What type of tumble dryer

benjus

I want to buy a tumble dryer.

It would be placed in a utility room against an external wall next to a sink unit (where the washing machine drains).

I don't want to have to empty a water tank. So I could either get a vented model and drill a vent hole through the wall, or get a condenser or heat pump model with a drain hose and plumb it in to drain into the same pipe as the washing machine. (assuming the machine has some kind of pump and doesn't just drain using gravity - I don't know how these work)

I've read that vented ones are a lot quicker to dry clothes, and of course the design is very simple. However the heat pump models (while more expensive to buy) seem very energy efficient, and drilling a big hole in the wall isn't terribly appealing.

Any thoughts/experiences?

Owain_Moneysaver

Hang the washing on an airing rack and put a dehumidifier in the utility room.

benjus

Owain_Moneysaver wrote: »

Hang the washing on an airing rack and put a dehumidifier in the utility room.

I thought of doing that, but there's no door between the utility room and the kitchen, so I'm not sure how effective it would be (plus washing hanging there may be at risk of getting smells from cooking). Also there isn't enough room for hanging large bedding etc.

macman

The condensers pump up to the removable top tank from the bottom tank. If you plumb it in it will drain from the top tank to an external or sink-connected drain route. So a condenser will involve less install work, since it's right next to the sink.

ryder72

Get yourself a Miele condenser dryer. These will be more expensive to begin with but will be more energy efficient. You can set up the water to drain into the sink so no emptying the tank.

If you can afford it the heat pump model is even better.

teddysmum

We have a condensing Zanussi tumble drier,( in the garage),which I don't use as my husband does the washing,but he says that emptying it is no problem at all; the water tank being smaller than a bucket.

benjus

Thanks all - so no love for vented models then? Does anyone know how drying times vary between a decent vented model and a decent condenser model? Presumably even a good condenser can only condense steam to water at a certain rate.

Price wise vented will probably still be cheaper to buy even with the cost of installing the external vent. Not sure about running costs.

Basically if there's no advantage of vented machines I'll go with the easiest to install option, but if there is an advantage I wouldn't be against putting in the external vent.

cyantist

I had a condenser dryer, now we have a vented one in the same make. It used to take 3 times as long to dry the clothes in the condenser dryer than it does now, though the condenser dryer was older.

When we first moved here 10 months ago we had an old beko vented dryer that the owners left behind for a little while, and that was still so much faster than the condenser.

Clive_Woody

We've got a Miele vented dryer which we are very pleased with. We had a condenser a while back but wouldn't go back.

saverbuyer

I have a gas dryer. Great job.

benjus

saverbuyer wrote: »

I have a gas dryer. Great job.

Now there's a thought... the boiler is also in the utility room so getting a gas supply would be easy. Doubt I could convince my OH to go for it though.