The search for a Tumble Drier Begins

Ebe_Scrooge

JohnB47 wrote: »

Would it be possible to take the flexible hose from the drier up and out that vent? Surely condensation draining down and lying in the horizontal bit of pipe would be a problem?

I think that would be a problem. Usually, when installing a vent, they recommend you slope it slightly downwards to allow any condensation to run down and outside. If you've got stagnant water lying in the pipe I think you'd be storing up problems for later ....

glasgowdan

Honestly, condensers are superb and don't suffer from whatever problems you might think they do

JohnB47

Thanks Ebe, that's what I thought. Cheers.

glasgowdan - Yes, I thought condensers would be less efficient but maybe not? At least the heat is kept indoors.

As for emptying them - are there better/worse ways of doing this - i.e are the tanks always placed lower down, meaning bending over, or are some at the top or further up? I think I read about that somewhere.

Bending down has become a real pain recently for both of us - literally I mean. Anything that would reduce the effort of emptying a container so often would be helpful.

DigForVictory

All the condensor driers we've had have had the tanks at a reasonable height to pull out - near or at the top, not ground floor!

The vented drier was hell - let in all sorts of critters - when it died, we sealed the hole back up & saved a bomb on poisons etc.

Currently we've a Grundig heatpump drier that condenses the water out & has the best economy rating for the money (around £400 but it gets a lot of use - school uniforms etc) & even if I tempting Fate to say it's great, it's got a five year warranty.

If you're unsure, go have a look at possible models, ask friends if they'd recommend theirs (or the latest version thereof) etc as the internet doesn't really let you realise the just condensed water is nearly hot enough to make tea with. Excellent hot water bottles though.

welshbookworm

Mines a John Lewis condenser dryer. Has a sensor combined with loads of choices for drying.
Get a dryer larger than your washing machine and it will make drying easier and less creased.

Callie22

We've recently bought a Samsung heat pump condenser drier. It's taking some getting used to but it seems to be working well. I can't comment yet on the usage costs as we've not had a bill with it yet, but it seems to dry things pretty effectively in a fairly quick time - a load of king-size bedding dries in about an hour and a half. The water that comes out of ours is not hot at all, but the drier itself does warm the room very effectively.

The only thing that I'm not keen on is how frequently we have to clean the heat-pump filter. We mainly use the drier for our newish towels which are quite 'linty', but we are finding that we have to clean the filter out every two weeks. The drier has a light that comes on when it needs cleaning, which is handy otherwise I admit I'd probably forget. Cleaning the filter is a bit of a PITA, it's quite low down and it takes a lot of cleaning to get the sensor in the machine to switch the light off. We've found the best way of cleaning it is brushing it out with a clean, stiff paintbrush and then a quick vacuum out to pick up the lint, but tbh it is a bit of a faff dismantling the filter, cleaning it, rinsing the foam filter, then brushing and vacuuming the filter 'grid' and then finally putting it all back together. I can't speak for all models but I'm not sure I'd recommend ours if you're older or have mobility issues - you do need to be able to get right down onto the floor to clean it properly.

teddysmum

When we needed a new tumble dryer (the ancient Creda one inherited from my parents, having died), my husband consulted some of his customers and was told that Zanussi have the smallest number of returns as faulty on purchase and the fewest developing faults, so that's what we bought and have had it for several years (well over 5).


It is a condensing model , as it needs to be in the garage and it works very well.

JohnB47

Thanks everyone.

Good to know that the tanks on condensers can be up off the ground. I must remember to check that on models I look at.

Another question - reverse action. Is it really necessary? I've read that things, like sheets, can get tangled into a ball if a machine doesn't have reverse action. I've looked at a few condensers now and none of them have this.

Thanks again. Lots of good advice here.

J_B

We've had a Hotpoint alarmed vented sensor drier since 2005 - you know the one that's supposed to burst into flames!
We had it 'modified' by Hotpoint earlier this year.

It has various settings, but the only one we use is the 'dry' one!

We put wet clothes in, set it to dry them, then, when it's done a buzzer sounds and we take the stuff out.
The last bit is what SWMBO likes best as it saves a lot of ironing (rather than leaving them to crease in the bottom of the drier for ages)

Simples.

EssexExile

JohnB47 wrote: »

Thanks everyone.

Good to know that the tanks on condensers can be up off the ground. I must remember to check that on models I look at.

Another question - reverse action. Is it really necessary? I've read that things, like sheets, can get tangled into a ball if a machine doesn't have reverse action. I've looked at a few condensers now and none of them have this.

Thanks again. Lots of good advice here.

The condenser that needs cleaning may be near the ground!

I would expect all condenser dryers to have reverse action, I just looked at a £200 Hotpoint one & it does although it's mentioned well down the page.