Tumble dryers

fizzel81

Before i moved i sold my all singing all danceing condenser tumble dryer a) for space reasons (i was not sure id fit it in anywhere) and b)
i was simply using it as it was there (washing was comeing out the machine and straight into tumble dryer)

however this new house is tiny so even hanging out washing to dry is hard though manageable (1 long drier in conservatry/utlity room) and 2 smaller more upright in the only bit of spare space in my room

im just about copeing with drying my washing now thankfully the warmer weather helped with this alot but come winter im going to be strugleing to get everything dry

i learnt the hard way about overuse of a tumble dryer (my elec bills in old house were around 250 a quarter, my elec bill in this house was 67ish from march to may (wish my gas could be as low)

so what im asking is whats the best compact tumble dryer to buy or can anyone suggest ways of drying washing (1 adult 3 kids and then bedding and towels) when heating is off or on very low, ive tried cutting back on washing but 2 with eczema bedding clothes etc are washed daily

hope this makes some kinda sense, by winter i need to get my gas use down and the way to do that will be to cut back on the heating cutting back on heating = longer for washing to dry

Charis

Hi Fizzel

It is difficult to get everything dry in winter, however the money spent running a tumble drier would be better put towards heating the house. I believe that condenser tumble driers use more energy than vented, but of course if you open a window for the vent that would make a big difference the other way. I have stopped using my td to dry straight from the machine but I may have to use it to finish off the process during the winter if things haven't dried overnight. I also find I need to iron more if washing hasn't been in the wind or the TD (but that helps warm the room). Towels are much more absorbent when they are not so fluffy

Are you sure you need to wash the bedding daily, as it is a big thing to have to dry? The NHS website recommends washing once a week for eczema sufferers, the important thing being that you need to wash it at 60°C to kill the dust mites. http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Eczema-(atopic)/Pages/Living-with-page.aspx?url=Pages/living%20with%20tab.aspx

I have found that drying overnight means that I don't have to live surrounded by airers all day. Also don't forget to use your over-bath space and finish things off in the airing cupboard if you have one.

katiekoo_2

Do you have an airing cupboard? I have rigged up a mini washing line under the shelves in mine and hang wet clothes on hangers there to dry overnight. I'm sure I've seen some retractable lines for bathrooms in lakeland too. On one of the shopping channels the other day they had a tent like thing (I'm good at descriptions aren't I? :rolleyes: ) that seemed to have a heater built in and dried clothes very quickly - not sure how economical that would be though.

My tumble dryer broke about six weeks ago. I'm fairly certain that I won't be replacing it as it's just such a massive electricity hog so I'll watch this thread for some good drying ideas.:beer:

Keeping_Motivated

I have one of those things you hook over the top of the back of a door and it has 10 hooks on it (5 on each row) and I hang things to dry on there either straight on it or some things I hang on hangers and then hang there. I use the back of my utility door but any door would do for instance a spare room door. I do use the dryer for underwear and towels and bedding though in the winter but nothing else

fizzel81

sorry ive been away cooking dinner

answers to the questions

this house doesnt have an airing cupboard, i just have a combi boiler (though its an envio friendly all singing all danceing fitted by bg the weekend i moved in) so my warmest room lol is the toilet (though its not big enough for anything )

i was the bedding off the boys daily where they scratch till the bleed this then ends up on the bedding nice!

drying my washing on airers is taking around 2 full days to get it dry im not sure why its takeing so long, my only other idea was to dry the washing in the kicthen (its just about big enough to do this) so that the heat from using cooker/oven would help slightly in getting it dry

Penelope_Penguin

Take a look at these older threads:

Drying washing indoors

Drying racks

Drying washing outside

Any suggestions for drying clothes indoors

HTH, Penny. x

pandora205

Hi Fizzel
I've recently bought a tumber dryer (well actually two as the first one went back!) so researched this a bit. I don't know how small compact is but I have a standard one that I'm very happy with that wasn't too expensive.
But do you have venting or are you looking for a condenser dryer? The first one I bought was a condenser and it was rubbish in comparison with my old machine, which is why it went back and I bought a vented machine.
The one I eventually bought was much cheaper and dries clothes really quickly considering its small capacity. I can dry three bath towels in an hour, which I think is quite good. The machine is a Creda TVR2.
I know using a tumble dryer isn't very MSE but with a family it can be difficult to get everything dry otherwise. (There are 4-5 adults in my house who generate lots of washing, especially as we do quite a bit of sport/exercise.) I do dry stuff in the airing cupboard and on radiators too, but that wouldn't work for everything.

Bargain_Rzl

I have a washer-dryer as I don't have room for a separate dryer, and don't have any outside space either. Washer-dryers are generally less energy-efficient than separate washers and dryers and after researching them thoroughly I found that there was only one "A" rated one on the market at the time. It's a Miele one, and very expensive, so I was fortunate to be able to afford it as work had just given me a chunk of overdue back pay. However I live alone, and if I was doing a family's washing it would probably not be suitable anyway as it is not a large-capacity drum and you'd end up having to do more loads.

I bought mine 18 months ago, so it may be that there are now "A"-rated ones available in cheaper brands

However I have also invested in a dehumidifier which lives in the bathroom (bathroom is poorly ventilated and my upstairs neighbour flooded it a few months back) and since I bought it I have used it a lot to dry washing on the airer in the bathroom. You can get them from about £50, and they really work.

pebbles88

Hiya,

Do you have a garden or a yard??, you can get rotary driers that come with stands now, or some that even attach to the wall if space is that limited.

belfastgirl23

When I had a washer dryer I thought it was a real nightmare - the drum was too small to dry more than a couple of items and even then they came out all wrinkley...

fizzel81

thank you for all the advice etc

summer is ok for drying, i have a huge garden with a rotery dryer and i also have 4 single lines so anything other than rain/snow its not a problem

the only way i think i can get around not buying a tumble dryer and having enough drying space is to buy 2 more upright airers (this is alos the cheaper option which would only cost me around £15) but then id have 5 dotted around the house in total (id have 2 in conservatry, 2 my room was also thinking one in kitchen) if i opened conservtry windows wide would this help or would i then have a problem of it being too cold? (can shut door to main of house to keep temp in thus just having one cold room) bathroom is not big enough for any drying space its also only vented by a vent thingy ds1 rooms is just big enough for his bed so apart from above only other option is airers in the little 2's room