Heat Pump vs Gas tumble dryer

spo2

We are torn between getting a heat pump or a gas tumble dryer (we have mains gas). We have two young children so it gets used a lot in the winter - in the summer I try to dry washing outside if weather permits.

I’ve heard that the heat pump ones are very cheap to run, but that the clothes coming out of the gas need minimal ironing which appeals to me!

Can anyone who has either give me an opinion or a review?
Thanks

sk240

To be honest, unless you dry an insane amount of laundry, the premium paid for a heat pump dryer, you may as well just buy a normal one, as the pay back is a good few years.
I see gas ones are available for only a little more than an electrically heated one, so if you have this option thats the one to go for.
The install costs form a gas safe engineer installation will obviously offset the savings though.

spo2

Thanks
We do use it a lot in winter, I don't like drying clothes inside the house and with all the rain, the tumble dryer is the only option!
We have a normal one at the minute but it is on it's way out so am going to buy a more efficient one

HappyMJ

How much washing do you do?

You know you can wear things more than once. The only items I change daily are underwear and socks all the other items go on the airer and get worn again without washing.

It doesn't rain constantly in the UK there is plenty of time to get clothes on the line and dry in between rain showers.

I would just go for another electric heat pump one. One load a day should be enough to dry the clothes worn the previous day for quite a large family.

The costs of getting a gas safe registered engineer out to install a gas model and then come out and do annual checks on it would make it uneconomical.

spo2

HappyMJ wrote: »

How much washing do you do?

You know you can wear things more than once. The only items I change daily are underwear and socks all the other items go on the airer and get worn again without washing.

It doesn't rain constantly in the UK there is plenty of time to get clothes on the line and dry in between rain showers.

I would just go for another electric heat pump one. One load a day should be enough to dry the clothes worn the previous day for quite a large family.

The costs of getting a gas safe registered engineer out to install a gas model and then come out and do annual checks on it would make it uneconomical.

Yes I do know you can wear things more than once! Unfortunately young children don't always seem to be able to keep clothes clean enough to get more than one day out of. Also my husband's work clothes need washed every day too.

It's not just clothes we use our washing machine for, we also regulary wash towels (more than one load a week as we have 4 bath towels, plus kitchen and bathroom hand towels, tea towels bath mats etc), three bedrooms worth of bedlinen (four if we have guests staying), plus dog beds (less regularly) and various extras, so it does add up!

With reference to the rain, we do hang outdoors as much as possible, but it does rain more than average here and as we both work full time, we can't just run out and bring the clothes in when the rain starts (sometimes after the clothes are dry)

dbriggs

I love my heat pump dryer. Once you have done one load, the second load is dry in half the time - and I chuck things in it which shouldnt be put in a dryer and it never seems to damage or shrink anything. It was a bit more to buy than a normal dryer but it came with a 5 year on-site fix or replace warranty, which in my book is worth the extra paid!

theonlywayisup

We bought a Miele heat pump dryer just before Christmas to replace a Siemens condenser which we have had for 10 years. The heat pump is incredibly efficient, it has a low ironing button, but it hasn't been used as everything comes out perfectly dry and hardly creased.

It was more expensive to buy but the energy savings are already evident.

We don't have mains gas therefore I can't comment on the pro/cons between the two, but I can thoroughly recommend a heat pump version.

nearlyrich

I have no experience of Heat Pump Dryers but I have a White Knight Gas TD which we bought in 1992 when we moved in here, it has had minimal intervention and costs pennies to run. It's true the clothes rarely need ironing ( I hate ironing) I hope this post hasn't jinxed it but if it has I would replace it with another like a shot.