, VeSync app, MERV 11 filter, auto-defrost, auto-restart, 42 dB, ENERGY STAR Most Efficient 2025, two-year limited warranty, $299.99, checked November 2026
• hOmeLabs 25 Pint Wi-Fi Dehumidifier — 25 pints/day at 80°F and 60% RH, 3,500 sq ft claim, 1-gallon tank, 47 dB, drain hose, washable filter, ENERGY STAR certified, Alexa and Google Assistant, $219.99, checked November 2026
• hOmeLabs 50 Pint Wi-Fi Dehumidifier with Pump — 50 pints/day at 80°F and 60% RH, 7,500 sq ft claim, built-in pump, 218 CFM turbo, wheels, removable tank with full-tank alert, 3.3 ft drain hose, washable filter, $309.99, checked November 2026
• hOmeLabs 8 Pint Wi-Fi Dehumidifier — 8 pints/day at 80°F and 60% RH, 1,800 sq ft claim, 38 dB, 3.3 ft drain hose, auto shut-off, washable filter, $174.99, checked November 2026
• Dreo 733S Dehumidifier — 22 to 73 pints, 2,000 sq ft coverage, 1.85-gallon tank, 42 dB, auto-defrost, Auto Mode, plus or minus 5 percent humidity accuracy, 163 CFM, gravity drain only, ENERGY STAR 6.0 certification and a 30 percent energy claim, $279.99 for 73 pints and $299.99 for 95 pints, checked November 2026