Dehumidifier size chart (2020 ratings)
Pick your room's square footage down the side and how damp it is across the top to read a recommended size, in the current 2020 pint ratings. Those ratings read lower than old charts for the same machine: an old 70-pint unit is about 40 to 45 pints today, not 50. Full old-to-new translation is below.
Size by area and dampness
| Area | Moderately damp | Very damp | Wet | Extremely wet |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 300 sq ft | 20-pint | 20-pint | 20-pint | 20-pint |
| 500 sq ft | 20-pint | 20-pint | 20-pint | 30-pint |
| 750 sq ft | 30-pint | 30-pint | 30-pint | 50-pint |
| 1,000 sq ft | 30-pint | 50-pint | 50-pint | 50-pint |
| 1,250 sq ft | 50-pint | 50-pint | 50-pint | Whole-home |
| 1,500 sq ft | 50-pint | Whole-home | Whole-home | Whole-home |
| 2,000 sq ft | Whole-home | Whole-home | Whole-home | Whole-home |
Dampness levels: Moderately damp, Very damp, Wet, Extremely wet. Match the one that fits your space on the calculator, which also handles in-between areas.
What the old ratings became in 2020
From Energy Star's DOE-aligned correlation table. The test point moved from 80F to 65F in 2020, so the same machine posts a lower pint number now. This is the translation, and it is why the popular "old 70 equals new 50" line is wrong.
| Old (through 2019, at 80F) | New (2020, at 65F) |
|---|---|
| 30-pint | 20-pint |
| 40-pint | 25-pint |
| 50-pint | 30-pint |
| 55-pint | 30-35-pint |
| 60-pint | 35-pint |
| 70-pint | 40-45-pint |
| 90-pint | 55-pint |
| Old (through 2019) | New (2020) |
|---|---|
| 80-pint | 70-pint |
| 100-pint | 85-pint |
| 120-pint | 100-pint |
| 140-pint | 115-pint |
| 160-pint | 135-pint |
| 200-pint | 170-pint |
Our method, stated plainly
The size chart above is ours, derived, not reprinted from a standards body. We looked, and there is no clean, current, AHAM-published square-footage-by-dampness pint chart to republish. The tables that circulate online are either pre-2020 (rated at the old 80F point) or unsourced retailer grids, some with arithmetic that does not hold up.
So we built a transparent model. Each dampness level gets a pints-per-square-foot rate, calibrated so the results land on the current standard's 20, 30, and 50-pint portable classes, with anything larger pointed at a whole-home or crawl-space unit. The rates are our editorial calibration grounded in the current 65F standard, and we round up to the class that covers the need. The old-to-new correlation table, by contrast, is Energy Star's own, not ours.
One thing to watch on the dated refresh: a 2025 DOE proposal (90 FR 20864) would partly roll back the 2016 efficiency standards. It targets efficiency minimums, not the 65F capacity test point that drives these pint numbers, but we re-check it before re-dating this page. Last reviewed July 2026.
Common questions
Does an old 70-pint dehumidifier equal a new 50-pint?
No. That popular claim is off. Energy Star's own correlation table maps an old 70-pint unit (tested at 80F) to about 40 to 45 pints in the current 2020 rating (tested at 65F), not 50. An old 90-pint is the one that lands near the new 55-pint class. Sizing off the 70-equals-50 shortcut leads to buying too much machine.
Where does this chart come from?
We derived it. There is no clean, current, AHAM-published square-footage chart to reprint: the tables circulating online are either pre-2020 or unsourced retailer grids with internal errors. So we built a transparent model from the current 2020 standard's 20, 30, and 50-pint classes and a pints-per-square-foot rate per dampness level. The method is spelled out below.