LG Puricare 50-pint dehumidifier review

The LG Puricare 50-pint dehumidifier (UD501KOG5) looks good, and it's built just as well, with durable materials making it one of the most high-quality dehumidifier builds on the market. The side-mounted bucket with removable lid makes it incredibly easy to drain the LG Puricare 50-pint dehumidifier whenever it's full, and the LED display makes setup a breeze. This is an easy to use, easy to move, and easy to understand dehumidifier – but is it the best option for you? 

We put the LG Puricare through its paces, running it for hours and measuring its noise output as well as its effectiveness. While it's an incredibly simple dehumidifier that isn't really an eyesore, we didn’t feel that the product justified the price, as it's not markedly better than other dehumidifiers out there. 

Read on for our full review of the LG Puricare 50-pint dehumidifier. Plus, learn more about how dehumidifiers work, and how big of a dehumidifier you need. We've also rounded up a selection of dehumidifiers on sale right here at LiveScience.

LG Puricare 50-pint dehumidifier review: How big is it?

• Height: 26.2 (in)
• Depth: 12.5 (in)
• Width: 16.8 (in)
• Weight: 43.9 (in)

The LG Puricare 50-pint dehumidifier is a little taller and slimmer than the Frigidaire FFAD5033W1 and its wheels make it very easy to move around your home as needed. It's made of high quality parts, including a shiny black plastic body that is easy to clean. It's definitely not a small dehumidifier, but it's sleek enough not to be an eyesore, and easy enough to move around to determine where it fits best in your home. However, its size may be a deterrent for some. It also doesn't have cord storage.

LG Puricare 50-pint dehumidifier review: How easy is it to use?

The LG Puricare was a cinch to set up and turn on, with virtually no real assembly required. The controls on top of the unit are fairly simple to understand: there's a power and fan speed button, a timer, a filter reset button, and two arrows that allow you to set your desired humidity level. An LED screen tells you what you've set the dehumidifier to and what the current room's humidity level is at 5% intervals. There are light indicators for when the bucket is full and when you need to check the filter. The lowest humidity level you can set it to is 30% and it will automatically cycle off when it reaches this.

This is all very user friendly, but if you're looking for more specific settings, this might be a letdown for you. There are only two fan speeds whereas the aforementioned Frigidaire has three, and there's no continuous mode. You also can't set the LG Puricare for a 24 hour cycle – the maximum is 12, which is unusual for a 50 pint unit. 

LG Puricare 50-pint dehumidifier review: Performance

The LG Puricare was set up in an enclosed space (a bedroom), which started off at 45% humidity according to the device's internal hygrometer. The highest setting possible on the dehumidifier will drop the room's humidity to 30%, so it was set to that and ran continuously for two hours. 

From approximately 12 feet away, the LG UD501KOG5 puts out around 58 decibels of sound, comparable to an in-home conversation. At about seven feet away, the decibel app measured 60 decibels of noise output from the compressor and fan, while standing almost on top of it measured 64 decibels. The noise output overall is very pleasing, with the top exhaust masking the sound of the compressor quite a bit. 

After an hour the LG Puricare had already dropped the room to 35% humidity, and halfway through the second hour it hit 30%. The device cannot be set to a lower desired humidity level. The top exhaust fan does significantly warm the room, however, which may be an issue for those living in warmer climates. 

After two hours, the bucket contained nearly three full cups of water, which was easy to dump out thanks to the removable lid. 

LG Puricare 50-pint dehumidifier review: What’s good about it?

The bucket on the LG Puricare is one of the best we've seen, if not the best. Removing and dumping out the bucket is incredibly easy thanks to a removable splash guard/lid which gives you optimal surface area for emptying out the tank. Most other dehumidifiers do not have a removable splash guard so it takes longer to empty out the tank when it's full as there's only a small opening to drain water out. 

The LG Puricare also has a defrost mode and a defrost light, which lets you know that when the unit is defrosting and not actively removing humidity from a room. Since the fan runs when on defrost mode, that light helps users know for sure that it's not currently dehumidifying. 

We also can't say enough about the LG Puricare’s build quality. It feels solid, looks great, and has handles for easy bucket removal and unit mobility. 

LG Puricare 50-pint dehumidifier review: What’s not so good about it?

As mentioned above, there are some key design differences between the LG UD501KOG5  and comparable models that don't work in the unit's favor. The need to install an adapter in order to utilize gravity drainage (attaching a hose to the unit to drain the bucket without removing it) on this unit is a major deterrent – even though the adapter comes with the device, it's very easy to misplace. That means you'd have to replace the part in order to drain the device. The bucket is also smaller than other units by as much as three pints, which makes that adapter even more of a hindrance.

The settings are also quite limited, especially the lack of a 24-hour mode. Most units have a timer that lets you set it for 24 hours and a continuous mode – neither of which are available with the LG UD501KOG5. Even though this model lets you set a desired humidity level that is 5% lower than most on the market, the lack of a continuous mode sort of negates this feature, as any other dehumidifier could technically drop a room's humidity level to lower than 30% if running continuously.

LG Puricare 50-pint dehumidifier review: User reviews

The LG Puricare 50-pint dehumidifier scores 4.4 out of five stars on Amazon.com. Many users comment on the high quality fit and finish, and the fact that the unit is very quiet, with one customer noting, “I truly forget it’s on most of the time because it sounds like my central air condition (barely audible)”. More negative reviews focus on the price for what you’re getting. One customer wrote: “It’s good, overpriced there is nothing special that makes it different from any others on the market. You must be paying for the LG brand.” 

Should you buy the LG Puricare 50-pint dehumidifier?

If you're looking for an easy to use and easy to empty dehumidifier, the LG Puricare 50-pint dehumidifier may be a good option for you, especially if you're looking for something to use in a larger room. It does, however, have some sticking points that may be a deterrent for you – specifically the need for an attachment for a gravity drain, the somewhat limited settings, and the small bucket. 

If this product isn’t for you

Aside from its high quality materials, it's hard to justify spending more for this dehumidifier unless you're a big fan of its design and how it will look in your home. There are better dehumidifier options out there for you, including this Frigidaire. However, the LG UD501KOG5 is not a bad dehumidifier by any means, so if price isn't a problem for you, it's still a solid option.