The NETTA 12L is a budget compressor dehumidifier built around one idea: pull a respectable 12 litres of water a day out of a damp room while drawing just 170 W. It adds a humidistat, a 24-hour timer and a drain tube, so it behaves like a far more expensive machine on paper.
One cheap gadget makes this choice easier: a hygrometer that shows the room's actual humidity.
Availability: Amazon.co.uk from £119.17 (price checked )
Check price on Amazon.co.uk — £119.17
Specifications as stated by the manufacturer and seller. Check the exact details on the seller's listing before buying.
The budget 12 litre model: a 170 W motor, a humidistat, a 24-hour timer and a supplied drain tube.
| Version | Capacity | Coverage | Noise level | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12L | 12 L/day | Small to medium rooms | Below 55 dB(A) | £119.17 |
| 20L | 20 L/day | Medium to large rooms | Not stated (sleep mode quietens the fan) | £149.99 |
Verdict by James Whitfield, editor
12 L/day
Extraction rate
170 W
Power
<55 dB(A)
Noise level
£119.17
Price
Choose it if
You want a low-energy 12 litre unit with a humidistat, a 24-hour timer and a drain tube at a budget price.
Skip it if
You want a near-silent bedroom unit or a big tank that never needs a drain tube.
Set a target on the digital display and the unit cycles on and off to hold it, so it uses power only when the room needs it.
The 1.5 litre tank is small, so the 50 cm tube and the continuous mode turn it into a set-and-forget unit next to a sink or drain.
The compact motor keeps the cost to a few pence an hour, which is why it suits long, steady runs.
It rolls between rooms, has a 24-hour timer and defrosts itself in cooler rooms, with an automatic restart after a power cut.
A real-life example. Picture a ground-floor hallway where the windows run with condensation every morning. You park the unit in the corner, run the tube to the downstairs shower tray and set the target to 55%. By the time you are back from work the glass is dry.
The 12 litres a day is the extraction rate under the manufacturer's test conditions. In a cooler room the real figure is lower, so size up if the room is cold or very damp.
The noise figure is quoted as below 55 dB(A). That is a ceiling, not a typical level, but it is louder than the best bedroom models.
The manufacturer rates it at 170 W. That is a ceiling: the unit does not draw that power all the time, so the real cost is often lower. Indicative estimate over 30 days.
| Running time per day | kWh per month | Cost per month |
|---|---|---|
| 2 h | 10.2 kWh | £2.50 |
| 4 h | 20.4 kWh | £5.00 |
| 8 h | 40.8 kWh | £10.00 |
Work it out with your own tariff
Result: about £5.00 a month (20.4 kWh).
Worked example. At 170 W, 4 hours a day for 30 days is 20.4 kWh, about £5.00 at the reference price of 24.5p per kWh.
Choose it over the Pro Breeze 12L if you want the lowest price and a plain, simple machine. If you want an automatic humidity sensor with a clearer display, look at the Pro Breeze 12L OmniDry instead.
Product video supplied by the seller or manufacturer.
Buy the NETTA 12L if you want a simple, low-energy 12 litre dehumidifier with a humidistat, a timer and a drain tube for a bedroom, hallway or bathroom, and you are happy with a small tank and a plainer finish. If you want more capacity, the Pro Breeze 20L OmniDry is the better choice. If you want quieter running and a longer guarantee, the Meaco Arete One 12L is worth the extra.
Check price on Amazon.co.uk — £119.17In a bedroom or living room, set the target between 50% and 55% and leave the unit on the low fan speed. The humidistat will hold that level and cycle off, which keeps the noise to occasional bursts rather than a constant hum. At night, the bright display is the bigger irritation than the fan, so turn the machine to face a wall or run it before bedtime and let the 24-hour timer switch it off.
For a hallway, utility area or a damp ground-floor room where condensation runs down the windows, run it on the high speed for the first day to pull the level down, then drop to the low speed and let the humidistat maintain it. A room that is 80% humidity when you start can fall into the mid-50s within a few hours once windows and doors are shut.
For laundry, put the airer in a small room, close the door and run the high speed with the target set low. A full load of washing will usually be dry overnight in a room that size. Because the tank is only 1.5 litres, fit the drain tube for laundry sessions or you will find the machine has stopped itself part-way through. Check that the tube slopes downhill the whole way, with no kinks or loops that trap water.
In a bathroom, run the machine after showers with the door closed rather than all day. Keep it well away from running water and out of reach of splashes, and leave a gap of at least 20 cm around the grille so air can flow.
Empty and rinse the tank every few weeks and wash the intake filter under the tap when it picks up dust, letting it dry fully before it goes back in. If the room is below about 10°C the compressor loses efficiency and the defrost cycle runs more often, so a cold garage is better served by a desiccant model such as the EcoAir DD1 Simple MK3.
NETTA is a UK homeware brand known for affordable appliances, and this 12 litre model is one of its best-known products. It is a compressor unit, which means it cools the air to condense water and works best in the 15-30°C range typical of lived-in rooms. Extraction is rated at 12 litres a day, enough for a small to medium room, a hallway, a bathroom or a flat with a condensation problem.
The controls are digital. You set a target humidity on the display, choose between two fan speeds and let the humidistat cycle the machine on and off. A 24-hour timer lets you run it only when you want to, and an auto-defrost function stops the coils icing up in cooler rooms. If the power drops out, the unit restarts on its own.
The weak point is the tank. At 1.5 litres it is small next to the extraction rate, so in a properly damp room the tank can fill quickly. The supplied 50 cm tube and the continuous drainage setting solve that if you can stand the machine next to a sink, a shower tray or a floor drain.
