Arecovas AR-DF002: running cost
ENERGY STAR certifies the Arecovas AR-DF002 at 274 kWh/yr, one of the cheaper models in its category to run for its category.
That $52 is priced at 18.8¢/kWh, the average of all 51 state rates this site tracks. Your own state's rate is one click away.
Efficient, or not, for a dehumidifier
Against the category average of 378 kWh/yr, this model uses 27.5% less, ranking 122 of 546 dehumidifiers tracked here for running cost. That average is drawn from all 546 dehumidifiers ENERGY STAR currently certifies, not an outside number, a $20/year gap from this model at the national rate. Full sourcing is in the sourcing notes.
Right next to it on the list
A rank or two either side of the Arecovas AR-DF002: ALORAIR Helios D35 ($52/yr, 274 kWh/yr), then BLACK+DECKER BDM22WCDA ($52/yr, 276 kWh/yr).
Same brand, different models
Ranked 2 of Arecovas's 4 certified dehumidifiers, this sits between the AR-DF001 ($36/yr, the brand's cheapest) and the AR-DF005 ($64/yr, its priciest).
Lifespan
NAHB's Study of Life Expectancy of Home Components does not publish a figure for dehumidifiers, so no lifetime cost is shown here rather than a guessed one. The annual and monthly figures above stand on their own.
Shopping for a new one
Efficient as certified dehumidifiers go, $52/year is a reasonable baseline if you're comparing what else is on the market.
Compare current ENERGY STAR certified dehumidifiers before buying.
If you're keeping it
The Arecovas AR-DF002 already costs $52/year to run; a repair bill on top of that is the kind of expense a protection plan exists to smooth out.
Where this number comes from
Two sourced numbers, nothing modeled: ENERGY STAR's certified kWh/yr for this exact model, and EIA's published state electricity rate. Ranked 122 of 546, the Arecovas AR-DF002 sits in the middle of the dehumidifier category, see the guide to why your state changes this number for the other half of the math.