Replacing a condenser dry with a vented dryer.

anotherquestion

Hi folks,

I have a condenser dryer in a small downstairs bedroom in house, used as spare to store all kinds of things as no utility room.

I am getting a bit fed up with having to clean the condenser unit and emptying the water container, red light comes on to say container is full and a lot of the time it's not.

Usually I do a clean up of condenser unit and pipe to pump and it manages to keep going.

However I am thinking out that next dryer will be a vented one, with hopefully less trouble. 

I could get a plumber to put a hole through the wall to carry the vent pipe, and there is a gully about 5 ft away beside gable I could run the pipe in to.

1 Can you see any problems with this, and am I right in thinking that a vented dryer has no condenser, all steam will go away through vented pipe?

2 I believe the current dryer can be vented as well, but would this help to make the condenser unit mainly redundant?

2 Would the room get any warmer with a vented dryer on, or more moisture in air?

Thanks very much for any advice.

grumbler

anotherquestion said:

I am getting a bit fed up with having to clean the condenser unit and emptying the water container, red light comes on to say container is full and a lot of the time it's not.

Good condensing dryers can be plumbed into a waste pipe and don't need emptying anything. Not sure about cleaning - I have a washer dryer that I rarely use for drying, and don't think that I ever needed to clean anything except the pump filter.

am I right in thinking that a vented dryer has no condenser, all steam will go away through vented pipe?

Yes

 I believe the current dryer can be vented as well

I don't

Would the room get any warmer with a vented dryer on, or more moisture in air?

I don't know, but I don't see any reason for this as it pumps pretty bigh flow of hot air to outside. Because of this, I think, it's far less energy efficient than a condensing dryer, especially than a heat pump one.

DougMLancs

anotherquestion said:

I am getting a bit fed up with having to clean the condenser unit and emptying the water container, red light comes on to say container is full and a lot of the time it's not.

I had this issue with my Bosch condenser drier saying it was full all the time after moving house. Looked up where to find the sensor, gave it a clean and dried it off and it was fine after that. If I had a waste pipe nearby to plumb it into then that would be the ideal though.

babyblade41

I hate condenser dryers .. I like the very basic vented dryer although I'm an avid line hanger as much as possible so apart from winter it doesn't get used that often 

macman

Much better to get a heat pump model, they're about half the cost to run.
Really, it takes seconds to empty the condensate tank.

anotherquestion

Thanks for all replies Folks,

The condenser I have is a Hotpoint Aquarius CDN7000, so reading all your replies it seems that I can probably plumb this machine into a waste, which I would have to get a plumber to do, hole through wall and piping to take it to gully.

Yes I understand your answer Grumbler, I can't vent this machine, but at least I can get it plumbed for the waste water. 

Then at least the plumbing will be all set up for the next new vented machine when we finally get it, to be honest as a lot of washing is done around this house, we more or less need a replacement the same day that an old machine breaks down, and getting it done now would mean that we would be ready for a new vented or heat pump machine when we do need one.

Thanks to all again.

grumbler

anotherquestion said:

 can't vent this machine, but at least I can get it plumbed for the waste water. 

Then at least the plumbing will be all set up for the next new vented machine when we finally get it,

I don't understand. Your current machine needs a small hole and, I think, doesn't necessarily has to be plumbed if the water goes outside. It's distilled water and not big amount of it.

A vented dryer needs a much bigger hole in the wall and doesn't need plumbing.

Are you going to make a big hole and use it for a small pipe or hose until you get a new dryer?

Forwandert

I've been looking at heat pumps recently especially the Bosch ones as I'm sick of cleaning the condenser on ours. Bosch have some self cleaning condenser versions, might be worth looking at those?

anotherquestion

grumbler said:

anotherquestion said:

 can't vent this machine, but at least I can get it plumbed for the waste water. 

Then at least the plumbing will be all set up for the next new vented machine when we finally get it,

I don't understand. Your current machine needs a small hole and, I think, doesn't necessarily has to be plumbed if the water goes outside. It's distilled water and not big amount of it.

A vented dryer needs a much bigger hole in the wall and doesn't need plumbing.

Are you going to make a big hole and use it for a small pipe or hose until you get a new dryer?

Thanks Grumbler, sorry for late reply, I have never had a vented machine so really don't know the setup as regards plumbing.

Yes I want to have it set up now, so that it would be ready for a new vented machine when time comes around, and also that it could be used now to get rid of the water from the condenser.

Are you saying that vented machines only really need a pipe through wall to get rid of hot moisture (I take it, it's not steam and would be unsightly to see at a gable end) and as regards the condenser I would probably have to run a small house from hole outside of gable wall to the gully, as I wouldn't want water just lying there.?

Thanks yet again.

grumbler

A vented dryer needs a big (110mm ?)  hole - for hot moist air.

A condensing dryer generally doesn't need a hole, but for plumbing the same hose is used as for washing machine waste water (or even thinner).

daveyjp

macman said:

Much better to get a heat pump model, they're about half the cost to run.
Really, it takes seconds to empty the condensate tank.

We bought a heat pump 'to save money'.  It would have been 4 years old tomorrow, but a couple of weeks ago it stripped the belt and wrapped around the motor spindle.  Fixed that and all working again.

Two days later, second use, a huge bang. i opened the door and noticed the clothes weren't warm.  The £500+ dryer we bought to 'save money' is goosed. 

However I am actually celebrating as it was hopeless at its principal job of drying clothes when it did work properly so I'm glad its going.

Back to a cheapie condenser dryer.  The last one lasted about 12 years, so hopefully this is the same.