Updated Sep. 11, 2024
I tested the Hisense dehumidifier with and without a drain hose for two weeks. Check out what I think about it in this in-depth review.
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Confession time: I live in a 100-plus-year-old house with an unfinished basement. In that basement, I operate my woodworking shop.
Because of the home’s age, it frequently leaks. Despite several upgrades over the years, it’s still drafty in the winter and damp during the Minnesota summers, especially in the basement. I struggle with combinations of humidifiers in the winter and dehumidifiers in the summer to maintain humidity control in my shop.
Having more than thirty years of experience in home remodeling and repair has allowed me to see the effects of humidity in houses that aren’t protected by dehumidifiers. In severe cases, I’ve found situations that included material deterioration and mold occurrences—Minnesota’s crazy weather can do that with ease.
I tested the $150 Hisense dehumidifier, which proved to be a worthy opponent to the excessive moisture in my space. Check out the full 4-1-1 on this dehumidifier to see if it’s the right choice for you.
Want to see all the dehumidifiers I’ve tried? Check out the best dehumidifiers for basements.
VIA MERCHANT
The Hisense 50-pint dehumidifier claims to control humidity in a home as large as 4,500 square feet. My basement and my home combined are not quite 2,000 square feet. However, with the level of performance I demand from the dehumidifiers I use for woodworking, it’s a pretty fair comparison.
Honestly, I’m a bit doubtful that any of the machines I tested could dehumidify a large home on their own without another method of circulating the air; they’re simply not large enough to move air through that big of a space.
This is where the Hisense makes sense (hehe, get it?). Costing up to $100 less than more well-known brand names, the Hisense is affordable enough to put one on each floor of the house (if needed). I would expect the Hisense dehumidifier to handle a single story with ease, with or without a wood shop involved.
Compact yet full-sized, this machine offers a generously sized condensation tank, which minimizes the need to empty it constantly. The machine also has the ability to bypass the reservoir with a drain hose to avoid the task altogether. It’s relatively heavy at 40 pounds or so, and the handles for carrying could be designed better. However, it’s on wheels for easy transportation, and it’s one of the quietest dehumidifiers that I’ve come across.
The Hisense dehumidifier has most of the same comfort and convenience features as more costly models. It features a 50-pint reservoir to catch the water it pulls from the surrounding air. The unit also contains a bypass connection with a hose attachment to avoid having to empty the reservoir when it’s full. If you choose to use the reservoir, it has an automatic shut-off-when-full feature to keep water from going everywhere.
The model’s other features include seemingly durable wheels for everyday use if you need to move the machine around. Its molded carrying handles seem designed more for looks than functionality. That said, they worked okay for me to get the unit up and down the stairs to the basement.
Hisense did the filter right on this dehumidifier. It features a micro-mesh design placed directly on the back of the machine for easy access when it’s time to clean it. What I like best is that removing the filter exposes the coil fins. While many dehumidifier models conceal the fins within the machine, making them hard to clean if the task becomes necessary, the Hisense makes cleaning easy with a coil fin brush.
From an operational standpoint, the Hisense dehumidifier features automatic operation, sleep mode, timer, digital display and humidity settings, a filter cleaning reminder indicator, plus high- and low-speed operation. The low speed of the unit is extremely quiet, while the high-speed setting is roughly as loud as that of a compact dehumidifier.
The testing process for dehumidifiers in my home and woodworking shop seemingly never ends. In efforts to control humidity for this purpose, I’ve gone through a number of them over the years. For this review, I used the Hisense dehumidifier for two weeks, including one week with the reservoir and one week with the drain hose.
I set to the lowest possible setting of 30% humidity. Using the reservoir, I had to empty the machine at least once per day after a period of heavy rainfall. A few days during testing required me to empty the reservoir once during the day and again before bed to ensure it ran all night.
I liked the machine better with the drain hose attached, which meant I could set it and forget it, like you can with a self-draining dehumidifier. My only complaints are that the filter-cleaning indicator would turn on once every couple of days, even when it didn’t appear to require cleaning, and the reservoir, while functional, seemed somewhat flimsy, including the handle. While it’s likely just fine, I would have liked something that felt a little more beefy. Other than that, it ran like a champ, hovering at between 30% and 32% humidity anytime I checked.
The humidity setting you choose for your dehumidifier depends on what feels comfortable to you. While many dehumidifiers can be set as low as 30%, some homeowners find that setting too low, and the air becomes too dry for comfort. For those who live in humid locations, a setting of 50% is usually adequate to feel a difference from the outdoors. In any case, for your home’s well-being, choose a setting between 30% and 50% for the best results.
Understanding what a dehumidifier does can help you understand continuous mode on your Hisense machine. When operating your dehumidifier at a particular humidity setting, the machine will stop removing water from the air when it reaches the desired level.
In continuous mode, the machine will keep running to remove as much water vapor from the air as it can, regardless of the humidity setting. The feature is useful when trying to dry out a room or an area that’s been affected by large amounts of humidity for a short time.
Getting your Hisense dehumidifier to drain through a hose is a simple matter of connecting a hose with a garden hose fitting onto the provided drain attachment. The fitting is found behind a small access door on the left side of the machine and is visible when the water reservoir is removed. There’s no need to remove the reservoir or make any other adjustments once the hose is attached.
Of Lowe’s customers who purchased and reviewed the Hisense Dehumidifier, 60% gave the machine five stars. Positive reviews cite the dehumidifier’s efficient operation even after up to five years. However, some negative reviews point to a seemingly common problem with the unit.
Several customers complain of receiving an E9 code in the machine’s display within or after a year of operation or so. The E9 code means the machine can’t communicate with the humidity sensor, rendering the machine mostly unusable.
While the sensor is replaceable, it’s likely more trouble than most homeowners want to deal with. Fortunately, this situation, while noted in the reviews, seems to affect only a very small percentage of units sold.
The Hisense 50-Pint 2-Speed dehumidifier is a full-sized unit designed for use throughout a home for overall humidity control. The GE dehumidifier is more of a one-room-at-a-time model. While both products appear in our review of the best dehumidifiers for basements, the GE model is perhaps better suited for small spaces.
The GE dehumidifier has a 20-pint capacity compared to the Hisense’s 50-pint bucket. However, you can attach a drain hose for continuous draining. The GE offers an auto defrost option, which isn’t available on the Hisense. However, the two machines are really best for different types of humidity-control needs.
If you’re looking to effectively control the humidity in one room at a time, the GE is more portable and efficient than the Hisense. On the other hand, if you need a dehumidifying workhorse for a large area, consider the Hisense.
Read more about other dehumidifiers we’ve tested, including the Midea Dehumidifier, Frigidaire Dehumidifier, and Eva-Dry Dehumidifier, the latter of which we think is one of the best small dehumidifiers.
While there may be some concerns about the Hisense reviews stating trouble with the E9 codes, the problem is limited to a small number of machines in the big picture. My testing revealed the machine to be hard-working enough to handle my needs for controlling humidity in my woodworking shop, which isn’t an easy task.
Customers looking for a powerful dehumidifier that can handle big jobs at a budget-friendly price might do well choosing the Hisense dehumidifier.
I wouldn’t recommend the Hisense for doing the work of one of the best crawl space dehumidifiers—they have a hard job. But because of how powerful the Hisense is, I recommend attaching a drain hose to it for continuous draining, especially in homes with high humidity levels.
VIA MERCHANT
The Hisense dehumidifier is available at Lowe’s and Amazon for $152 to $214.
Originally Published: September 11, 2024
