This budget dehumidifier tackles damp and laundry effectively for just 8p an hour and it's now a Black Friday steal

I dry some of my washing in my kitchen, and at this time of the year, this means jumpers, jackets and chunkier pieces of clothing. This can take a good while, and to be quite honest, I don't really have the time for that. Enter: the newest toy in my test list: the Vonhaus 20L dehumidifier, RRP £159.99, now £114.99 on Amazon. This sizeable but reasonably-priced machine can extract up to 20 litres of water from one room, in a day. It has a 4.5L tank and three modes to select from. I've been using it in my kitchen, living room and bedroom for the last week, and here's what I noticed.

A good dehumidifier has the power to lower humidity levels in a room, fast, and to a minimum of 30%. These machines aren't just designed to prevent damp and mildew, but they can actually speed up how long it takes your laundry to dry, and in my case, this Vonhaus machine truly did! I tested this dehumidifier, and I noticed a huge difference in how fast my laundry dried in my kitchen.

At a glance

This sizeable dehumidifier, designed by Vonhaus, is made for rooms between 4m2 and 30m2, and it can extract up to 20 litres of water in one day. Its water tank can hold 4.5L of water at any one time.

This is a compressor dehumidifier, so it works best at temperatures over 5 degrees and under 35 degrees. With a removable, washable filter, it's easy to maintain, while it sits on wheels so you can move it around with ease.

Its innovative LED digital display is one of its best features, as well as the fact that it has three modes - Auto, Continuous Laundry and Sleep. It displays the humidity level in large numbers on its screen, making this easy to see, while it also has a colour light indicator at the front of the unit, which will shine blue when the humidity is below 45%.

While reviewing this machine, I noted that it was very powerful, and once switched on, it worked fast to reduce humidity levels. In my kitchen, it took 4.5 hours to drop from 62% to 45%, in auto mode with high fan. It was faster in my living room, as it read 70% initially, and just 20 minutes later, I recorded 54%. In my bedroom, I tested sleep mode, which reduced levels from 71% to 56% in 1.5 hours.

I hung a load of laundry in my kitchen, on the drying rack on the back of the door, and put it on its laundry mode. It was able to dry a load of washing overnight, in 12 hours.

As noise levels go, it is relatively quiet, emitting 50dB on average, and it costs just 8p per hour to run. What let it down? It is large, so that's something to bear in mind if you'll be using it in a smaller room, and also, its cord is relatively short at 1.5m. While its sleep mode turns any lights off and beeping sounds will be silent, this mode is still quite loud, and you might struggle to sleep at this noise level.

Specifications

• RRP: £159.99
• Type: Compressor
• Extraction rate: 20L/day
• Water tank capacity: 4.5L
• Max room size recommended: 30m2
• Noise level: 41dB (we found it was more like 50dB)
• Power: 280W
• Dimensions: H49.4cm x W30.5cm x D24.4cm
• Weight: 13.8kg
• Portable?: Yes, it's on wheels
• Continuous drain option: Yes
• Laundry mode: Yes
• WiFi connectivity: No
• Timer: Yes, up to 24 hours
• Operating temperature: 5°C - 35°C

Unboxing

The Vonhaus 20L Dehumidifier was a lot heavier than I expected. I managed to move and lift the box on my own, but it was a little bit of a struggle, I won't lie.

In the box was a lot of packaging - polystyrene to be exact - as well as two plastic bags, one with the drain hose and the instruction manual inside, the other was wrapped around the main unit. Certain parts of the main unit had been taped shut to avoid breaking in transport. The only part of the packaging that was easy to recycle was the large box it came in.

Once unwrapped, I could appreciate that this dehumidifier looked actually quite nice, while its white colour means it can blend in with most homes. It features a light on the front of the unit, which shines:

Blue: when humidity is below 45%
Green: when humidity is between 45% and 65%
Red: when humidity is above 65%

It's also on wheels for easy moving, and it does have built-in handle holes for easy carrying. It has cord storage on board for easy storing, which is in its water tank, provided that this is empty and fully dry.

I did find that the cord could've been longer, as I struggled to find a place for it to go because of this. It's only 1.5m long.

All in all, I was impressed before even plugging the machine in.

Set-up

There's a large warning sign on both the box and the main unit, which says that you need to stand the main unit upright for a minimum of 24 hours before operation. If you don't do this, your dehumidifier might not work. Luckily for me, it had been upright for quite a few days, waiting for me to unbox it.

This dehumidifier needs to be placed in a room that's larger than 4m2, while it requires at least 30cm clearance space, too. Its cord is short, so you might only have a few spaces where it can live in your home.

I wanted it in my kitchen, because this is where I dry my washing, and this room has two windows - one of which tends to get a little bit of condensation build-up in the colder months. I ended up just about being able to reach this cord to the socket I wanted it to sit in, annoyingly enough. This also meant that I couldn't offer the machine enough clearance space on every edge.

I scanned the QR code on the back of the manual, which led me to Vonhaus' Product Help Hub, which wasn't really helpful at all. The machine, once switched on, displayed '63' on its display. I pressed the power button and the machine switched on. I could visibly hear that it was working, while I quickly worked out that the 63 was the humidity level in my kitchen.

