This Electriq dehumidifier and air purifier is a small, low-cost hero for damp homes, daily laundry and allergy season

A dehumidifier is a 100% must-have purchase if your home is damp. Some homes never suffer — the house I currently live in benefits from sitting at the perfect humidity level (roughly 50-55%), and I rarely notice that this falls or rises. We never suffer from dry throats or skin because the air is too dry, and even better, I've never found mould or any damp spots anywhere. My last house was a different kettle of fish: I needed a dehumidifier in each room. So, I know the struggle when it comes to dealing with a damp space.

Even if your home isn't damp, there are still benefits of owning one of the best dehumidifiers on the market — you can use these to rapidly speed up the drying time of your clothes, should you not have the space (or the budget, for that matter) for a tumble dryer. A dehumidifier is super energy efficient, and this one in particular costs just 6p/hour to run.

There's no one-size-fits-all when it comes to dehumidifiers. Each one has a specific size tank, which should really be tailored to two things: the size of your home, and the severity of your humidity levels. If your home is very damp and you're dealing with mould, then go for something with a sizeable tank to avoid constantly having to empty it. If your room is small, you could get away with a smaller model, but again, this will depend on the humidity level of your room.

I've been testing the ElectriQ Platinum 20L smart dehumidifier, RRP £170 at Appliances Direct, and reviewers claim it to be one of the best dehumidifiers you can buy. It sits at a reasonable price point for its size — under £200. It has lots of added bells and whistles, including Wi-Fi compatibility (and app control), plus the ability to purify the air in your home at the same time. Here's what else I loved about it while using it at home for a few weeks in winter.

At a glance

A great dehumidifier for larger spaces and bigger homes, this machine is rather cumbersome, so first things first: you need to ensure you have somewhere to place it. It does sit on wheels, and it has a handle for easy moving, but it needs clearance space around the machine, and its cord is short. So, think about its placement in the room it will live in before you invest.

The fact that it's app-controlled can be a game-changer if you know you'll be leaving yours on all day, every day. For very damp spaces, this is handy as you can set it on a timer and even ramp its power up when you're out of the house and won't be bothered by the noise. There are two actions that you can only do on the app: turn the ring light off and check the room temperature.

This machine can reach humidity levels between 35% and 85%. I noted a lowest recording of 30% and a highest of 61% while testing in my living room, kitchen and living room. There are four modes: laundry (target is 35%), smart (target is 55%), purify (no water is extracted), and dehumidify (you set the humidity). Each one is well-explained in the manual, but admittedly, this can be a tad confusing to start with.

While testing this machine, I noted that it managed to run for over 24 hours in laundry mode (which is super powerful) and its tank was just half full. Impressive. Despite my house having relatively average humidity levels, it reached 30% in my kitchen, fast, but it took a little longer to reach a low of 46% in my bedroom (arguably, it's the most damp place in my home). In my living room, it dropped to 39% in the daytime, in just a few hours. I did notice that it managed to work faster when each room didn't have people inside. One night, I hung a load of laundry in my kitchen before going to bed and switched it to laundry mode. In less than 12 hours, it had dried this entire load — thick knitted jumpers included.

It is loud: I couldn't sleep with it on any mode other than smart mode, which was quiet as it was reading 48% at the time, and this mode automatically adapts its power depending on the humidity level in the room. It didn't bother me when switched on in the day, while working or doing chores, it was like white noise.

This compressor dehumidifier is fitted with a fully washable filter that's easy to navigate and remove from the machine. Its water tank is 20L, and it is fitted with a handle, but it's quite tricky to empty — it always ended up becoming a messy job for me!

Specifications

• RRP: £190
• Type: Compressor
• Extraction rate: 20L/day
• Water tank capacity: 5L
• Max room size recommended: At least 4m squared
• Noise level: 44-56dB (from our testing)
• Power: 225W
• Dimensions: W36cm x D23.4cm x H60cm
• Weight: 14.8kg
• Portable?: Ye
• Continuous drain option: Yes (pipe not supplied)
• Laundry mode: Yes
• WiFi connectivity: Yes
• Timer: Yes, up to 24 hours
• Operating temperature: 5°C - 35°C

Unboxing

This dehumidifier arrived inside a large, heavy box. It was protected by two layers of a rubber-like polystyrene, while the main unit, filter, and instruction manual were all inside PE-LD 04 plastic bags, which are recyclable depending on your local authority. I did think this was slightly excessive, as I didn't think that the manual needed protecting, and the main unit could have been protected with cardboard or paper instead.

Nevertheless, I placed it on the floor and rolled it over (yes, it has wheels!) to the socket I wanted to use it at. It didn't reach — the cord isn't very long, at all, considering it requires 20cm of space away from walls or objects on all sides of the machine. The cord is between 150cm and 160 cm in length.

