Which tumble dryer?

sevenhills

I have never had a tumble dryer before, as I live on my own. Getting a lodger soon, so there will be more things to dry.
I can quite readily place a tumble dryer close to a window, for the vent.
But if I used a condensing dryer, do they use less electricity? The one I looked at online had a better energy rating.
I am guessing a small dryer would be better. Perhaps if the dryer was in the kitchen, it would help to keep the kitchen warm in winter?

Mutton_Geoff

sevenhills wrote: »

I have never had a tumble dryer before, as I live on my own. Getting a lodger soon, so there will be more things to dry.
I can quite readily place a tumble dryer close to a window, for the vent.
But if I used a condensing dryer, do they use less electricity? The one I looked at online had a better energy rating.
I am guessing a small dryer would be better. Perhaps if the dryer was in the kitchen, it would help to keep the kitchen warm in winter?

Can you drill a 4" hole in the wall from the tumble dryer location to the outside? It is better to vent one via the proper vent than poke a hose out the window, especially in the winter when your room will get very cold leaving a window open.


Vented ones work better than condensing ones and as electric heating is 100% efficient, you're better off pushing the warm damp air outside. For the same reason, it won't warm you kitchen by much if anything since you don't want the expelled air in your house otherwise it will get very damp.


Vented ones are much cheaper to buy and my experience is a basic Bosch one lasts years (well over a decade).

FluffityBunny

A vented one will stop any potential dampness from lingering in the room, don't just hang the hose out of the window (why pay to heat the room to then lose the heat), get a hole drilled and the hose correctly vented.



My Hotpoint First Edition tumble dryer is 25 years old and still going strong.

ka7e

Condensing dryers appear to be cheaper to run because they work at lower temperatures than hot air ones. So over the course of an hour they use less electricity and a full load can take well over an hour to dry. Hot air dryers work at higher temps, but will dry a load in 20-30 mins.If efficiency is measured by Kw used per hour, the condenser appears cheaper. But if it's measured by Kw per dried load, the hot air one comes out on top.

getmore4less

Heatpump condenser far more efficient than a heater(vented or condenser) one.

The margin have narrowed so payback for the extra expense is quicker.

There are some very good hybrid ones now that have a heater as well to overcome some of the drawback of HP.


More important is making sure the washer has a very efficient spin(that does not mean fast) leaving less residual moisture for the dryer to deal with.

You need a dryer with at least 90% condensing efficiency.

Don't go too small you still need to do sheets and duvet covers.

Our 8kg takes big loads I just have more clothes and wash/dry less often.


regular vented & condenser have quite similar electricity consumption heat pumps much less.

eg for a 8kg full standard load EU measured cycle these are around what dryers use(a good washer will get stuff dryer and cost less).

vented/condenser 4.7kwh
heatpump 1.9kwh
hybrid 1.4kwh


pricespy is good to what you can pay.

getmore4less

ka7e wrote: »

Condensing dryers appear to be cheaper to run because they work at lower temperatures than hot air ones. So over the course of an hour they use less electricity and a full load can take well over an hour to dry. Hot air dryers work at higher temps, but will dry a load in 20-30 mins.If efficiency is measured by Kw used per hour, the condenser appears cheaper. But if it's measured by Kw per dried load, the hot air one comes out on top.

For years the standard measures for TD are kwh per load.
The annual figure is for a mix of full loads and 1/2 loads.

The ratings(A+++ to G) are weighted to take account of loads size the cycle costs and standby/off costs of 160 loads a year.

missprice

I don't know much about the electric use and that, but when I needed a dryer it had to be a condenser because a hose outlet would be most inconvenient placement wise.

I bought a big machine, 8kg I think. The idea was a whole washer load would fit and be dried in a couple hours. A small dryer would need to be on longer for same amount of washing.
It's time as much as money, I don't want to be up til midnight trying to dry clothes. Also the droning noise drives me a little mad, so the less I can hear that the better.

DigForVictory

I've a heatpump drier as it was cheap (manufacturer just entering market), it keeps the water in an emptiable tank like a condenser & has so far been very reliable.

(Tempting fate there eh?)

Check the Which reviews (most libraries will have the information) and try to buy online to gouge the price still further down?

busybee100

I had a vented dryer for many years but only used it sparingly. I've now got a heat pump dryer as I'm going to have to use it more often. I was a bit reluctant to use it for socks etc as I used to find they shrank in the old dryer but because the heat pump uses lower temperatures so far so good. It does drone on though. Think it might be noisier than my vented dryer.