Tumble dryer - heat pump - your experiences

abc987

Hello
We're looking to buy a heat pump laundry dryer for drying clothes.
Not sure which one to get, and never had one before.
Your experiences would be appreciated, especially in terms of the features and problems of the machine.
Are the clothes damp or 100% dry?

Where's the best place to get a discount on a tumble dryer?
Thanks

grumbler

It's just a condensing dryer, but more energy efficient (as well as more complex and more expensive).

The only question is whether it's worth paying extra for more more (energy) efficient yet, potentially, less reliable machine.

Baby_Angel

We have a Samsung heat pump dryer. We bought it in 2014. It was relatively new model and was about £640. We transported it to Germany  4 years back. Still going strong. Just the usual maintenance. Empty the condensed water and remove the fluff after every use. Once a month or so vacuum clean the filter compartment.  Never gave us any problem.  We use it on averge about 2-3 times a week. Full loads and sometimes 2 or 3 loads on after the other. 

grumbler

Baby_Angel said:

Empty the  the condensed water ... after every use.

To avoid this hassle it's really worth buying a dryer that can be plumbed in. Yours possibly has this option too.

abc987

grumbler said:

Which one do you own?

grumbler

It's condensing, but not heat pump. And it's even a washer-dryer, not a separate dryer.

Grenage

We bought a cheap (£200) Beko one about 5 years ago.  It's connected to the drain and does a sterling job.  I find that bedding loads sometimes need to be turned inside out and put back in as big sheets tend to ball up.

It doesn't matter as it turns off again as soon as it's dry.

getmore4less

Some people seem to have endless problems. 

Ours sits in a garage and dries clothes fine even through the winter. 

Grundig with 5y warranty. ~£400 depending on what discounts are around. 

Also look at hybrids they can be even better.

Condenser efficiency is one thing to check.

Beko web site has some good information or various options

Keep an eye on
https://www.hotukdeals.com/tag/tumble-dryer

Also look at your washer spin efficiency for residual moisture. 
The better the washer the less work the dryer has to do. 

Slinky

grumbler said:

Baby_Angel said:

Empty the  the condensed water ... after every use.

To avoid this hassle it's really worth buying a dryer that can be plumbed in. Yours possibly has this option too.

If you have one with a container for the condensed water, your only limitation to where you can place it is access to an electrical socket, rather than having to have access to a drain as well.  This may or may not be important to you.

getmore4less

Many of those with top water containers have the drain option. 

theonlywayisup

We have a Miele, it's probably 6-7 years old now, actually probably more...?

It's a heat pump and plumbed in.  

I didn't like it at first, it took too long.  But when I got my head around that and learned the cycles on it I fell in love with it.  It is cheap (as chips), has a de-tangle mode so I don't have to fight with anything that my old Siemens knotted up.  It has vacuumable/washable filters which means I don't have any other outlay.  I don't use the capsule things that the door has a gap for as they stink to high heaven.  It has various 'menus' for the strength of drying (cupboard dry, iron dry, extra dry etc) and that means it does exactly what I want it to. It has a wonderful 20min cycle (which I can increase by 10 min intervals) which allows me to be super lazy and chuck in tees etc and they come out ironed.  You just have to get your head around it taking longer but not costing you £'s compared to a normal tumbler.