Heat pump tumble dryer in an unventilated cupboard?

letsbetfair

I'm wanting to buy a new tumble dryer. I'd like to buy a heat pump dryer, but the only space in the house is in an unventilated large cupboard in the kitchen (think something like a small pantry). Would this be OK, or would ventilation /consensation be a problem?

If this will be a problem, I can put a non-heat pump dryer by the washing machine in the unheated garage. I'd prefer to get a more energy efficient dryer if I can, though! 

koalakoala

Mine doesn’t make any condensation

Doozergirl

Keep the door open when using it.  They work more efficiently when they have some ventilation. 

Our appliance engineer told me that as ours is in a cupboard too.    Don't know how or why.  

grumbler

It's not about condensation.

Despite being more efficient than normal condensing driers, it still consumes a few kilowatt-hours of energy per cycle and all this energy ultimately goes on heating the surrounded air. IMO some ventilation is necessary to avoid overheating.

[Deleted User]

Ours does put out a bit of heat. There is probably a condensate removal figure for the model. Ours is around 87% and no steamed windows on a winters day. You will need a sink nearby unless it is plumbed in.

ours is A+ rated and certainly better than the old standard vented one and our bills dropped right away (needed it a lot at the time).

we worked out we needed this one to last 5 years to make back the extra on a standard, now 6 or so years in. But it will take over 2.5 hours for towels for example.  Not a problem when it is cheap to run.

letsbetfair

Leaving the door open would be easy enough I thought a lot of modern dryers had a water tank you could empty between loads? 

macman

A heat pump drier is just a condenser with a heat pump, it doesn't vent to the atmosphere, or only to a very limited degree.
Why can't you just just fit some air vents to the cupboard door?

Doozergirl

letsbetfair said:

Leaving the door open would be easy enough I thought a lot of modern dryers had a water tank you could empty between loads? 

They do.  

Some heat pump dryers also have a kit that allows you to connect to the washing machine drainage.  We finally connected ours up a few weeks ago. 

spo2

I was recently chatting to someone who fixes white goods, and his advice was to avoid heat pump dryers and go for the condenser type. His reasoning being that the vast majority of his call outs for tumble dryers was to fix the actual heat pump that had failed - and he said this could cost the customer around £400, so rarely worth fixing. He said the condenser types seem to be more reliable, and although they are less energy efficient, they take around twice as long to dry a load so it evens out.

I'm not saying this is definitely everyone's experience - just passing on what I was told! Our 8kg condenser takes an hour to dry a load, not sure how long a heat pump one would take to dry the same.

macman

Heat pump driers do take longer to complete a cycle, but they are much more efficient because they consume much less power. Your contact is mistaken. 
If they used the same amount of power as condensers, there would be no point in building them. Their whole USP is the lower running cost.

[Deleted User]

spo2 said:

I was recently chatting to someone who fixes white goods, and his advice was to avoid heat pump dryers and go for the condenser type. His reasoning being that the vast majority of his call outs for tumble dryers was to fix the actual heat pump that had failed - and he said this could cost the customer around £400, so rarely worth fixing. He said the condenser types seem to be more reliable, and although they are less energy efficient, they take around twice as long to dry a load so it evens out.

I'm not saying this is definitely everyone's experience - just passing on what I was told! Our 8kg condenser takes an hour to dry a load, not sure how long a heat pump one would take to dry the same.

Ah, I assumed you got them both in the same package.