I referred back to the manual and familiarised myself with all of the lights and buttons. This is when I worked out that its default settings are 50% humidity level and high fan speed, which is what the machine started to aim towards, with immediate effect.

Design

The fact that this dehumidifier sits on wheels is a total game-changer, as while it is heavy, there's really no need for you to carry it, unless you're taking it up and down stairs. It does have built-in handles on its sides, too.

Though it is sizable, at almost 50cm high, because of its white finish, it doesn't hugely stand out in a room. It certainly wouldn't look out of place, unless perhaps it was in a very small room.

Its water tank sits at the back of the main unit, and this holds 4.5L of water. Its filter is easily accessible at the back of the main unit, too, sitting just above the water tank. On its front, you'll find its colour light indicator. Otherwise, its LED control panel is intuitive and sits on the top of the unit, with the air being expelled from the top of the machine, sitting just above the control panel.

Ease of use

There are 6 buttons on the main unit, all of which are pretty self-explanatory as they're named. The ADJ button is used to adjust humidity levels between 30% and 80%. This is also how you change the timer setting, too.

It's great that this machine can target as low as a 30% humidity level, although online I had read that the target for a house is usually between 40% to 50%.

You can set the machine to child lock on the control panel, which is super handy. There are three modes to choose from: Auto, Continuous Laundry and Sleep Mode. You need to press and hold the Mode button for the Sleep Mode.

Auto Mode
In Auto Mode, you'll see the water droplet light shine on the display panel. Here, you'll want to set a target humidity, and once that level has been reached, it will turn itself off, but if it drops over that set level by 3%, the machine will automatically power back on.

Continuous Laundry Mode
In this mode, you'll see the light flash that looks like a T-shirt. Regardless of the humidity level, the machine will continue to run in this mode. You can adjust the fan speed from low to high.

Sleep Mode
Made obvious on your control panel by a tiny moon-shaped light, this mode turns the display off and all lights. Once the water tank becomes full, it will just switch off - without an alarm.

Performance

I live in a three-bedroom end-of-terrace house, and I don't dry all of my washing by hanging it in my kitchen, just the items that cannot be tumble-dried. This is fine in the summer, as clothes tend to be lighter and I can leave both sets of windows open for longer, but in the winter, when it comes to thicker clothing like jumpers, this doesn't prove easy.

Thankfully, I didn't have any mould or damp places in my home that I needed this machine to tackle.

Otherwise, I generally found the display very easy to use, while it's handy that it displays the humidity level in large numbers, making it easy to track how fast it extracts moisture from the air. The colour light indicator also helps with this, too, as it means you don't even have to get close to the machine to know that the humidity level in your home is OK - you can just look for a green or blue light.

What's the difference between a compressor and a desiccant dehumidifier? Essentially, desiccant models pull excess moisture from the air using a heater, while compressors use a refrigerant to condense moisture out of the air.

The Vonhaus 20L Dehumidifier is a compressor dehumidifier, and Vonhaus claims it will work best at temperatures between 5°C and 35°C.

When it came to the continuous drainage function, it comes with a hose that you attach to the back of the machine. This needs to be fed into a bucket for collecting extra water, and it will become effective once your machine's water tank is full.

I didn't actually find the need to ever use this function, as it's for super-humid environments. Its water tank is a huge 4.5L anyway, so this rarely ended up becoming full during one use.

I used this machine continuously for 13 hours before its water tank flagged that it was full. This was in Auto mode, with high fan. Obviously, this depends on how humid your room is - the higher the humidity percentage, the faster this will fill, normally.

The lowest humidity level reading I recorded while testing was 48%, in both my living room and my kitchen in the daytime, and the highest was 83% in my bedroom (underneath a bay window), in the early morning.

In my kitchen

The humidity levels in my kitchen varied depending on whether I was cooking (or had been cooking) and whether my condenser tumble dryer was switched on. This room, during testing, would tend to sit between the low to mid-50s. I did switch the machine on and set the target humidity level to 45%, but it never once made it, even when it was left on for 12 hours. This is probably due to several reasons, but the biggest factor is that this room has two windows, so it tends to be more humid than other kitchens that only have one. I didn't manage to get it to read less than 48%, which is still considered 'Good', so the colour indicator shone green.

While drying a load of washing in my kitchen, I noted that the highest humidity level was 60%. I turned it on to the Laundry Mode and within minutes, the machine realised it was tackling something - the humidity rose from 54% to 58% in 10 minutes, and then eventually to 60% at its highest. I left the machine on Sleep Mode overnight, and every piece of clothing was totally dry the next morning. Game changer!

In my living room

I pushed this machine from my kitchen to my living room to test it in a different environment. After finding the perfect spot and switching it on, it read 63%, which I wasn't hugely shocked by, as this room gets quite humid (especially in the summer) thanks to double French doors that open to my garden. Still, even though this machine was set to 45%, I never managed to get it past 48% in my living room,

In auto mode on high fan, I noted that it took 8 hours to go from 70% to 48% in my living room. It managed to drop from 70% to 56% within 20 minutes, which was impressive! Still, I never managed to get the percentage under 48, but this room is very humid.

