Which Tumble Dryer ?
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Discussion

pubrunner

Original Poster:

519 posts

114 months

Wednesday
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Afternoon All,

I'm in the market for a new tumble dryer. Our trusty 9KG Zanussi Condenser Dryer isn't showing an fault code, it just doesn't work anymore, in as much it doesn't seem to go above a very moderate heat.

It seems that Zanussi aren't building tumble dryers any more; I'm not sure whether to go for another condenser model or a heat pump dryer. SWMBO usually does 1 or 2 washes a week.

I don't mind spending more on a heat pump dryer - but I'm cautious that they might take much longer to dry clothes (?) - by comparison with our Zanussi (when it was working well).

We've had our existing condenser dryer about 15 years - is it likely that a heat pump model could match that durability ?

I'd like to buy one with a decent period of guarantee; can any of you provide any personal recommendations ?

Please forgive my ignorance, but with a heat pump dryer, where does the water go ?

Thank you.

paralla

5,739 posts

166 months

Wednesday
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I have a Miele heat pump dryer, it works well.

The water can go into a big tank/drawer that needs emptying periodically or down the drain. Ours is beside the washing machine and it shares the drain so we never have to empty the tank.

shalmaneser

6,464 posts

226 months

Wednesday
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100% get a heat pump they are great, so much more efficient compared to our old condensor. Our bog standard hotpoint does a great job, just make sure you keep on top of clearing out the lint filters which my wife mysteriously always forgets to do.

Ours comes with a tank or can be routed into the drains, up to you but obviously into the drains is easier.

We occasionally have to do a double run if clothes aren't quite dry enough but fairly rarely and it does get overloaded fairly frequently (although again not while im using it...)

I also think they're better for clothes as they don't get that hot they just get dried.

clockworks

7,784 posts

176 months

Wednesday
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We bought a fairly cheap Beko heatpump dryer.

Brilliant thing, uses about a third of the electricty, copes with massive loads, and only takes about 20 minutes longer than our old condenser dryer. Bonus - has a timer, so we can run it overnight. Once finished, it rotates the drum every 15 minutes or so to prevent creasing.

The lint catcher is big, so it doesn't need cleaning too often. It can drain either to a built-in tank, or via a hose to the washing machine drain.

happy fish

70 posts

218 months

Wednesday
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What ever you do don’t buy a heat pump dryer . A heat pump dryer is basically a fridge in reverse , try getting it repaired if the compressor condenser or evaporator ( technically) fails all one unit , it’s dead.
Takes ages to dry only heats to about 40 c , ambient temperature dependent and takes a good 30 mins to get to 40 c .
Who wants a dryer that takes hours to dry your clothes.
Condenser dryers to be phased out at the end of the year Bosch and Miele already sell only useless heat pump dryers .
Buy a condenser now when you can .
As you can tell I don’t like heat pump dryers . I have been repairing appliances for the last forty years .

B5mike

560 posts

180 months

Wednesday
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Heat pump dryers are great. Use less energy, gentle on clothes, capture the moisture...very happy with our one.


B5mike

560 posts

180 months

Wednesday
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happy fish said:
What ever you do don t buy a heat pump dryer . A heat pump dryer is basically a fridge in reverse , try getting it repaired if the compressor condenser or evaporator ( technically) fails all one unit , it s dead.
Takes ages to dry only heats to about 40 c , ambient temperature dependent and takes a good 30 mins to get to 40 c .
Who wants a dryer that takes hours to dry your clothes.
Condenser dryers to be phased out at the end of the year Bosch and Miele already sell only useless heat pump dryers .
Buy a condenser now when you can .
As you can tell I don t like heat pump dryers . I have been repairing appliances for the last forty years .
Whatever you do, don't buy a fridge. A fridge is basically a heat pump dryer in reverse...

sherman

15,315 posts

246 months

Wednesday
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We have this heat pump tumble dryer.
Hotpoint 9kg heat pump tumble dryer | C HD 93M WW UK_WH | ao.com https://share.google/zMnCGMfHdPMykrokf

It lives in the garage and works perfectly even in the current cold weather. The tank is easy to empty too as I can just tip it out at the side of the garage

JQ

6,863 posts

210 months

Thursday
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Another vote for a heat pump dryer, ours has been brilliant, think it's Samsung. Takes about an extra 30 mins per load but is significantly cheaper and doesn't need an external vent.

MattyD803

2,435 posts

96 months

Thursday
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B5mike said:
Whatever you do, don't buy a fridge. A fridge is basically a heat pump dryer in reverse...
biglaugh

in fairness to the poster, yes, they are more complicated and hence more expensive to repair, if/when it breaks. If this is a big worry for you, get yourself something with an extended warranty, or at least buy from a manufacturer who are well known for aftermarket repairs/parts. i.e. Bosch. (I am sure Neff and Siemens do the same, as they are the same firm essentially).

Bosch in particular have a really easy to use online parts 'catalogue' for all of their various appliances (going back many years), fairly reasonably priced, usually in stock and with quick despatch, which has been a god send in keeping our 15 year old dishwasher going, for example.

