Honeywell TP50WKN dehumidifier review

The Honeywell TP50WKN dehumidifier is a sleek unit that is reasonably sized and reasonably priced. As far as brand recognition and reputation goes, you won't get much better than Honeywell. 

Dehumidifiers are an increasingly popular purchase for apartment dwellers and homeowners. They remove excess moisture in the air by drawing it in from the outside and cooling it, causing the moisture to condense and become water. The best dehumidifiers catch the water in a reservoir at the bottom of the machine. While a dehumidifier will not significantly cool your room, it could very well make your living space more comfortable because it removes excess moisture, which can make it feel hotter.

If you've already asked and answered the question, 'how big of a dehumidifier do I need' and the Honeywell TP50WKN is on your radar, it's important that you know its features and how well it works before shelling out the cash. Dehumidifiers aren't exactly cheap devices, and they can often be unwieldy to unpack and set up. To save you the trouble of potentially buying something you won't like, we’ve tested the Honeywell TP50WKN ourselves, evaluating how easy it is to use, performance and functionality. So read on to discover how we found it.

Honeywell TP50WKN dehumidifier review: How big is it?

• Height: 20.1 (in)
• Depth: 10.5 (in)
• Width: 13.2 (in)
• Weight: 34.4 (lb)

The Honeywell TP50WKN dehumidifier is a lot smaller than the LG Puricare 50-pint dehumidifier we recently reviewed and is significantly lighter as well. The flat white body and black bezel along the top look quite sleek, and there's a handle you can flip up to use – although this may just be to roll it around on its wheels, as short people (like our tester) may struggle to pick it up. The wheels make it very easy to move around. There's a LED display on the front and top of the device which will let you monitor humidity levels from across the room, and easy-to-press buttons that offer multiple settings.  

Honeywell TP50WKN review: How easy is it to use?

The Honeywell TP50WKN is easy to set up and turn on – all you need to do to get it started is to ensure that you remove the tape holding the bucket in place and remove the cardboard blocking the top of the bucket. From there, you just plug it in and get it going without any unnecessary fanfare.   

Honeywell TP50WKN dehumidifier review: Performance

The Honeywell TP50WKN was set up in a medium-sized living room in the middle of a very hot day. Upon turning it on, the LED display read that the room was at 89% humidity – and it felt like it. After an hour of running it consistently, it had dropped to 42% humidity, and there was a notable difference in the room. After two hours, the humidity hadn't dropped any further, and the tank was about half-full. Running it consistently for several hours filled the tank rather quickly. However, because dehumidifiers put out some heat during the process, it did feel slightly warmer in the already-hot room, although the drier air was a bit less difficult to deal with when compared to the extreme humidity. 

Running the Honeywell TP50KWN in sleep mode just means the top display lights will shut off one minute after setting it. Setting the timer is easy and can be set for up to 24 hours. There are two fan speeds, and they aren't that noticeably different in terms of sound output.

From approximately 10 feet away, the Honeywell TP50WKN puts out around 55 decibels of sound, comparable to an in-home conversation. When standing right next to it, it never got louder than 61 decibels, save for a little spike to 74 when first starting it up. It is, overall, a very quiet dehumidifier that doesn't really require you to raise the volume on your TV or talk louder while it's running. 

Honeywell TP50WKN dehumidifier review: What’s good about it?

The Honeywell TP50WKN dehumidifier has a fantastic LED display so that you can easily read it from across the room. Its extra features like sleep mode and auto-restart mode make it a great dehumidifier for those who want to just set it and forget it. It has a relatively low noise output that made it a dream to run in the living room as it didn't require me to raise the sound of my TV when watching a movie or playing games. The Honeywell TP50WKN dehumidifier looks sleek and can easily fit in with almost any décor choices in your home. Emptying the bucket is easy, and moving this dehumidifier is a breeze thanks to the wheels.

Honeywell TP50WKN review: What’s not so good about it?

The Honeywell TP50WKN is a solid, well-designed dehumidifier, but there's no denying that the water tank capacity is quite small. That means that, although it can remove 50 pints of water from your room a day, you'll need to frequently empty the bucket in order to ensure it hits that mark. This can be annoying if you leave the dehumidifier running while you're out, or if you just generally aren't fond of emptying out a tank several times a day. There's also no splash guard/lid on the bucket, so it's easy to spill if it's full. 

The Honeywell TP50WKN also has no defrost mode. This could be an issue in colder months but we can't say for certain as it was tested in the summer. 

Honeywell TP50WKN dehumidifier review: User reviews

 The Honeywell TP50WKN has an average of 4.5 stars across 1,446 ratings on Amazon. Customers were happy with how easy it is to get going, and many praised the mirage front LED indicator that reads the current room humidity. "It can be easily viewed from a distance," writes one reviewer, pointing out that most other dehumidifiers require you to read the current humidity levels from its top panel. A negative reviewer was not happy with the drain hose that comes with the Honeywell TP50WKN, claiming that its hard plastic and short length made draining a pain. We never used the drain hose, so we can't speak to this.

Should you buy the Honeywell TP50WKN dehumidifier?

The Honeywell TP50WKN is a great 50-pint dehumidifier if you're willing to shell out a bit more money for brand identity and quality. If you're concerned with being energy efficient, then spending the extra money will be worth it for you – as will the extra features that help it stand out in a sea of dehumidifiers. This is the perfect product for small to medium rooms up to 3000 square feet, and its hassle-free maintenance is great for those who just want to dehumidify without having to get an engineering degree.  

If this product isn’t for you

There are other 50-pint dehumidifiers that will run you closer to $270 as opposed to Honeywell's $330, so keep that in mind. If you need an even larger dehumidifier for a rather big room, you may want to consider a 70-pint model.