What Size Whole-House Dehumidifier Do You Need? AlorAir WHD 100

Prices and specifications verified September 17, 2026 against AlorAir's own product listings at thedryair.com. AlorAir is a paying Lifespan Vault partner; the sizing framework, the comparisons and the verdicts are ours.

6-Year Limited Warranty Available for Dehumidifiers. Coverage varies by product category; see warranty terms for details.

Size a whole-house dehumidifier to the square footage its ducts will serve, then compare the DOE whole-house rating, not the AHAM headline. The AlorAir Sentinel WHD 100 is rated for homes up to 2,300 sq ft at 70 pints per day under DOE conditions, 90 at AHAM, for $1,399, verified September 17, 2026. Homes up to 3,000 sq ft step up to the WHD 120.

That is the whole answer for most buyers. The rest of this piece explains why the DOE figure is the one to size from, when a portable unit is enough, where the WHD 100 sits in AlorAir's four-model ducted line, and who should buy something else.

Quick answer

• A ducted or duct-ready home up to 2,300 sq ft: the AlorAir Sentinel WHD 100 at $1,399, the lowest price per rated square foot in the line.
• A home up to 3,000 sq ft, or near 2,300 with a heavy moisture load: the AlorAir Sentinel WHD 120 at $1,999, 700 more rated square feet for $600.
• An unducted basement with no appetite for an install: the standalone AlorAir Sentinel HDi100 at $1,050, rated to 2,900 sq ft with an integrated pump.

AlorAir·Clean Air & Water

Sentinel WHD 100 Whole-House Dehumidifier

Whole-house dehumidifiers are sold by the square foot. The Sentinel WHD 100 is the ducted rung AlorAir builds for a home up to 2,300 sq ft: 70 pints per day at DOE conditions, a fresh air damper, and MERV-10 filtration on the airstream.

PRICE

$1,399

TIER

premium

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At a glance

All figures are AlorAir's, from the WHD 100 product page at thedryair.com, read September 17, 2026. None were measured by Lifespan Vault.

What size whole-house dehumidifier does a home actually need?

Start with the floor area the unit's ducts will serve, and pick the smallest model whose rated coverage reaches it. Then check the moisture load, because two homes of the same size can put very different demands on the same machine.

Floor area comes first because it is the only sizing figure every brand publishes. AlorAir rates each of its four Sentinel WHD models by square footage, so the ladder at The Dry Air reads as a sizing chart:

Coverage, ratings and filtration from each model's product page at thedryair.com; prices verified September 17, 2026. Price per rated square foot is our arithmetic on those figures.

Read against that chart, the WHD 100 is the lowest price per rated square foot in the line, at about 61 cents, and the WHD 120 costs $600 more for 700 more square feet of rated coverage.

Moisture load is where our guidance comes in, and it is ours rather than AlorAir's. A below-grade basement, a humid summer climate, a large household, laundry dried indoors or a leaky building shell all add water the machine has to remove without adding a single square foot. If your floor area sits near the top of a model's rating and several of those apply, the next model up is the safer buy.

Is a portable dehumidifier enough, or do you need a ducted whole-house system?

A portable unit is enough when the damp lives in one room. A ducted system earns its cost when the problem spans the house, because it runs one machine to one humidity setpoint and moves dried air through ducts to every room they reach.

A portable plugs in where the problem is and empties into a tank or down a hose. For a single damp room, a rental, or a seasonal problem in one space, it is the proportionate purchase. A ducted unit like the WHD 100 sits in a basement, crawl space or utility room, out of the living space, and drains through a line rather than a tank you empty. It costs more and needs an install plan.

A portable has reached its limit when any of these is true:

• You own more than one and still chase the problem. Several units, each with its own tank and setting, are a whole-house job done room by room.
• The damp spans more than one level. A room unit dries the room it sits in, not the floor above it.
• Only the room with the machine reads dry. A few inexpensive hygrometers settle this. If other rooms read higher, the gap is distribution, and more capacity in one room will not close it.
• Emptying tanks has become a routine. The upkeep is the signal.

Where does the AlorAir Sentinel WHD 100 fit?

The WHD 100 is the first rung of AlorAir's four-model Sentinel WHD whole-house line, built for a home up to 2,300 square feet that wants whole-house humidity control from a mechanical space. AlorAir lists it for whole-house, crawl space, basement and commercial applications.

Capacity. AlorAir rates it at 70 pints per day under DOE whole-house conditions and 90 pints per day under AHAM conditions. The next section explains which one to compare.

Filtration. MERV-10 on the airstream. That is a real dust-and-pollen grade, where many crawl space units carry MERV-1 screens that protect the coil rather than the air. It is not HEPA, so a dehumidifier pairs with an air purifier rather than replacing one.

Fresh air. AlorAir states the WHD 100 has an upgraded fresh air function controlled through a fresh air damper, which the brand describes as designed to avoid moisture problems under difficult conditions.

Drainage. AlorAir states the WHD 100 drains by gravity: condensate leaves through a drain line with no pump to run or service, so the install needs a downhill route to a floor drain or condensate line.

Noise and power. A manufacturer-stated 55 dBA sound pressure level, against 62 dBA on the WHD 120, on standard 115V household power at 5.9 amps.