Only one thing needed to be done before the first operation, other than ensuring that it was kept upright for 48 hours before use (much like all dehumidifiers). This was to insert the filter, which was easy enough to do when following the manual.

Design-wise, I won't lie, there are a lot of buttons to get used to. They're all self-explanatory, but admittedly overwhelming at first. There is a round ring light on the front of the dehumidifier, which shines:

• Red: when it's 70%+ humidity
• Orange: when it's comfortable humidity, between 60-70%
• Green: when it's dry, below 60%

I loved that it's on wheels, to make sliding it from room to room a breeze. It also has a handle, and while it is heavy, I managed to lift it on my own (water tank empty, obviously). I only really needed the handle when taking it up and down the stairs. I also found its cord storage to be handy when transporting it from downstairs to upstairs.

Set up

After finding the ideal spot, which needs to be 20cm from walls and 50cm from objects, I plugged it in and switched it on. It made a beeping noise, and the lights flashed on. It immediately read 58%, displaying a green ring. As expected, my kitchen was at an average humidity. I left it on Smart mode, which aims for 55% humidity.

After a longer read of the manual, I spotted (in small writing, albeit) where it said to run the dehumidifier for 24 hours, continuously, after it's first switched on.

I referred back to the manual for the WiFi setup, and after downloading the Tuya app, I was connected in minutes. Here, I could view my dehumidifier's stats from my phone, and even control the machine and set schedules. Game-changer. The manual was super comprehensive for the Wi-Fi setup, to the point where there were screenshots of each step. I did note that the app must have been updated recently, as some of these screenshots were out of date, but it was easy enough that I didn't need to use them anyway.

Design

Mostly white in colour with a grey handle and touch screen, this unit isn't offensive, but it is large — it would drown a small room because of the space it requires.

It's been designed with convenience in mind, that's for sure, as it has a handle and sits on wheels. It also has a child lock for inquisitive hands, while there's a dedicated sleep mode for when your house is snoozing and it needs to be totally dark.

Its water tank is at the front of the dehumidifier, and this pulls out for emptying. It has a handle for carrying to and from your sink. You need to ensure that it's properly inserted back into the machine; if not, it will flag as being full. It also beeps once it has been removed.

As for the filter, this sits at the back of the machine. It has a housing that you need to unclip, and it lives behind it. This filter is washable by hand but does need replacing every 3-6 months.

Its ring light sits on the grey part of the machine, just below the control panel. The touch panel, though busy, is intuitive. Some functions require just one press, while others you'll need to press and hold for 3 seconds to activate, which is marked on the machine. It has a screen amongst its touch buttons, and this shows numbers. It will mostly show the air quality percentage, but here you can choose the ideal humidity level of the room, from 35% to 80%. This is in 5% increments.

Do note that sometimes, it can take the machine a good 10 seconds to change its mode. Especially if it's going from Quiet to Turbo mode.

Ease of use

In total, there are 9 buttons on the control panel. Some of these buttons need to be tapped more than once, or you have to hold them for 3 seconds. These buttons are:

• Power: To turn it on and off.
• Mode: Press to switch between Smart, Laundry, Dehumidify and Purify.
• Increase: Press the + button to increase the target humidity percentage
• Decrease: Press the - button to decrease the target humidity percentage
• Speed: Press to switch between Turbo, Medium or Quiet. These will display as F1 & F2, quiet. F3& F4 are medium, and F5 & F6 are turbo.
• Timer: Press once to switch on the timer, use the increase and decrease buttons to select how many hours you'd like the timer on for, between 1 and 24.
• Sleep: Press once to activate. Press and hold for 3 seconds to turn off.
• UV and Ioniser: Tap to turn each one on/off. These can be turned on together.
• Swing and lock: Press and hold for 3 seconds to turn on/off the child lock. Press to turn on the swing function. If you press again, it will lock in this position. One more press turns the swing function off.

You can turn on UV and Ioniser in all modes, and the same goes for the sleep mode. When the TANK FULL light comes on, it needs emptying. When the DEFROST light illuminates, the internal temperature of the machine is too low, so it will turn to turbo mode to rectify, and then settle back to whichever mode was originally selected.

Smart mode
This is the mode the machine will automatically start on, and it will aim to reach a 55% humidity level in this mode. It will adjust the fan accordingly, and this is an energy-saving setting as it only turns the machine on when necessary.

Purify
In this mode, only the fan will run in this mode — it will not act as a dehumidifier as no water will be extracted. This mode needs to be used with the filters, and it's suggested to use this setting with the UV and ioniser for the best results.

