Which Tumble Dryer to buy?

bizzybee

About 5 years ago my tumble dryer packed up one evening just before Christmas. I desperately needed one and raced up to Curry's and bought the only one they had in stock that I could take away there and then. It was a basic vented White Knight model, about £100 at the time. It only has 2 settings but it's great, never had any problems with it at all.

macman

Ebe_Scrooge wrote: »

My personal preference would be for a vented model if given the choice - slightly more fiddly to install, but less bits to go wrong :-) Also, I was always led to believe that a vented is more efficient than a condenser ( contrary to what kmdesign said, so I'm quite prepared to be corrected on that ) if comparing similar machines. The theory being that a condenser uses energy to heat the air, then more energy to cool it back down again ? Anyway, that aside, I'd go for a vented purely on the basis that there are less "moving parts" to go wrong, so to speak, so potentially fewer repair bills.

Incorrect. Most vented driers are only C rated for efficiency, almost all condensers are B rated, as some heat is recovered to aid the drying process. To get up to A rating you need a machine with a heat pump, and these are generally at least £250 more expensive.
Condensers are perfectly reliable, the technology is long established and not much to go wrong. A condenser has no additional moving parts.

devon27_2

Just though would say that I am on my 3rd condensor dryer last 2 being a whiteknight which was great then a hoover one not so great packed up 2 years ago and currently have a Miele which is fantastic and am hoping it will last 20 years, I use it all the time and havent had any condensation whatsover and its even plumbed into the drain so i dont have to empty the water out. I had an old ancient hotpoint which was just as good but it was vented and seemed to give off a lot of condensation. its horses for courses really if you have a place to put a vent house go for one of those if not go for a condensor they all do the same job in my mind.

lovinituk

White Knight are made by Zanussi I believe and are supposedly pretty good for the relatively low cost.

macman

White Knight are made by Crosslee in Halifax.
Zanussi have been owned by Electrolux since 1984.

lovinituk

macman wrote: »

White Knight are made by Crosslee in Halifax.
Zanussi have been owned by Electrolux since 1984.

Are they perhaps made under license from Zanussi/Electrolux? There appears to be a lot of spares that are compatible with White Knight and Zanussi so there must be some connection, e.g....

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Knight-Crosslee-Zanussi-Electrolux-Complete/dp/B000U1FVWG

macman

Not as far as know. But tumble driers are like cars, they buy in components from many sources, so there may well be some commonality.
Since Electrolux market in the UK under several brands already, I don't see why they'd licence Crosslee to compete with themselves in the UK.

lovinituk

Just seems a bit odd that those 2 (White Knight & Zannusi) and only those 2, have so many parts in common (its not just a few - look online and its seems like pretty much most of the internals.

macman

It's possible. I only know White Knight for their gas models.

alexlyne

lovinituk wrote: »

I can vouch for Beko. We have just purchased the DRVS73W vented dryer for £169 - large capacity (7kg), sensor drying and reverse action. Nearly every review I found online was very good and the few less positive ones were just picky I felt. Its a great machine - drys much quicker than the Hotpoint it replaced and because of the sensor it stops when its dry instead of setting it for longer than you really need.

We had to replace the washing machine at the same time (grr!!) and went for a Beko too. And we also have a large Beko fridge/freezer that we have had for about 3 years and it has not had a problem.

Beko are great in my opinion. I would never touch a Hotpoint again - had constant problems with the dryer and also the dishwasher which we still have.

+1 for beko. We have had a DCU8230 for 3-4 months now, and it does the job perfectly well. I paid £214 from Dixons, free delivery. I couldn't see any of the brands coming close to it in price for the specs (8kg, sensor dry, easy clean filters, B efficiency)

What I did notice form my research was that - 1. almost all dryers with sensors always left the clothes a bit damper than expected (in the sub £400 range at least!), and 2. condensors are generally more expensive than vented.