Live prices scraped Aug 8, 2026 from amazon.ca and walmart.ca. All prices in CAD, before 13% Ontario HST. Every model ships to Ontario. “Small” here means basement-room duty: the honest answer is a 20-pint compressor, not the palm-size Peltier units.
*Curated after live price/rating/review comparison plus critical-review reading on every candidate. Rating and review counts are retailer values as of Aug 8, 2026.*
## Top picks at a glance
## Top 5 personal picks (rated 1-10)
#
Model
Retailer
Price (CAD)
Rating
Extraction
Coverage
Build
Noise
Value
Reliability
Overall
Why
1
Midea 20 Pint Dehumidifier (B07NRDBBH5)
Amazon
$209.98
4.4★ (6,927)
9
7
8
6
8
7
8
The proven compressor. ENERGY STAR, drain hose for continuous basement running, deepest review base in its class. Not quiet, and a minority of units die around year one, but nothing else this size has 6,927 people behind it.
2
Midea Cube 20 Pint (B097Q46S2V)
Amazon
$209.99
4.2★ (1,082)
9
7
8
5
7
6
8
Same compressor class in an extendable cube that fits tight spaces. Smart app is the weak point, it blows warm air, and one reviewer measured 55 dB at 4 m. Buy it for the footprint, not the features.
3
AIUSEVO 21 Pint (B0H5TZQL3L)
Amazon
$179.99
4.4★ (1,895)
8
7
7
7
9
6
8
Cheapest real compressor with a serious review base and a drain hose. The value pick if $210 feels steep.
4
Costway 32 Pints (Walmart)
Walmart
$144.99
4.0★ (127)
8
8
6
6
8
5
7
Grab-it-on-shift option: same-day at the Walmart Dan works at. Real compressor with a drain hose, but white-label with a thin 127-review base. Fine for the price, less proven than Midea.
5
VEAGASO 21 Pint (B0GXVNVF9P)
Amazon
$169.99
4.4★ (1,187)
8
6
6
7
8
4
6
Cheapest compressor. Critical reviews report evaporator-coil solder failures around year one and inflated square-foot claims. The budget gamble.
*Subjective 1-10 scores from scraped ratings, review volume, and critical-review patterns. Color code: red 1-3, orange 4-5, yellow 6-7, green 8-10.*
## Warning: the "small ones" on Amazon are Peltier units
The palm-size units you saw (Pro Breeze $65.99, CLEVAST $62.99, BREEZOME $107.25, Levoair $136.77, SANVINDER $90.32, TABYIK $130.31) are all thermo-electric Peltier. They extract **ounces per day**, need room temperature above 15°C, and the critical reviews repeat the same two failures: not enough water for a room, and dead within 1-2 years. Direct quotes from Aug 2026 critical reviews:
- Pro Breeze: "5 days running in a humid basement and water was in tray, so we returned it"
- CLEVAST: "Works until it doesnt... within less than 2 months of use, its function has staggered"
- BREEZOME: "Too small to make a difference in a room" and "Quit after a year"
- Levoair: "Glorified mini heater... not a single drop of water was extracted from a damp car"
A 70% basement needs pints per day. Only the compressor units move that much water.
## Verdict
**The pick for a 70% basement room: Midea 20 Pint, $209.98 at Amazon.** It is the smallest unit with a real compressor and the deepest review base in the class. Put the drain hose into a floor drain and let it run. If $210 is too much, the AIUSEVO 21 Pint at $179.99. Same-day option while on shift at Walmart: Costway 32 Pints at $144.99. Do not buy the Peltier units for this job.
## Tabletop pick (budget answer)
**The only tabletop worth buying for a damp room: BREEZOME 60 OZ Dual-Semiconductor, $107.25 at Amazon.** 4.3★ from 2,338 reviews. It has two condenser plates (most tabletop units have one, which is why they do nothing), a 1.8 L tank, and a drain option. This is the strongest tabletop on [Amazon.ca](http://Amazon.ca) today.
- [link](https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0CHFJCBWD)
**Honest limits:** it still moves ounces per day, not pints. It will hold a small enclosed basement room (under \~200 sq ft, door closed) and pull humidity down a notch. It will NOT dry a whole open basement. Set it on a table, empty the tank daily.
**Cheaper is a trap:** the $40-70 tabletop units (Pro Breeze, CLEVAST, the 7-color LED ones) have a single condenser and the critical reviews are uniform: barely any water collected, dead in a year. The $30 you save buys a paperweight.
**If the basement room is bigger than \~200 sq ft:** no tabletop fixes it. The cheapest real fix stays the AIUSEVO 21 Pint compressor at $179.99, or the Costway 32 Pint at $144.99 same-day from Walmart.
## Verdict - Amazon only
**The pick on Amazon: AIUSEVO 21 Pint, $179.99.** It is the cheapest real compressor on [Amazon.ca](http://Amazon.ca) with a serious review base (4.4★, 1,895 reviews) and a drain hose. Sized for the \~180 sq ft room: it will pull 70% down to 50s and hold it, run the drain hose into a bucket or floor drain, empty nothing. Critical reviews complain about larger rooms (800 sq ft) and the occasional unit dying at year one or two, which is the class norm at this price. There is nothing cheaper on Amazon that is actually a compressor with a track record: the $132-152 units (BRITSOU, COSTWAY, PETSITE) have 77-191 reviews and critical reviews report coil freeze and failure before a year.
- [AIUSEVO 21 Pint, $179.99](https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0H5TZQL3L)
**If $180 still hurts:** the tabletop BREEZOME 60 OZ at $107.25 is the band-aid. The single-condenser $60-70 units are a waste.
**Cheapest total fix, not Amazon:** Costway 32 Pint at Walmart, $144.99, same-day on shift. It is a bigger machine than the room needs but it is the lowest price for a real compressor.