NETTA 12L Dehumidifier Review: price, specs and verdict (2026)

In 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.