Desiccant dehumidifiers, for example, are cheaper to run in cold temperatures than compressor dehumidifiers.
However even compressor dehumidifier running costs vary as some compressor models, such as the Ebac 2650e dehumidifier, have hydrophilic coating on their coils making them moire efficient than dehumidifiers without this coating.
A rough running cost guide is as follows:
| Power Rating | Per Hour | Per Day | Per Week |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100W 0.10kW | £0.02 | £0.18 | £1.28 |
| 250W 0.25kW | £0.04 | £0.46 | £3.19 |
| 500W 0.50kW | £0.08 | £0.91 | £6.38 |
| 750W 0.75kW | £0.11 | £1.37 | £9.58 |
| 1,000W 1.ookW | £0.15 | £1.82 | £12.77 |
| 1,500W 1.50kW | £0.23 | £2.74 | £19.15 |
Dehumidifier running costs are normally denoted in Watts and Kilowatts as per table. You can find the Watts and/or Kilowatts figure on the rear of your dehumidifier.
Costs are calculated using tarrifs from 2014 and assumes a daily running period of 12 hours (courtesy of sus-it.net).
What You Should Know
A cheap, standard dehumidifier may have to run for 12 hours per day but once you decide to spend a little bit more money for a superior product, yes – the old used line of ‘you get what you pay for’ definitely applies to dehumidifiers, you will undoubtedly buy a dehumidifier which will have lower running costs due to its features.
Most dehumidifiers have an auto shut off feature which is enabled when the water tank is full. Obviously this is to prevent accidents caused by an overflowing water tank. When the water tank is full the dehumidifier stops working saving you money. The problem, of course, is that the dehumidifier isn’t working then either when it probably should be.
Another type of auto shut off feature is when the air becomes too dry. Numerous dehumidifiers exhibit this feature including the EcoAir DD122 MK5 Desiccant Dehumidifier 
Hand in hand with this second type of auto shut down features comes the smart controller which again the EcoAir DD122MK5 and Meaco DD8L feature. Once the dehumidifier senses that the air moisture is at the correct level the dehumidifier shuts down only to restart once the dehumidifier detects that the relative humidity level is creeping over the set level.
In the case of the Meaco DD8L the machine turns itself on every 30 minutes to scan the surrounding air for its moisture level. This means that the Meaco may only run for 10 minutes every hour if the humidity level stays within set limits. Obviously your running costs will be way lower than the figures in the table above.
Both of the above dehumidifiers also feature a timer with which you can set and forget your dehumidifier. For instance you may set the dehumidifier to run for 4 hours each day and the dehumidifier will turn itself off after 4 hours. Thereby reducing your running costs by at least a third.
Quality dehumidifiers also feature a high powered mode often called ‘Turbo’ or ‘Laundry’ mode which is very useful, as the name suggests, for drying laundry indoors. These modes will increase the running costs of your dehumidifier.
