How much water does a 50 pint dehumidifier hold?

3 Key Takeaways:

πŸš€ A 50-pint dehumidifier has a tank that can hold up to 1.6 gallons of water.

πŸš€ A 50-pint system can cover a larger space to remove excess moisture.

πŸš€ The size of the water tank in a dehumidifier depends on the capacity of the unit, and the pint capacity refers to the dehumidifier’s ability to collect the condensed moisture.

Poorly ventilated homes can create similar problems, but for a different reason. If your house is well insulated, it will hold onto excess moisture. Steamy showers in bathrooms without exhaust fans, unventilated kitchens (with no vented hood system), and laundry rooms filled with wet clothes are other sources of humidity issues.

If you have seen any of the above signs of high humidity in your home, you should be ready for a dehumidifier. Ideally, a whole-house dehumidifier that can be fit into your air conditioner, or heat pump can help you make sure that you don’t have moisture-related problems in your living space.

The U.S. E.P.A. recommends keeping the relative humidity levels in the house at 30-60% for health and comfort. Therefore, you need to look for dehumidifiers based on how much square footage you have in your home.

The size of the water tank in a dehumidifier depends on the capacity of the unit. Simply put, the pint capacity refers to the dehumidifier’s ability to collect the condensed moisture. This place where the water is collected can be referred to as the water tank or condensation bucket. 

Dehumidifiers work by drawing in ambient moist air, drying it out through a refrigeration process, and releasing it back into the environment. This hot and cool process creates condensation droplets that are collected into the water tank. This water tank capacity is usually how we measure a dehumidifier’s capacity to function every 24 hours.

Most units come equipped with an auto-shut-off feature that helps prevent overflow. Once a certain water level height has been reached or a target humidity level, the dehumidifier automatically switches off. In case the tank is full, it is recommended that you empty it before restarting the dehumidifier. The sooner the tank is emptied, the more efficient the dehumidifying process can be. 

Most dehumidifiers with large water tanks can run overnight and sometimes all day, thus making the process hassle-free. With more advanced models, you can also opt for pumps and drain options that allow the dehumidifier to run seamlessly without downtime. Besides the make and functionality, some other factors affect how much water collected by a dehumidifier can remove in a day.

Depending on how big a dehumidifier is and its power, the room’s temperature, and the humidity level, each device will function differently. To achieve optimum results, it’s a good idea to buy one that is proportional to the size of the room and how humid and damp your home becomes.

If you’ve figured out the humidity levels and room size and have a sense of the room temperature, and are now trying to understand water tank capacities, then keep reading. In this article, we cover aspects like dehumidifier capacities of 50-pint dehumidifiers, the amount of time it takes to dry out a room, and our pick for the best 50-pint dehumidifier in the market. 

How many gallons does a 50-pint dehumidifier hold?

A 50-pint dehumidifier has a tank that can hold up to 1.6 gallons of water. A 50-pint system can cover a larger space to remove excess moisture.

How often do you have to empty a 50-pint dehumidifier?

emptying dehumidifier

How often you empty the 50-pint dehumidifier may depend on several conditions, but as a general practice, you have to empty it every two days. If the humidity levels are too high, you may even have to empty it twice a day. 

How much area does a 50-pint dehumidifier cover?

A 50-pint dehumidifier is usually considered to be a large dehumidifier. It’s best for rooms that measure anywhere between 1000- 4000 square feet with good airflow.

Our Pick For The Best 50 Pint Dehumidifier in the market:

tosot-energy star dehumidifier

The TOSOT 50 pint dehumidifier is our favorite for many reasons. It comes fitted with an internal pump that automatically removes the water that the dehumidifier collects. You can use a standard garden hose for draining the water. It also comes with three drainage options:

Removable bucket

A drainage option involving a removable bucket that needs to be emptied at intervals of 24 hours

Gravity pump

An environment-friendly gravity pump that relies on the momentum of falling water to push the water high and above its source,

Pump drain

A pump drain that pushes out the water. The last two options can save you the hassle of manually emptying out the tank. This would mean no downtime and an undisturbed dehumidifying experience. 