In my bedroom

This is where I tested the Sleep Mode function. The level in my room initially read 71%, and we thought we would test it overnight. To my surprise, it was very noisy - its fan speed didn't change in sleep mode, and it kept changing between low and high fan speeds, so it was a little disturbing. I ended up having to switch it off, as I just couldn't sleep with that level of noise. It did turn all its lights off, which was great, and the beeping noise was muted in sleep mode.

In the 1.5 hours it was switched on, it reduced the humidity from 71% to 56%. impressive! I switched it off at 23:00, and when I woke up at 7:00, the humidity was back to being high, at 83%.

Energy use

Asking yourself how much a dehumidifier costs to run? Well, it all depends on the wattage of the model. The higher this number, the more money it will cost to run.

Dehumidifiers can tend to be expensive to run, but surprisingly, the Vonhaus 20L Dehumidifier is quite energy efficient. It claims to use 280W of energy on its highest setting, and as per the April 2025 UK electricity rates, Vonhaus claims it runs at just 8p per hour to run.

So, if you leave the dehumidifier running for its maximum timer limit, 24 hours, it will cost around £1.92.

Noise levels

I didn't notice that this dehumidifier was largely noisy. Vonhaus claims a noise level of 41dB, and I noted:

Auto mode (low fan): 48dB
Auto mode (high fan): 52dB
Sleep mode: 48dB
Continuous laundry mode: 52dB

I tried to sleep with this dehumidifier on, in sleep mode, but it was too loud. It also kept switching between fan modes, which was disturbing me, too. In sleep mode, it switches off all lights and the beeping noise that sounds when you press a button.

Portability

The Vonhaus 20L Dehumidifier weighs a whopping 13.8kg, and that's with an empty water tank. It does sit on wheels, for easy moving from room to room, and in its design features handles so that you can carry it. I'd perhaps avoid it if you know you'll be constantly moving it from upstairs to down, or vice versa, as it is weighty.

Be sure to empty its water tank whenever you move it, even if you're not carrying it, as if it's nearly full then water will spill. I learned the hard way, here!

Maintenance

When it's time to empty the water tank, the dehumidifier will automatically switch off. It will display 'FL' on its screen, and a light which looks like a bowl of water will flash red.

It's easy to empty the tank, but do this slowly as it'll be very full. First, you must switch the machine off, and then you can slide the tank off the main unit. If you don't switch the machine off, it will beep when the water tank isn't properly installed.

I'd recommend taking off the plastic cover that sits on top of the water tank before emptying it - there are holes for the water to escape, but it'll pour everywhere if you don't take this off.

Vonhaus suggests cleaning the dehumidifier every two weeks. Again, you need to switch the main unit off before doing so. You'll need to remove the water tank to get to the filter, and to do so, you have to pull it downwards from the back of the air inlet.

This filter can be easily vacuumed to remove any dust, while you can also wash it with soapy water - just ensure that it's fully dry before reinstalling. I found that the manual confused me on this step, as it said you needed to remove the water tank to get to the filter, and that you needed to slide it out. I found that you could get it out without removing the water tank, while you essentially just pulled it off the machine - no sliding required.

The filter was barely dirty after 2 weeks of use. I did see a small amount of dust when attaching it back to the machine, but it wasn't noticeable otherwise.

How does the Vonhaus 20L Dehumidifier rate online?

Being a fairly new product, there's only one review of this dehumidifier online. Luckily, this review is positive and rates the product 5 stars. It mentions that it's cheaper to run than a tumble dryer, and it dries washing fast.

Verdict

So, after testing the Vonhaus 20L Dehumidifier for a couple of weeks, do I think it's worth the investment? If you often dry laundry inside a larger room in your home, then this is the ideal buy as it runs powerfully and costs only 8p/hour to use. It isn't hugely loud when in operation, but I wouldn't want to sleep with it on and in the same room as me. I mostly used the Auto mode, but I liked that it has two fan speeds to choose from, while it is very easy to clean.

When in use, admittedly, it didn't manage to ever read its lowest claim of 30%. This could be because my house is normally quite a humid environment, and lots of other factors can contribute to this, too. I don't doubt that it doesn't work, as it managed to significantly reduce the humidity levels in three different rooms in my home, even while doing things such as drying washing, using my tumble drier and cooking. It reduced my kitchen from 62% to 45% in 4.5 hours in auto mode with high fan, and my living room took 8 hours to go from 70% to 48%. In sleep mode in my bedroom, it read 71% initially, and after 1.5 hours, it was at 56%. When it came to drying clothes, I left it on sleep mode overnight, and it dried all of the laundry that was hanging in my kitchen by the morning.

Design-wise, it is sizable, but with a 4.5L tank, that's to be expected. It's also heavy, but it does sit on wheels. Its white exterior means it'll blend into a space with ease, and its intuitive LED display is great. I love that its filter is easily washable, with the only design feature that I disliked being its 1.5m cord - this was nowhere near long enough, in my opinion.