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Updated July 2026 rate dataHeating & CoolingSourced from ENERGY STAR — Dehumidifiers
The built-in humidistat is the real controller: the same unit barely runs in dry weather and works most of the day in a damp summer basement. Set your unit's size, daily runtime, and state below for the exact number.
EIA residential average, July 2026. Your utility's exact rate is on your bill.
Real-time math: 500 W × your state's rate, accumulating live. Thermostatically controlled units cycle on and off, so average use is usually below the flat-out figure.
Run like this for a year and it adds about $334 to your electricity bill.
Energy: 5 kWh per day · 1,825 kWh per year, at 18.31¢/kWh (U.S. average).
Wattage is the number that decides everything else. The table below runs the actual figures through this page's calculator at the U.S. average rate of 18.31¢ /kWh, so you can see the running cost jump as the load climbs. Change any value above and the whole page recalculates.
| Watts | Power draw | Per hour | Per month (10 h/day) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 200 W | 200 W draws 0.20 kW | $0.037 | $11.14 |
| 435 W | 435 W draws 0.43 kW | $0.08 | $24.23 |
| 665 W | 665 W draws 0.67 kW | $0.12 | $37.04 |
| 900 W | 900 W draws 0.90 kW | $0.16 | $50.13 |
Basis: July 2026 U.S. average residential rate of 18.31¢ /kWh (EIA Electric Power Monthly, Table 5.6.A). Your state's rate is applied as soon as you pick it above.
Dehumidifiers are rated by water removed per day. Bigger rated units draw more watts (a 70-pint unit ≈ 700 W vs. 300 W for a 20-pint), but they reach the set humidity faster and cycle off sooner — sometimes making them cheaper per pint of water removed.
A unit set to 50% relative humidity in a damp summer basement may run most of the day; in dry weather the same unit barely runs. Cost tracks the compressor's actual runtime, which the built-in humidistat controls.
Portable units treat one space. If your humidity problem is the whole house, a whole-home unit on the HVAC system is a different cost structure — usually higher wattage but smarter control.
Biggest savings first.
A 480 W medium unit running 10 hours a day costs about $26/month at the U.S. average rate (18.31¢/kWh). Running 24/7, it would be about $62/month — real usage is usually between because the humidistat cycles it off.
They are mid-weight loads: 300–700 W, comparable to a large window fan at the low end and a small space heater at the high end. The runtime is what makes the bill noticeable — damp basements can run them 12–24 hours a day in humid weeks.
For removing moisture alone, a dehumidifier is cheaper — it treats humidity directly while an AC cools air to condense water as a side effect. If you also want cooling, the AC does both jobs in one pass.
Rate basis: EIA residential average, July 2026 (retrieved from Electric Power Monthly Table 5.6.A). Estimates are for planning, not billing.