Efficiency. 2.2 L/kWh under DOE conditions and 2.6 L/kWh at AHAM, on R32 refrigerant with automatic defrost.

Which pints-per-day rating should you compare: AHAM or DOE?

Compare DOE against DOE and AHAM against AHAM, and never one against the other. For a whole-house unit, the DOE whole-house figure is the one to size from, because its test condition sits closer to how a conditioned home runs.

Both ratings are taken at 60 percent relative humidity. AHAM tests at 80F and DOE whole-house at 73F. Warmer air holds more water at the same relative humidity, which is why the AHAM figure reads higher on every model in the line. For the WHD 100 that is 90 pints per day at AHAM and 70 at DOE: one machine, two tests, 20 pints apart.

The mistake buyers make is converting one into the other with a rule of thumb. The gap is not a fixed ratio. Across AlorAir's own line, the DOE figure is 78 percent of the AHAM figure on the WHD 100, 82 percent on the WHD 120 and WHD 150, and 85 percent on the WHD 200. A ratio borrowed from one model misreads the next, so when a listing gives only one figure, ask which test it came from.

Where it gives ground

The WHD 100 is a ducted machine, and that is both its point and its cost. It needs a mechanical space, a duct plan and a downhill drain route, and realistically an installer if duct runs do not already exist. The product page does not publish a duct collar size or an operating temperature range, and it lists airflow, weight and dimensions identical to the WHD 120's, so we have left those figures out until AlorAir confirms them. MERV-10 is a meaningful grade for a dehumidifier, but it is not a purifier, and a buyer who wants HEPA-grade air cleaning still needs one.

Who should not buy the WHD 100?

• Homes larger than 2,300 sq ft, or close to it with a heavy moisture load. The Sentinel WHD 120 is rated to 3,000 sq ft at $1,999, verified September 17, 2026.
• Anyone with no ductwork and no appetite for an install. AlorAir's standalone Sentinel HDi100 is rated to 2,900 sq ft with an integrated condensate pump and needs no duct runs.
• A small crawl space. AlorAir lists the WHD 100 for crawl spaces, but a small one is cheaper to dry with the Helios MP55, rated up to 1,500 sq ft with a built-in pump, at $699.66, verified September 17, 2026.
• A single damp room. A portable unit is the proportionate fix.
• Buyers who want HEPA-grade air cleaning. MERV-10 is a meaningful grade for a dehumidifier, but it is not a purifier.

How hard is the WHD 100 to install and maintain?

Installing it is a duct and drain job more than an electrical one: it runs on standard 115V power, and the work is in placing the unit, routing its ducts and giving condensate a downhill route. Maintaining it mostly means changing a filter twice a year.

1. Location. A basement, crawl space or utility room with space around the unit and access for filter changes. 2. Power. 115V at 5.9 amps. The product page does not state a circuit requirement, so have an electrician confirm the circuit if it serves other loads. 3. Ducts. AlorAir states multiple duct mounting options. The Dry Air sells a 10-inch diameter, 10 ft aluminum intake duct listed as compatible with the WHD 100, at $79, verified September 17, 2026. New duct runs into living space are work for a qualified HVAC installer. 4. Drain. The WHD 100 drains by gravity, per AlorAir, so plan a continuous downhill route for condensate before the unit goes in. The product page does not state the drain connection size. 5. Controls. The Dry Air sells a digital humidity and temperature remote controller listed for the WHD 100 and WHD 120, at $100, verified September 17, 2026.

Maintenance. AlorAir recommends replacing the MERV-10 filter every six months. A 3-pack sized for the WHD 100 and WHD 120 is $65.90, verified September 17, 2026, which works out to about $44 a year in filters at that price. Defrost is automatic. Keep the gravity drain line clear and sloped, because a blocked line stops water leaving the unit. The Dry Air offers a 6-year limited warranty; specific coverage for whole-house dehumidifiers is subject to The Dry Air's warranty terms.

How much does the AlorAir Sentinel WHD 100 cost?

$1,399 at The Dry Air, with no compare-at price, verified September 17, 2026. That is $600 below the WHD 120 at $1,999. Budget separately for ducting, any installer time and roughly $44 a year in filters.

AlorAir 10th anniversary offer. Through September 30, 2026, code Alorair10th takes 30% off at The Dry Air. From October 1, 2026, Lifespan Vault readers use code LIFESPAN15 for 15% off AlorAir's whole-home line. Follow the link on the WHD 100 page and enter the code at checkout.

How we evaluated this

We have not tested the WHD 100. Every specification, rating and price comes from AlorAir's own product listings at thedryair.com, read on September 17, 2026, and each price carries the date we verified it. What we add is the sizing framework, the comparison across the full ducted line on one basis, and the cases where a different AlorAir unit, or a portable, is the better buy. Where AlorAir does not publish a figure, we say so rather than estimate it.

Bottom line

Size by the square footage your ducts serve and compare DOE figures. For a ducted or duct-ready home up to 2,300 sq ft, the Sentinel WHD 100 is the entry to AlorAir's Sentinel WHD whole-house line at $1,399, with MERV-10 filtration, a fresh air damper and a gravity drain. Above 2,300 sq ft, step up to the WHD 120. With no ducts and no install planned, the standalone HDi100 is the simpler answer. Our best air purifiers and humidity control guide and the WHD 100 vs WHD 120 comparison carry the rest of the field.