Dehumidify
To remove moisture in the air, set a target from 35% to 80% using the + and - buttons. You can change the fan speed from 3 modes: turbo, medium, and quiet. These show as F1, F2, F3, F4, F5, and F6 on the screen. F1 and F2 are quiet mode, F3 and F4 are medium, and F5 and F6 are turbo mode.

Laundry
This automatically sets the target to 35% and will run until the machine's water tank is full. There are no modes; it works at one level of power until it reaches its target.

If, at any time, the humidity in the room reads lower than 20%, it will show on the display as LO. If it reads higher than 90%, it will read HI.

Performance

My house is an end-of-terrace, 3-bedroom property. I've never noticed that it's particularly damp, or that the air is moist, but I do dry some of my clothes in my kitchen, on a door rack. In the summer, these clothes dry fast as I open both of the windows beside the rack. In the winter, though, jumpers and other thick items can take days to dry.

I really enjoyed using this dehumidifier in my home. Once I got past its large size and short cord, I found it convenient that it had a colour-changing ring light, so I could quickly glance for a reading. Plus, I found its control panel easy to use. I did like that it offers different modes and can purify, but for me, that wasn't a game-changer as I already own a rather compact air purifier.

Now, this is a compressor dehumidifier, so it uses a refrigerant to condense moisture out of the air, turning it into water and dumping it into a tank. What's the difference between a compressor and a desiccant dehumidifier? A desiccant model uses a heater to pull excess moisture from the air.

This specific model from ElectricQ works best at 12°C-15°C, while it can operate at temperatures between 5°C and 35°C. You can use it to reach a humidity level between 35% and 80%.

This dehumidifier doesn't come with a pipe for continuous drainage, but you can buy one separately. This will banish the need to empty the water tank, and it's great for super-humid environments. The drainage pipe port is at the back of the machine.

It's worth noting that I used this machine for over 24 hours, continuously in laundry mode, and its water tank still didn't get full. It was around half-filled with water when I eventually emptied it to move it upstairs.

While testing, the lowest percentage that I recorded was 31%, and the highest was 61%.

In my kitchen
The first place I tested this machine was in my kitchen. This is normally quite average humidity, but whilst cooking and when my tumble dryer is on, levels rise. I used this machine a good few times in here, but notably, I turned it on for the first time, and its screen showed 44%. I set it to 35% and in 1 hour and 15 minutes, it managed to fall to 31%. Impressive, especially considering this was in dehumidify mode and on the lowest setting (quiet).

The next day, I hung a load of wet laundry behind my kitchen door, on the rack. I switched it to laundry mode and waited for it to recognise the change of humidity in the air. It didn't, so I went to sleep and the next morning — around 10 hours later — all of these clothes were totally dry.

In my living room
When I first moved this machine to my living room, its reading said 42%. Because this room is busy, it noticed that it struggled to bring its levels down and keep them low. Around 4 hours later, it read 39%, but during this time, it was battling with 4 people in the room, 2 of whom were busy toddlers. Again, this is on dehumidify mode and in the quiet setting.

I really appreciated the child lock mode while it was in my living room, and the fact that you can turn its ring light off (in the app). This made it a lot less appealing to small hands, especially as it can't be tucked away in a corner.

In my bedroom
Our bedroom is arguably the most damp place in our house. It leads onto an en-suite which only has a small window, and there's a large bay window in here, too. Initially, the machine read 61% when it was first turned on in my bedroom. It did struggle and kept bouncing up and down, but at its lowest, it reached 46%.

We tried to sleep with this machine switched on in our bedroom, but in dehumidify mode, we could barely even hear the TV. It sounded a lot louder on the carpet, for some reason! We switched it to smart mode, which is a target humidity level of 55%, and it was a lot more bearable. Still, we didn't sleep with it on as before turning the lights off, it read 48%, which is pretty good for a bedroom, and we could already feel our throats getting dry.

App

The app for this dehumidifier is called Tuya. It's very simple to download and set up, with lots of information provided in the manual, as well as screenshots. You can only control the machine through the app when it's plugged in and switched on.

The app's control panel is very simple to use, and arguably it's even easier than the panel that's actually on the machine. This is what you can do on the app:

• Turn it on/off
• Choose a mode
• See the current humidity percentage
• See the set humidity percentage
• Control the speed (from F1-F6)
• Switch on/off its UV
• Switch on/off its ioniser
• Switch the fan on to oscillate
• Turn on/off sleep mode
• Turn on/off its ring light (called lamp)
• Switch on/off child lock
• View room temperature
• Schedule timers for turning it on and off

Energy use

Wondering how much a dehumidifier costs to run? It all goes by wattage, and since this ElectricQ model boasts a low consumption, at 225W, it doesn't work out as expensive.

