Tumble driers and Energy ratings

hubb

I am looking at a condenser/heat pump type tumble drier and see some good prices that are B rated. Still stating how economical they are but I see another that is A++. The price difference is around £50-£100 on most appliances but the question is, how much of a difference in saving is an A over a B ?

JohnB47

If you see those dryers on a good site, you'll see a little Energy Card thing - a colour card showing the energy rating etc. One of the figures shown is typical Kwh per annum. It's not clear how they measure this but if you can believe that all manufacturers measure the same way, the figure can be a good way to compare machines. So look at the Kwh figures for each machine and multiply each by 0.15 to get a yearly cost in pounds, based on a typical cost per Kwh of 15 pence.

eg a Beco B rated condenser on John Lewis has a figure of 561. So 561 X 0.15 = £84.15 per year, typical

I couldn't quickly see an A rated one but an A+ rated heat pump model quotes 308. So 308 X 0.15 = £46.20

Of course, you may dry more or less clothes than they use for this figure but it does help a bit.

The difference is not huge, bearing in mind it's a per year figure. That's why I'm not worried about considering an A+ one instead of an A++