It weighs 10.8 kg and sits on castors, so moving it from a bedroom to a bathroom is easy. The trade-offs for the price are noise, which is rated below 55 dB(A) and is not a bedroom-quiet figure, and a warranty of one year. For a first dehumidifier or a second unit for a spare room, those are fair compromises.
If noise and a long guarantee matter more than the lowest price, the Meaco MeacoDry Arete One 12L is the quieter, better-built 12 litre alternative.
The NETTA 12L is strongest on cost: a 170 W motor, a humidistat and a continuous drain mode are the features that matter to most buyers, and they come at a price that undercuts most 12 litre rivals. The cost is the 1.5 litre tank, which forces a drain tube in any seriously damp room, a noise rating that is audible at night and a warranty of one year.
Our detailed scoring
Compared against other 12L-class units
Scoring calculated from the manufacturer's official specs, compared against the real range for this type of appliance — a scale specific to each metric, not this site's catalogue.
Price checked on . It changes quickly, so confirm the final price with the seller.
NETTA 12L Dehumidifier
12 litres/day
Amazon.co.uk from £119.17
Check the seller, delivery date and returns terms before ordering. Affiliate links: we earn a commission if you buy, at no extra cost to you.
The best-value small-to-mid dehumidifier on Amazon.co.uk — a genuine Which? Best Buy winner with an unusually large, consistently positive review base, at a price well below the equivalent 20L models on this site.
The best-value small dehumidifier on the market right now for a single room or a flat — a genuine Which? award winner that costs less to buy and run than almost anything else in its class, without cutting corners on the basics.
| NETTA 12L DehumidifierTHIS REVIEW 4.4/5 £119.17 | Pro Breeze 12L/Day Dehumidifier with Automatic Humidity Sensor 4.6/5 £129.99 | Devola DV12L Low Energy Dehumidifier 4.6/5 £139.90 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Extraction power | 12 litres/day | 12 litres/day | 12 litres/day |
| Noise level | Below 55 dB(A) | Under 38 dB(A) | 36 dB(A) at full speed |
| Tank capacity | 1.5 litres | 1.8 litres | 2 litres |
| Value for money | 4.4/5 (£119.17) | 4.6/5 (£129.99) | 4.6/5 (£139.90) |
| Check price on Amazon | Read the review | Read the review |
A few extras that are genuinely useful with this model, not just upsells:
TempPro TP49 digital hygrometer and room thermometer
Think of it as the dashboard for your home. A small digital hygrometer shows relative humidity and temperature, and it helps you choose the right target setting, spot damp-prone rooms and avoid over-drying the air.
How to measure humidity in a room
View productAffiliate links: as an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases, at no extra cost to you.
Check the seller, delivery date and returns terms on the seller's listing, because some offers are fulfilled by third parties. Prices were last checked on 18 October 2026 and change often, so confirm the final price before ordering. Capacity figures are quoted by manufacturers under test conditions (usually 30°C and 80% humidity), so expect less in a typical UK room.
To compare it with other models, see our Best Dehumidifier UK, Best Budget Dehumidifier UK (Under £100) and Best Small Dehumidifier UK guides.
Strengths
Weaknesses
Our verdict: The cheapest way into a 12 litre compressor unit with a proper humidistat, best for a small room, hallway or bathroom.
Strengths
Weaknesses
Our verdict: The step up from the 12L when the room is larger or the washing load is heavy. Choose the Pro Breeze 20L Compressor instead if you want a drain hose.
At 170 W it uses 0.17 kWh each hour at full output. At a typical unit rate of around 30 to 35p per kWh that is roughly 5 to 6p an hour, and the humidistat means it does not run flat out all day. Use the running-cost calculator on this page to see the figure at your own tariff.
It is rated below 55 dB(A), which is louder than the quietest bedroom-friendly models. On the low fan speed it works as a steady background hum, but light sleepers are better off running it before bed and using the timer. If silence matters most, look at the Meaco MeacoDry Arete One 12L.
Yes. The unit has a continuous drainage mode and a supplied tube of about 50 cm. Run the tube to a sink, shower tray or floor drain, making sure it slopes downhill. For a longer run, a standard garden hose or a longer length of tubing of the same diameter works.
Yes. Put the airer in a closed room, set a low target humidity and run the high fan speed. A load of washing typically dries overnight in a small room. Fit the drain tube first, because the 1.5 litre tank fills quickly when the clothes are wet.
Treat it as a unit for a small to medium room, such as a bedroom, bathroom, hallway or the average living room of a flat. For a large open-plan space or a whole house, move up to a 20 litre unit such as the Pro Breeze 20L OmniDry.
A compressor dehumidifier loses efficiency as the room cools. The auto-defrost function stops the coil icing, but below about 10°C extraction falls noticeably. For a cold garage, shed or caravan, a desiccant unit is the better tool.
Yes. Set the target humidity and let the humidistat switch the machine on and off. It is designed for long periods of use, and it restarts automatically after a power cut. Keep the grille clear and clean the filter regularly.
All three are 12 litre compressor models in the same price bracket. The NETTA is the simplest and one of the cheapest. The Pro Breeze 12L OmniDry has an automatic humidity sensor and display, and the Devola DV12L is positioned on very low running cost.
Written by
Priya Shah
Priya writes the product reviews and buying guides on this site. She cross-checks manufacturer specifications against independent sources such as Which? and GOV.UK, flagging any gap between what a brand claims and what the figures show.
About our team →31 dehumidifiers compared · Amazon.co.uk prices checked November 2026
NETTA 12L Dehumidifier
£119.17