Tumble dryer, condenser or vented?

HooCanTellMee

Hi Everyone,
I have an ancient tumble dryer, won in prize drawer seventeen years ago! Think it may be a little long in the tooth, not very efficient although it still works. Having said that, you do have to thump or kick the door to get it going! So what should I replace it with, a condenser dryer would allow me to move it to a better space in the kitchen, but do they work as well as a vented dryer? Do they cost more to run?
Any recommendations, it has to function well, doesn't need to be a fashion statement. We are a family of four, two teenagers and myself and hubby, so moderate amount of washing.
I only use a dryer as a last resort because I much prefer to line dry the washing when possible. We are in Scotland and at present it is howling a gale and chucking down the wet stuff, mainly rain with a touch of snow, so no washing out for a day or three, unless I want to retrieve it from the garden next door!
Thanks in advance for any ideas.

genny

Have a look at the energy consumption for models in a similar range by a similar maufacturer... most good companies have this data in their brochures, I'm looking at a Bosch one now.

HooCanTellMee

Thanks Genny,
I have a Bosch washing machine, and it works well, so maybe I will look at their tumble dryers. Wind is getting stronger, shame about the rain, or it would blow dry the washing pronto! Either that or it would just disappear over the fence!

cheekyherb

I recently brought a condenser indesit tumble in the sale at comet. I was desperate over the winter to get towels and bedding dry (esp as my youngest was bed wetting). Come spring and summer I won't use it as like you prefer to dry outdoors. I think its swings and roundabouts on costs. We went for condenser one as could get it out of kitchen and into downstairs cloakroom

Good luck in your search!

WestonDave

Theoretically a typical vented dryer will be quicker and therefore cost less per cycle than an equivalent quality condensing dryer - however that's not the whole story. A vented dryer saves electricity by not recovering the water but by blowing the hot wet air outside, where any secondary benefit from the heat is wasted. Given that many people use a dryer in winter and line dry during warmer weather, its worth bearing in mind that a condensing dryer keeps the heat in the house and contributes to the overall warming - thereby offsetting part of the overall heating costs.

We've only ever had a Bosch condensing dryer, however this appears to be very effective, and will dry a load faster than the washing machine can wash the next one which is plenty fast enough. Its sensor based so it only runs for as long as is needed to dry the clothes, unlike timer based ones where you have to guess how long it needs and inevitably over estimate (since if you underestimate, the clothes are wet so you put it on for a bit longer!)

LillythePink

I've had both - I am lucky now that it is in the garage (which I can access from the kitchen) and it is a vented one.

Previously, I had condenser ones and I didn't feel any heat from them in the kitchen - so it makes no odds on that score (from my experiences)

The vented ones will be cheaper, and as I said, luckily mine is now in the garage so when it breaks I will just replace like with like.

I have also found the vented one dries quicker.

deano72_2

vented,its cheaper to run/buy & less to to go wrong

Ms_Magnetite

Whatever you buy, it will be cheaper to run than the old one. I got an Indesit condenser and being able to put it in a convenient place, rather than wherever was nearest to the outside, vastly improves the usefulness of it. As does not having to clean moisture and fluff from the kitchen surfaces.


Had I the money at the time (which I didn't, as I have moved house in the last 4 months), I would have got Bosch. As it is, I do expect this to go wrong within the next few years, but hopefully I will have the funds to replace it with one I actually want.

genny

deano72 wrote: »

vented,its cheaper to run/buy & less to to go wrong

They are not cheaper to run at all and virtually no difference in complexity, one pours the air outside, one condenses it and collects in a drawer, hardly rocket engineering.

Just looked through a brochure here, nearly all the Bosch models are condensers, and of those all but one are B rated, the top end model is A rated. They only make two vented models which are both at the bottom end of the ranges.

http://www.bosch-home.co.uk/our-products/washers-and-dryers/tumble-dryers.html

Looking at the consumption of the two in the lower "Avantixx" range, the condenser and vented ones both have identical power consumption over the four categories of testing and drying, the condenser one takes about 5 mins longer per programme, but uses identical kWh.

deano72_2

yep theres not alot more to them apart from a pump & the condenser draw,but thats a pump that could go wrong & the pump will use electric (alltho !!!!!! all) so there is more to go wrong & cost more to run & cost more to buy

HooCanTellMee

Thanks to all for the replies,
Think I will go for a condenser dryer, it has to go in the kitchen, I can't get to the garage without traipsing outside. I would like to put it in a different position to the old one, also when windy the vent seems to blow back, it feels drafty round the edges of the dryer. If I move it I can fill in the vent, and hopefully make my kitchen feel warmer. Don't mind spending a little more, hope it lasts like the old one, can't believe it still works after all this time, even if I only use it in winter or very wet weather, it has had a hard life! Any good ideas for recycling it?