Enter your dehumidifier's wattage and hours of daily use to see real running cost.
Larger capacity (pints/day) units draw more watts but also cycle off once target humidity is reached, so actual runtime is often less than 24 hours even on 'continuous' mode.
Basement and whole-home dehumidifiers often run for months at a stretch during humid seasons, which is long enough for a modest wattage to become a real seasonal cost. Most units have a humidistat that cycles the compressor off once target humidity is reached, so actual runtime is typically lower than 24 hours per day even on a continuous setting — measure actual daily hours where possible for the most accurate estimate.
They draw more watts, but often cycle off sooner since they remove moisture faster — for a persistently humid space, a properly-sized unit can actually run for fewer total hours than an undersized one struggling to keep up.
Fixing ventilation, grading, or a sump pump issue is almost always cheaper long-term than running a dehumidifier indefinitely to manage a chronic moisture problem.