As per the January 2026 energy price cap, this dehumidifier works out at only 6p per hour to run. For 24 hours of continuous use, using the maximum timer limit, that's still only £1.50 a day.

Noise levels

I did notice that in some modes, this dehumidifier was a little noisy. The decibel level in my room, at the time of testing, was between 26 and 27dB. ElectricQ claims it's a quiet machine, but doesn't give a minimum or maximum decibel reading.

Dehumidify (Quiet mode): 51-52dB
Dehumidify (Medium mode): 53-54dB
Dehumidify (Turbo mode): 55-56dB
Dehumidify (Sleep mode): 51-52dB (turns it to Quiet mode)

Purify mode (Quiet mode): 44-45dB
Purify mode (Medium mode): 46-47dB
Purify mode (Turbo mode): 48-50dB
Purify mode (Sleep mode): 46-47dB

Laundry mode (Normal mode): 54-55dB
Laundry mode (Sleep mode): 51-52dB

Since the smart mode is automatic and it adjusts depending on the humidity level, until it reaches 55%, I didn't take a decibel reading, as this will differ from room to room.

I did try to sleep with this dehumidifier on, in sleep mode, while in the dehumidify setting, but it was way too noisy. It almost made a rattling sound. I switched it onto the smart mode and then pressed the sleep button, and this was a lot quieter, but I wouldn't sleep with it in this mode, as it reacts to the room — so it could suddenly get very loud in the night and wake you up. To be honest, I didn't need to sleep with it on in my room, as it never gets very humid in there — we noticed that when it was on in here, it made our throats and skin a little dry.

If you find that this dehumidifier is too noisy, it says in the manual that placing a piece of carpet or a rubber mat underneath it can minimise the vibrations and lower the noise. It just needs to be placed on a flat, level surface.

Portability

Weighing just less than 15kg, this unit is heavy — and that's without any water in its tank. There isn't much need to lift it, unless it's up and down a staircase, as it's on wheels, and even then, it has a strong plastic handle.

It also boasts cable storage on its back, which is great for when it comes to moving it, too, to avoid it wheeling itself over its cord.

Maintenance

The water tank needs to be emptied each time it flags as being full. This slides away from the main unit and has a carrying handle for when it's very full, to avoid spillages. I won't lie: this isn't the easiest thing to empty. It does have a handle for carrying to your sink, but that's about it in the ease-of-use department. When pouring, the water has 4 different holes through which it can come out. So, if the tank is very full, you're going to end up with a lot of water splashing out of the sink. A little bit of a design fail there.

After every few weeks of use, the manual recommends cleaning the dehumidifier. This includes filling the tank with warm, soapy water, then rinsing it out to prevent bacteria buildup. You'll also want to wipe down the main unit with a dry cloth to clean away dust.

The filter needs replacing every 3-6 months, depending on how much it's used. You can wash it between replacements. It's recommended to vacuum the filter only, unless it's heavily soiled, then wash it in warm, soapy water — be sure to dry it thoroughly.

If you're going to store the machine away for some time, then empty the water tank and dry it. Then, clean and dry the filters and replace them. The power cord can be rested on the back of the unit to make it easier to store away. It can be kept in an outbuilding, but this place needs to be dry.

This was the filter after 2 weeks of use. It looks virtually no different to how it did when it was first inserted.

Online rating

This dehumidifier is highly rated online. At Appliances Direct, it has 500+ reviews and a 4.5/5 star rating. Shoppers rate its capacity and adjustability the highest, but they also love its design and build quality. A big winning factor was also its sub-£200 price tag.

Verdict

Choose this dehumidifier if your home is large (between 4-5 bedrooms) or if you need it to tackle bad damp in a medium to large-sized room. It's bulky, so bear that in mind when it comes to choosing where it will live, but rest assured, you won't be emptying its water tank every hour.

There are several modes to choose from, and the fact that it doubles as a purifier is a game-changer and rids the need for two separate products, especially if you're a city dweller. Its child lock and night mode are handy, and while its app isn't a necessity, it does offer a few extra controls that you might benefit from. The fact that its filter is washable is handy, as while it will need replacing eventually, this will save a few ££s.

There are some annoying design quirks of this machine, the biggest one being its short cord, which might be a problem if plug sockets are sparse in your home. Its water tank can be messy to empty, especially if filled to max capacity, and initially, I did find that it was confusing to use as the machine shows 3 modes, quiet, medium and turbo, but the display reads 6 modes — F1, F2, F3, F4, F5, F6. After a glance at the manual, I realised that F1 and F2 are the same, and F3 and F4 are the same, and the same applies to F5 and F6.