We have a Heat Pump Tumble Dryer (Bosch, naturally) which is super quiet and much cheaper to run than our previous unit and as mentioned above, has a timer meaning we can run when electricity is cheaper. Doesn't take a huge amount more time to dry clothes either.



clockworks

7,784 posts

176 months

Thursday
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happy fish said:
What ever you do don t buy a heat pump dryer . A heat pump dryer is basically a fridge in reverse , try getting it repaired if the compressor condenser or evaporator ( technically) fails all one unit , it s dead.
Takes ages to dry only heats to about 40 c , ambient temperature dependent and takes a good 30 mins to get to 40 c .
Who wants a dryer that takes hours to dry your clothes.
Condenser dryers to be phased out at the end of the year Bosch and Miele already sell only useless heat pump dryers .
Buy a condenser now when you can .
As you can tell I don t like heat pump dryers . I have been repairing appliances for the last forty years .
So your objections are:

Harder to repair
Don't work as well as a normal condenser


First point - surely most people just buy a new appliance unless it's something really simple like a seal, switch, control panel, or motor start cap? The kind of things that most PHers would DIY anyway.
In 50 years of having my own house I've never paid someone to fix an appliance. DIY, or buy a new one. Rare for things to actually break anyway.

Second point - completely false, apart from taking a bit longer. Much cheaper to run (about a third of the cost per load), much gentler on the clothes (far less lint), and pretty much zero creasing.

TheDrownedApe

1,834 posts

87 months

Thursday
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Heat pump dryer counterpoint.

When i renovated the laundry room i binned the vented and fitted a heat pump.

It's slow, very, very slow. A load of washing takes hours (over 4) and therefore you can't run two loads back to back. The moisture sensor is awful and when it decides the load is dry it isn't. The missus hates it, i hate her whining about it EVERY time it goes on.

I would give my right arm to go back to a vented one but there are now cupboards in the way and the hole has been filled.


JQ

6,863 posts

210 months

Thursday
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TheDrownedApe said:
Heat pump dryer counterpoint.

When i renovated the laundry room i binned the vented and fitted a heat pump.

It's slow, very, very slow. A load of washing takes hours (over 4) and therefore you can't run two loads back to back. The moisture sensor is awful and when it decides the load is dry it isn't. The missus hates it, i hate her whining about it EVERY time it goes on.

I would give my right arm to go back to a vented one but there are now cupboards in the way and the hole has been filled.

That sounds like yours is broken, ours takes no more than 2 hours (often less) and is dry once finished. 4 hours is nuts.

Duckboard

33 posts

1 month

Thursday
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Yes our heat pump dryer really is quite good. But i did have to adjust the drying level as there are different ones so you may not have yours set high enough.

fooman

1,287 posts

95 months

Thursday
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Our Beko heat pump dryer is over 10 years old it's saved us a fortune with a busy family. It started becoming less efficient over time to the point I considered replacing but it turned out the heat exchanger had just become gunked up. I reverse flushed it with a hose outside (which involved stripping it down a bit) until gunk stopped coming out, put it back together and it works great again. The only other issue I had with it was a replacement belt.

Swervin_Mervin

5,006 posts

269 months

Thursday
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Our Samsung heat pump dryer is knocking on a bit now. Maybe 8yrs IIRC. Replaced a Zanussi normal tumble dryer that just stopped working one day - as in literally nothing happening.

We had a few issues with the Samsung in the first 12-18mo but nothing related to it being a heat pump model. At some point (possibly when we moved it to have our kitchen redone about 6yrs ago) it got damaged. The whole drum is slightly misaligned to the extent that the fan on the back has worn through the rear cover. Never bothered fixing it as it would likely need a lot of work, so we opted to just run it til it breaks.

Despite it making the occasional horrific noise it has nevertheless continued to run. Genuinely quite surprised tbh.

It doesn't take ages to dry clothes at all. We put most stuff on the delicates setting and it's 1h20, but will adjust up or down if necessary. That gets clothes as close to dry as optimal without baking them. They then just go on an airer to finish up. Clothes are definitely lasting longer without fading, going bobbly etc.

HTP99

25,379 posts

171 months

Thursday
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Had a Beko condenser drier for at least 15 years which just kept going, cheap feeling but was cheap and did the job. It eventually died so replaced it with a Beko heatpump drier which whilst it cost a more than an equivalent condenser drier, as they are cheaper to run it was a no brainer.

Takes longer to dry clothes as they run at a much lower temperature however this is better for clothes as it causes less damage to them and it is far cheaper to run.




bobski1

2,091 posts

135 months

Thursday
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Went through something similar a few years ago. Debated between vented, condenser and heatpump. Ended up with a Samsung heatpump version & have to say so far haven't had any issues.

The tank is where the detergent goes on normal washing machines so it's easy to empty, as others have said it can be connected to a drain.

The only thing it struggled with was a large very wet duvet, I ended up have to put the dryer outside and dismantle it to drain the water but that was operator not the dryer.

On average for a very full load it takes 2-3hours, we tend to run an extra fast spin on the washing machine at the end to try get them as dry as possible but the moisture sensor stops if it's already dry.

Wouldn't have any issue getting another one

ikarl

4,069 posts

230 months

Thursday
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Heat pump dryers are gentler on clothes and use roughly half the energy, but you pay for that efficiency with drying times that are about twice as long.

gotoPzero

20,901 posts

220 months

Thursday
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We have an LG. Its been pretty good, average for a full load using AI drying is about 700-800W.

It also plays a tune when its done (which you can change...).