Tumble dryer costs

Jannearly50

Trusty Bosch washerdryer died last week. Since having smart meter for the last 6 weeks established it used 4kwh to dry a full load. Probably going to get separate appliances now but a heat pump model is too expensive. Anyone know roughly how much a tumble condenser only model uses. I've looked at projections on the spec but looking for real use if anyone knows please? Thank you

gsmh

I researched the subject and bought a dehumidifier. When I can't use the line in the garden I hang my washing on a drying rack in a spare room, put the dehumidifier on the 'clothes drying' setting, shut the door and it's all dry within a few hours at a much cheaper cost than using a tumble dryer. The dehumidifier I bought was a MeacoDRY ABC at just under £140. I should have done this years ago!

greyteam1959

I looked at my vented tumble dry running costs & it worked out the same as yours.
4kwh to dry a load.
A heat pump condenser dryer seems to use about half that energy to dry a load.
But I am not going to bin a perfectly good dryer & buy an expensive heat pump one.
Dryer use has been banned & a £3 washing line installed.
,😁😁

JustAnotherSaver

Hmm I remember asking on this very forum about that before - tumble dryer vs dehumidifier and the response was tumble dryer. Get the moisture out of the house asap & the overall cost was cheaper.

Granted, this was before prices got really silly so perhaps it's different now?? Would be interested to know. 4kwh is just a number to me tbh. Means nothing to me.

Obviously we use the line as much as possible.

Only thing with the dehumidifier though is you can still get black spots on the ceiling. We painted ours with Dulux bathroom paint I think it was and touch wood it's been ok since.

Swipe

I have a clothes line in my green house. Works a treat for drying clothes apart from on damp winter days.

Jannearly50

Thanks for your replies, 4kwh is approx £1.20. Tumble dryer use is once a week in summer and twice weekly in winter. Does seem like hell of a luxury to own some sort of dryer albeit combined washer/dryer or single use tumble dryer I know. I do own a meaco dehumidifier but only used in conservatory in the winter. (Don't ask....) cheaper than heating!  I do remember the cost of taking 2 loads to dry at the laundrette in 2013 (to prevent damp in rented cottage prior to dryer ownership) which was £2.50 a time goodness what it costs now... maybe I'll get a secondhand one and see

facade

My tumble drier has a moisture sensor.

Depending on the wetness of the washing, it uses around 50p worth, 1.6kWh.

I minimise the wetness with high spin speeds on the rinse cycle, and usually peg the washing out all day and finish off in the drier to kill any insects and stop the clothes smelling musty after they are put away.

I looked at heat pump driers, too expensive to replace a working condenser drier, and I don't think they get hot enough to kill off the insects.

Mstty

Indesit IDV75 vented tumble dryer 2600 W. Basic machine and cheap we got ours for £150 and what's good is it doesn't make you chose long running cycles you control the time so once you know how long things take to dry it works out very good value.

So we only put it on for an hour which includes a 15 min gentle cool down process so it costs us 53p for a full 7kg load.

Bedding costs 44p on a 50 minute timer

Towels costs 44p on a 50 minute timer

All costed at our cap rate 29.34p kWh

It is on 5 days a week due to allergies and not being able to hand things outside and we make the choice not to dry things inside. Annual cost is £123.76. so for approx £10 a month we don't have to spend time hanging washing out and getting it in and re hanging if it rains. The time saved is worth the £10 a month to us as well as no allergens in the clothing from pollen. 

gsmh

JustAnotherSaver said:

Only thing with the dehumidifier though is you can still get black spots on the ceiling. We painted ours with Dulux bathroom paint I think it was and touch wood it's been ok since.

That sounds to me like the dehumidifier was not powerful enough for the task you used it for. I dry a clothes-dryer worth of washing and get half a tank of water extracted from the air in the room. That's water that would have been absorbed into the fabric of the house. I see no evidence whatsoever of damp in the room I use.

Which? has a good article on drying clothes - I don't think it is behind the paywall.

Magnitio

Jannearly50 said:

Thanks for your replies, 4kwh is approx £1.20. Tumble dryer use is once a week in summer and twice weekly in winter. Does seem like hell of a luxury to own some sort of dryer albeit combined washer/dryer or single use tumble dryer I know. I do own a meaco dehumidifier but only used in conservatory in the winter. (Don't ask....) cheaper than heating!  I do remember the cost of taking 2 loads to dry at the laundrette in 2013 (to prevent damp in rented cottage prior to dryer ownership) which was £2.50 a time goodness what it costs now... maybe I'll get a secondhand one and see

A heat-pump tumble dryer can use about 1/3 of the energy that a condenser or vented dryer will use. Prices start from about £400 (e.g Indesit YT M11 82 X)

If your tumble dryer is in the house and is NOT vented, then the heat generated will help to warm the house which is obviously good during the winter, although you will get some moisture with that heat.

As others have stated, fast spin speed on the washing machine helps to reduce subsequent drying.

QrizB

Magnitio said:

Jannearly50 said:

Thanks for your replies, 4kwh is approx £1.20. Tumble dryer use is once a week in summer and twice weekly in winter. Does seem like hell of a luxury to own some sort of dryer albeit combined washer/dryer or single use tumble dryer I know. I do own a meaco dehumidifier but only used in conservatory in the winter. (Don't ask....) cheaper than heating!  I do remember the cost of taking 2 loads to dry at the laundrette in 2013 (to prevent damp in rented cottage prior to dryer ownership) which was £2.50 a time goodness what it costs now... maybe I'll get a secondhand one and see

A heat-pump tumble dryer can use about 1/3 of the energy that a condenser or vented dryer will use. Prices start from about £400 (e.g Indesit YT M11 82 X)

Taking this at face value, and assuming the dryer is used twice a week and electricity prices don't change, you'll save £80/yr in electricity and it'll pay for itself in five years.