Tumble Dyer Recommendations

SteveJW

Any recommendation for a new tumble drier

Anything to avoid

Condenser or Heat Pump not really bothered which

Only criterea it must be silver

Many Thanks

Steve

SaverRate

I would personally recommend Bosch. Not sure they do silver.
Had an issue with my old one under warranty, engineer came out within a couple of days and arranged a replacement.
Dries in like a third of the time of the previous one I had 
And you get a 2 year warranty (or 5 depending on model)

mark_cycling00

I bought a Hotpoint heat pump with a 10yr parts warranty.

What a piece of junk.

Circuits smoked and melted soon after the basic 1yr guarantee ended. No engineer would try to take on that repair so it was broke. Ruined clothes and took forever to do a cycle too

Replacement Bosch heat pump is amazing. Soft clothes in half the time and a proper 5yr warranty.

Beko are apparently good too. 

It really can be worth spending a bit more to get a good product. 

An AAA energy rating uses 19% less electricity than an A rated product and that adds up over time.

Just don't overload them 

nofoollikeold

I would steer clear of Hoover.  Had one last year which, by design, did not reverse direction periodically.  Anything large (e.g. sheet) got balled up and never dried.  Got rid of it after a few months.  
Miele is very good, very expensive but will probably pay for itself in a few years.  

Grenage

Thought about a Miele, but at £1000 it was five times the price of a Beko heat pump.  The Beko has been fine for 8 years.

Longevity is basically luck of the draw regardless of brand.

Savvy_Sue

I've now got a condensing [do I mean condensing? Or heat pump? I don't know - there's no hose through the wall ... and I have to empty a container very regularly] one: you do need to empty the water container every time. And I also de-fluff it every load as well. 

I find it does not take as long to dry as it says it will, initially says it will be 3 hours but then reduces quickly and is rarely more than an hour. But the stuff is still damp, so I empty the water and go again. This run always takes less than an hour. I'm going for 'as dry as possible'. 

I'll try to remember to add which brand it is later. I like it. 

uknick

I was after a silver one but couldn't find one that was given as a best buy.  In the end I bought an AEG with heat pump.  Complete revelation when compared to the old one; a 20 year old Zanussi condenser dryer.  

The new one is so much quieter and, as it's a heat pump, gives out very little heat.  The old one used to make your feet very toastie if you stood in front of it when it was working.

PixelPound

If you want a Heat Pump one, go for a better brand, e.g. samsung, bosch. Cheaper ones break a lot.

Heat Pump machines cost more to buy, but are cheaper to run. Bear in mind they take a lot longer to dry clothes because they are recycling the warm air, so if you don't mind this then can be good in the long run. Bear in mind the heat exchange (think those metal fins on the back of fridges) need regular cleaning with a brush. Newest tech and people often complain about the cheaper makes, hoover etc

Condensers are cheaper to buy, but cost more to run. You need to clean these (this involves the fluff filter after every use, and the condenser unit you pull out and clean under the shower every couple of months) and the principle is it heats up the air and your clothes and then the condenser unit cools the air causing the water vapour to condense into liquid form
 
Will you be plumbing it in (for water disposal) or emptying it yourself?

There is also vented dryers, the oldest tech, but cheapest to buy but most to run. These vent the hot air and water vapour straight out (usually via a pipe outside). High cost due to constantly heating fresh air, but fewest parts and people have 40+ year old venting dryers working as good as the day they bought them.

DullGreyGuy

Savvy_Sue said:

I've now got a condensing one: you do need to empty the water container every time. And I also de-fluff it every load as well. 

Both heat pump and condensors can have a water container or be plumbed in. Our old machine was a washer dryer so naturally was plumbed in as a condenser drier. We replaced it with separate washer and dryer, the drier is a heat pump and can be plumbed or use the water container.

Obviously depends on how wet and big the load is but generally only needs the water emptying ever 4 drying cycles or so. 

SteveJW said:

Any recommendation for a new tumble drier

Anything to avoid

Condenser or Heat Pump not really bothered which

Only criterea it must be silver

Heat pumps are so much cheaper to run you can splash a bit more cash and get payback well within its lifetime. 

It's probably far too late, but I'd avoid "silver" like the plague. White is white, it's easy to define and no matter the brand a white appliance will look white. Silver isn't the same, some "silver" appliances are just grey, some are a metallic grey, some are chrome, some are stainless steel. They come in a thousand different shades and put two together and it will look totally non-matching. We had the same problem with our fridge and freezer, bought both in the "silver" finish which was actually metal. When the freezer died they offered to replace it but pointed out they'd discontinued the metal casing and "silver" was now plastic and inevitably looked nothing like its partner. 

horsewithnoname

Another vote for Bosch. 

Savvy_Sue

DullGreyGuy said:

Savvy_Sue said:

I've now got a condensing one: you do need to empty the water container every time. And I also de-fluff it every load as well. 

Both heat pump and condensors can have a water container or be plumbed in. Our old machine was a washer dryer so naturally was plumbed in as a condenser drier. We replaced it with separate washer and dryer, the drier is a heat pump and can be plumbed or use the water container.

Obviously depends on how wet and big the load is but generally only needs the water emptying ever 4 drying cycles or so. 

Yes, I'm beginning to realise I'm not sure what sort it is, but it's the more modern variety! I would definitely not be able to leave the water container for more than one cycle: it gets a LOT of water out on the first iteration. If I did leave it for a second attempt, if it didn't cut out because the water is full, I'm not sure how I'd get it over the sink to empty it without spilling it all over the floor!