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Our condenser dryer is kaput. I changed the drum bearing on it to nurse it along for a bit, but now it's properly borked and needs replacing. We don't have anywhere for a vented dryer so it needs to be another condenser or (and these are new to me) a heat pump dryer. They are supposed to be more economical, any downsides?
My heat pump dryer seems to take an age but it is in the coldest place in the house. Can't say I'm ever in a rush mind you and it's more often than not just used for 5 minutes to fluff up clothes that have been on the line outside or on a clothes horse.
They can take longer to dry.
You need to meddle with the settings to get them to "dry" as by default, for eco label reasons, they assume you'll cupboard dry the last little bit.
They are considerably more economical than a condenser dryer - even after the longer running time and meddling with settings.
They don't need plumbing in to a drain, but the condenser will self clean much more effectively if they are.
They're very, very gentle on clothes, particularly technical fabrics. Many have specific cycles for drying goretex type fabric which is really cool.
I can live with longer drying times, we are never in a mad rush to dry clothes! Are they quieter than vented or condenser dryers?
done before and recently -
https://singletrackmag.com/forum/off-topic/heat-pump-tumble-dryers-any-good/#post-12517028
https://singletrackmag.com/forum/off-topic/heatpump-tumble-dryer-vs-normal-one/#post-12240566
https://singletrackmag.com/forum/off-topic/tumble-dryer-options/#post-13607639
Quieter than a washing machine IME and possibly as cheap as drying your clothes in the house during heating season (drying clothes in house will cool the air).
Nosiest thing about ours is the once an hour "clunk" as it sprays the condenser with water to clean it. Other than that zips and fasteners make more noise than the mechanism. It's basically a fridge, running backwards inside a normal tumbler dryer.
done before and recently -
Doh!! 😊 Thanks for that, I'll have a read 👍
Nosiest thing about ours is the once an hour "clunk" as it sprays the condenser with water to clean it.
I've wondered what that unusual sound it makes sometimes is
What everyone said above. Slower, cheaper to run.
I was unaware about the condensor self-cleaning. I don't think mine does. I have to get in there with a cassette cleaning brush (long stiff bristles) and a hoover. Seems like a rubbish design. I understand why they can't be removable like an old condensing one, but the clean is a faff, so if the new ones self-clean, that's a good thing.
We have an LG, again described in another thread but sometimes hard to find!
Curry’s have a cost calculator, ours is very quiet, plumbed in with the small diameter hose to the same pipe as the washing machine. They are very heavy, around 50Kg and larger than a standard tumble drier.
We find ours very efficient and there’s even a rack for drying delicates flat, it appears to be very gentle, takes around the same time as the conventional it replaced.
Expensive but works!
Other half recently bought a Beko 8kg around £300 heat pump tumble dryer. The delay timer is probably the best addition over the previous condensing tumble dryer, so can now take advantage of the cheaper overnight tariff. Doesn't seem to make much noise either. Hasn't burnt the house down. Fluff collection is better than the previous dryer, double mesh filter rather than a single mesh fluff catcher. Extra 2kg capacity over the previous dryer for the same external dimensions as well.
I'd say: just get one. We love our combo one. The only downsides are a possibly bigger footprint and they (can) take longer. But they work pretty much perfectly, they are cheaper to run, you can put things in them that you might not risk in a normal dryer, and they are simpler to install. Initial outlay is the only real disadvantage, but you can defray that a bit (if you have time) by waiting for a bargain.
Thanks all, I'm convinced I think. Size might be a bit of an issue as the space earmarked for it is conventional dryer sized. I might make a smidge more space if I shove the washing machine over a bit. Off to do some research 👍
The beko had a depth of around 570mm. Probably the only one in the price range which was shallow enough to fit under the worktop.