Danby Premiere Dehumidifier Review

Looking for the right dehumidifier for your home can be very tiring and very stressful. There are so many parameters to consider, so many features, so many differences between the countless models and brands.

This complexity of the subject is much of the reason why a lot of people refuse to consider a dehumidifier and still struggle with the mold and mildew in their homes manually. And that’s a shame. Manually scrubbing mold from your walls, ceiling and cabinets is not only tiring, but most of the time it is also futile. The simple fact of the matter is that if the humidity of the air in your home is too high, a dehumidifier, be it a portable one or a whole home model, is the only thing that can truly solve your problem in the long run.

And to further demonstrate that, here we will review a famous brand of dehumidifier – Danby. For other models, consult our list of top rated dehumidifiers. 

Danby dehumidifiers are among the best renowned dehumidifier brands in the US and the rest of the world. All Danby dehumidifier models are Energy Star® qualified, which alone should tell you most of what you came here to read.

Danby dehumidifiers can best be summarized by one word – “solid”. All of their models easily reach a very high level of performance in virtually all areas, while there isn’t really an area that you can say Danby is “the best” in. They are simply solid. And when it comes to the typical home owner – the one that doesn’t need anything too powerful, with too much coverage, or with too many fancy functions – a solid dehumidifier like the ones in Danby’s catalog is exactly what’s needed.

So, if you are a bit intimidated by the idea of researching and reading countless of different pages on dehumidifier models and if you simply want something that’s solid, effective and trustworthy – Dandy may very well be the brand for you. Danby offers a wide range of options, from 25, 30, 40, 45, 50, 60 and 70 pint capacity – whatever the size of your home, Danby are likely to have exactly what you need.

And to further exemplify this point, let’s take a look at one of Dandy’s most prominent models:

The Danby DDR070BBWDB Energy Star 70 pint Dehumidifier

Features And Benefits

This Danby Premiere portable 70 pint dehumidifier is a great portable device that will do wonders in most homes you put it in. It works with a “Smart dehumidifying” technology that makes it exceptionally effective, and it has a cool, smooth surface and design, which make it suitable for any room without affecting its ambiance.

As its name suggests, the DDR070BBWDB removes 70 pints of moisture from the air per day, which is more than enough for even big homes and households. Translated into physical space, this means that the DDR070BBWDB can work in a home or a space that’s up to 4,500 square feet large. In fact, if the humidity isn’t that high, the DDR070BBWDB can work in an even bigger space.

As for the dimensions of the Danby Premiere DDR070BBWDB dehumidifier itself, the device is 24.2 x 16.1 x 11.8 inches (or 62 x 40.5 x 30.5 cm) and it weighs 41.4 pounds. So, not only in terms of its design, but in terms of its dimensions too, the Danby Premiere dehumidifier is an excellent fit for any room.

And, since we wouldn’t want to miss anything, here is a quick list of all the other cool features and details about the Danby Premiere DDR070BBWDB Energy Star 70 pint dehumidifier:

• The DDR070BBWDB’s design is both compact and practical. The control panel is located at the top for a easy access. The control panel itself is very easy to understand and navigate, especially with the help of the instructions manual that the device comes with. It has a lot of electronic buttons, including - a “Continue” button that allows you to switch between manual and continuous mode; a “Filter” button for when it’s time to change the filter (once every 250 hours of operation); a “Fan” button to switch between the 2 different fan speeds; a “Timer” button to set the dehumidifier’s working schedule; a couple of “Arrow” buttons to set the desirable humidity level; and more. The device’s display shows you the actual humidity level of the air in your home (with a range of error of 5%) in a range of 30% RH to 90% RH.
• The dehumidifier has casters and carrying handles, which makes moving it from room to room quite easy.
• Maintaining the humidifier is also fairly easy. Its water bucket is installed at the bottom of the unit and is removed from the front with ease. The water bucket itself has a water level window. The air filters are at the back together with the drain hose outlet.
• This premiere model has 3 different draining options – manual, gravity and condensate pump.
• The manual draining is done via the built-in bucket. One thing to note is that the bucket isn’t very big for such a powerful moisture removal, so if you are going with this option, you are going to have to empty the bucket quite often. On the other hand, the dehumidifier has an Auto Shutoff option for once the bucket is full.
• The gravity draining option is done via the draining hose outlet at the back. It can be done with a standard draining hose or a garden hose. Another negative that should be mentioned is that a draining hose is not actually included with the device.
• The third option – the condensate pump – is also very efficient, but the device doesn’t come with a pump attachment. If you want you can add an external pump, which costs approximately $60.
• The Danby Premiere DDR070BBWDB also has an Auto-reset option that activates in a situation of power failure. This allows the dehumidifier to automatically resume working after a power outage as if nothing has happened. This can be very handy not just to save you time and effort, but also for when you are away from home, but you need the humidifier to keep working.
• This Danby device also has a Defrost function. This is a great function to help avoid any damage in the event of excessive amounts of ice in the evaporation coil.
• The noise level of this Danby device is also noteworthy. At its highest fan speed this 70 pint dehumidifier works at only 50 decibels. With such a low noise level this Danby model is great for any home and any room.
• This dehumidifier is highly energy efficient, making it a great long-term investment.
• This Danby Premiere dehumidifier can work without a problem at very low temperatures – anything as low as 41°F is acceptable for this device. Just make sure not to get any lower than that.
• Like all other Danby appliances, the DDR070BBWDB is also eco-friendly. If you are worried that a dehumidifier such as this one can be bad for the environment, don’t be.
• Last but not least, this Danby Premiere dehumidifier has an Energy Star rating to demonstrate its excellent capabilities.

Pros And Cons

Now that we familiarized ourselves with most of this Danby dehumidifier’s features, let’s summarize some of its Pros & Cons:

Pros:

• An Energy Star rating guarantees that this device is of the highest efficiency.
• 3 different draining options.
• An excellent control panel and display with a lot of different options.
• A lot of useful features, including a timer, an auto mode, a shutoff mode, and many others.
• Automatic defrost feature.
• An exceptionally quiet operation.
• Quite a comfortable price and an excellent price/quality ratio.

Cons:

• A drain hose is not included. Drain hoses are not expensive and a typical garden hose can work just fine as well. Still, it’s a bother so it’s a “Con”.
• The bucket of this model is quite small for its power. It’s an unavoidable problem, since otherwise the design of the device would have need to be much bigger. Plus, the dehumidifier shuts off automatically once the bucket is full so no accidents are possible. Still, when operating in manual draining mode, the bucket needs to be emptied fairly often (depending on the activity of the dehumidifier and the humidity of the air) which can get annoying.

Final Verdict

If you are looking for a great and affordable portable dehumidifier that is powerful enough to solve all your mold, mildew, odor and humidity problems, this Danby Premiere device is a perfect candidate for the job. Very energy efficient, very powerful, and at the same time – very quiet, light, and comfortable to use, this is a device for almost any home that’s big enough to need it. With its many options and slick design this dehumidifier is practically a joy to use.

So, if mold and mildew have become an issue, if your home is too big for most of the less powerful models on the market, if you need a portable and affordable device that won’t bankrupt you but will still do a great job – the Danby Premiere DDR070BBWDB model might be what you are looking for.