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Cost of using a tumble dryer?

20 replies

Chepstowmonkey · 08/10/2012 16:08

I've tried googling this but I'm not getting very satisfactory answers! I have never had a tumble dryer before and I have always hung clothes outside or used a drying rack in the spare room. Now, however, we are thinking about what will happen if we have a DC2 as we'll lose the spare room and all space for drying clothes indoors.

Also DH's grandmother wants to give us £250 for Christmas so I thought that would be a start at saving for a tumble dryer. I just worry about the cost of running it and whether our electricity bill will go up massively.

All you people seem very knowledgely about money matters I just thought that someone might have already looked into this?

OP posts:
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bacon · 08/10/2012 17:32

I love my tumble - I bought a quality brand so went for Bosch. They are so much better than the old version when they used to ruin yr clothes. As long as it has cool dry then its fine.

I dont think it costs as much as some people bang on about - approx 50p per load.

Worth every penny dont have damp clothes hanging about, heated rails wasting electric and less time ironing.

Go to the Which guide or Good Housekeeping labels.

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Fluffycloudland77 · 08/10/2012 18:13

What you need to do is multiply the cost of a unit of electric eg mine is 11p by the kwh rating of the machine.

So a 3kw machine would cost me 33p per hour to run plus 5% vat.

But Bosch do a very pricey tumble drier that only uses 1.5kwh to run iirc on Appliances online it's around £600 but it's a Logixx and they are still made in Germany and have a nice solid feel to them.

If you have cheap night rate then it would be about 6p per kwh.

If you have cheap night rate then I am very Envy.

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lubeybooby · 08/10/2012 18:17

Mine costs me about 10 to 30p per load, I have a key meter so have checked it a few times before and after use - though difficult to tell exactly due to other things running at same time like PC, fridge etc.

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DeepPurple · 08/10/2012 18:19

Dh figured out mine costs 40p per hour and each load takes around an hour.

I don't think there is such a thing as day and night rates anymore.

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Fluffycloudland77 · 08/10/2012 18:22

Mil has night rates. And GCH.

I try not to let it bother me.

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paddingtonbear1 · 08/10/2012 18:22

Watching this as I'm fed up with damp washing around the house.
Our old tumble dryer (Whirlpool condenser) cost a fortune to run. When it died we didn't buy another, but I miss it for bedding and towels.

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chickydoo · 08/10/2012 18:29

I had a Bosch for a few years, but kept breaking down. 6 years ago I got a cheap tumble dryer (White knight) It cost £205 it has been amazing! simple to use, but perfect....It died today Sad
I have just ordered a new upgraded white knight cost £213! Bargain. If it lasts me another 6 years I will be happy. I worked out it costs around 20p- 30p to run
a load, it is big inside, enough to dry a duvet cover, or 4 big towels.
I love my tumble.

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ThoughtBen10WasBadPokemonOMG · 08/10/2012 18:49

I have a Zanussi 6kg condenser dryer which is 4.37kwh and I've just worked out that it is 44p per hour and I usually do a 60 or 80 minute load.

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hlipop · 08/10/2012 19:03

ours costs arount 45p per load (80 mins) we got a dryer that was in perfect condition other than a 'bash' that you can't really see so it was half price =]] (around £110)

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Inneedofbrandy · 08/10/2012 19:06

Mine costs about 30p in the day.

I have a cheep night rate due to having storage heaters so guessing 15 p ph at night.

I would think it would cost more to put your radiators on all day then tumble dry a hour load.

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Soditall · 08/10/2012 19:16

Are tumble dryer is no more than 20p a load just as well really with the bad weather we can use it 3-4 times a day(there is 7 of us)it's a condenser dryer.

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PeggyCarter · 08/10/2012 19:19

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

panicnotanymore · 08/10/2012 19:19

It depends on the dryer - look at the energy rating, some are much more efficient than others. The more efficient the machine the more expensive it is to buy, but the cheaper it is to run. I have a siemens one that is 60% more efficient than other A rated machines, and it costs very little to run. It cost a lot to buy, but given the 10 year guarantee and low running costs it works out better in the long run.

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bossboggle · 08/10/2012 20:47

Yes look at the energy rating. I tend to pay more in the summer on my monthly direct debit payments for the electricity and keep paying it so that it sort of off sets my tumble drier use in the winter. I also have a utility room and a drying rack in there too so I try to alternate the use of the two depending what I have to dry. I have a condenser drier too as opposed to the vented one - you can put a condenser drier anywhere!!

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steben · 08/10/2012 21:21

We have just got one as have new baby and toddler and couldn't face a winter without one! 250 is a fair budget - ours is a 7kg indesit one in sale and has some function which shuts off when clothes are dry - saving energy.

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caz17 · 13/10/2018 11:24

Im getting a beko DTBC8001a delivered tomorrow, its a condensor tumble drier, been googling for ages to try to find out what it costs to run per hour, any ideas please

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specialsubject · 13/10/2018 20:05

Spec.says 4.75kwh per cycle for a full load. Multiply by your unit rate. Not an exact answer but an idea.

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croftmother · 24/02/2020 11:29

I use a dehumidifier - in a spare bedroom. I hang clothes up on coat-hangers, which usually means I don't have to iron them! Other things go on a collapsible laundry rack. My 320W dehumidifier costs less than 6p an hour to run. If it is a dry day I don't use the dehumidifier, just open the window. If I didn't have a spare bedroom I would happily use it in our bedroom - after all, we breathe out a lot of moisture in the air at night. I never have any condensation on the windows etc.

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TheWordWomanIsTaken · 11/04/2020 12:24

Those of you using your tumble dryer at night - assume you mean evening whilst you are still up and awake?
Never ever leave a tumble dryer unattended - a family member (who is a firefighter) is clear that they are one of the biggest sources of house fires.

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DurhamDurham · 25/01/2022 16:59

We've cut down on the amount of time it takes to dry our laundry in the tumble drier by giving the washing an extra spin at the end of the washing machine cycle. It's a twelve minute spin and it's knocked at least half an hour of the tumble drying time, sometimes more.

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