The TOSOT 50 also removes up to 6.5 gallons of moisture per day over a 24-hour cycle. This means it can work in very wet environments too. The digital display lets you select a target humidity level at which the unit will automatically power off to prevent drying out the air. It is made of solid materials with solid-copper tubing in our internal lines for better heat transfer and received a UL94 flame-retardant classification of V-0. It is also Energy-Star rated, so you can have a hassle-free dehumidifier without breaking the bank. It is effective for an area of up to 4500 square feet. 

After reviewing similar products in the market, our verdict is the TOSOT 50 is the right dehumidifier in the 50-pint category.

FAQ Section

1. Is water from the dehumidifier distilled?

A dehumidifier works through a process of evaporating and recondensing water. Much like the distillation process, a dehumidifier does remove some minerals from water. However, it does not remove as many microbes and fungi.

Thus, making the resulting water undrinkable. So while it comes very close to distilled water, it cannot be used in place of distilled water. 

2. What do you do with water from a dehumidifier?

While a dehumidifier does not completely distill water, it does make it fairly clean if removed from the dehumidifier bucket immediately. If it has been sitting still for a while, it can play host to many bacteria and fungi, which can make the water unusable. This water, when removed promptly, can be reused for different purposes, for instance:

  • It can be used for gardening. Since it is not purified water, we do not recommend using water from a unit in plants you are growing to eat. 
  •  It can be used in other home appliances like a steam iron. 
  •  You can also use it to clean your home, mix it in with some fresh water and cleaning agents to scrub the floors.  
  •  The wastewater from the unit can be used for washing your car or hardscape outside your home.
  •  Refill the toilet tank
  •  Fill up your radiator. 

3. Will a dehumidifier ever stop collecting water?

Most dehumidifiers come built with an automatic shut-off feature. When the water tank is full, or the target humidity level has been reached, the unit will switch off and stop collecting water. This varies for each model and, in some cases, can be programmed. So make sure to consult your manual to determine whether you need to pre-set your dehumidifier or not.

4. How long does it take for a dehumidifier to dry out a room?

 If you are dehumidifying your room for the first time, this process may take a while. It can take between 12 hours to a week to completely dry out a room. However, this depends on several conditions like the size of the room, the design of the room, the surrounding temperature, and the elevation of the dehumidifier.

The elevation means the location of the dehumidifier. It’s usually best to place the dehumidifier in the center of the room to get an optimal drying experience. If the room has damp walls, a history of mold growth or mildew, and a few wet spots and still water, the process can take a while. However, if a room has been flooded, you may require multiple units and sometimes assistance from water damage specialists. 

5. How do dehumidifiers get so much water?

A dehumidifier is similar to a vacuum cleaner. It essentially takes in the air from an environment, removes the moisture, and sends it back into the same room as dry air. It works by drawing warm air currents to pull in the surrounding humid air– fed through refrigerated coils of the unit– to cool and then sent back out. During this process, water condenses. This condensation is collected in the water tank. The amount of water in a dehumidifier directly results from the moisture in the surrounding air. 

Wrapping Up

Once you have decided to buy a dehumidifier, it is more about getting the right sized one. A small-capacity unit is enough if your home is between mild and moderately damp. At this point, additional features you want to be looking at include the digital screen and noise levels for a good dehumidifier.

However, if you are experiencing damp walls, moisture build-up on windows, and mildew, you may need a higher-capacity dehumidifier. In this scenario, the larger the water tank size, the easier it makes things for you. The dehumidifier will need to work for a longer time to bring down the humidity in your home to achieve optimum humidity levels.

Furthermore, dehumidifiers with gravity or pump drainage to empty the tank’s contents would be a good choice. This will spare you from multiple trips to and from the dehumidifier to the sink. Having a large tank will mean you won’t have to change the tank 3 to 4 times a day. Moreover, a low downtime will also speed up the dehumidifying process.

author-image

About The Author

Olivia β€” a self-confessed air quality addict β€” is a home climate enthusiast, fresh air advocate, and someone with deep personal experience and knowledge about mold extermination. Her work was mentioned in countless notable humidity publications. Previously she was an editor at Mold Remediation.