Should I buy a tumble dryer?

[Suddengeekgirl]

We have never owned a tumble dryer.

I am fed up with trying to dry washing in the winter. I've been getting caught out by rain that wasn't in the forecast. And despite hanging washing out in the sunshine yesterday it still came in cold and damp. The dc are 2&4 so their clothes are taking up more and more space in the washer and ds needs his uniform washed and dried fairly quickly for school.

After lot of moaning dh has said just get one. :)

But now I'm worrying if its just an expensive mistake - in terms of electricity.

It would have to live in the garage, which is only accessible through the garage door. A bit of a faff but much easier than going out to the garden in the rain I guess.
This would also mean that I'd need a condenser one.

Anyhow after that rather long ramble ...

Should I get a tumble dryer?
We've managed this far without one...

[chocoshopoholic]

How about a large airer in the garage, lines spanning the ceiling?

[FamiliesShareGerms]

I couldn't manage without one, and suck up the electricity cost (which isn't that much unless you use it constantly). There are savings to off set too, eg DS would need more uniform jumpers if we couldn't get them clean and dry midweek.

[tweetytwat]

I got one last winter

you will prise it from my cold dead hands

also a condenser in the garage. It meant I didn't need to put the heating on early to dry the laundry and children vomiting on their beds is less stressful because I can wash the stuff

get one

[randomAXEofkindness]

Get it. Life is too short to spend time fighting with a prop in the freezing cold getting slapped across the face with your oh's wet thermals.

[Suddengeekgirl]

choco - the garage is fairly full of stuff. There would be room for a dryer but there isn't space for a line that I could access easily. Dh parks his bike in there too so a large airer would end up getting brushed past with the bike or his wet/ muddy self.

To everyone who love theirs... :)
What energy rating is your machine?
Is it with spending more up front on a AAA rated one to get lower electricity use?

[Suddengeekgirl]

tweety and families - those were my concerns - bedding and uniform/ other clothes needing washing and drying quickly.

The dc go through plenty of clothes and I can't see that changing much tbh.

[sleeplessbunny]

We got one when DD arrived and I can't imagine coping without it now, esp in winter. It does make life easier, and I haven't noticed a much higher electricity bill. It has also reduced the condensation problems we were having in the house.

[colleysmill]

I couldn't do without mine, especially as our house is historically prone to mould and condensation.

Days like today, drizzly, overcast and generally just damp its invaluable. Obviously I use the outside line if its fine or even fine but cold just to give stuff a good blow and take the initial dampness out before finishing the washing off in the dryer.

Mines in the garage too and its not that much faff to go out there although I find if I leave things in there overnight in the winter they get a bit cold and damp again.

Cost wise its worth the extra electricity - I hate half dried washing hanging around the house for days on end.

[tweetytwat]

being in the garage makes it a slight PITA but also means I only use it when necessary.
electricity probably has gone up a bit but less central heating on as I was using it more to dry stuff on radiators plus less damp in the house.

[colleysmill]

It may be psychological but those tumble dryer balls seem to work too - I got mine from a pound shop

[Littlemissexpecting]

Definitely get one.
We have a siemens condenser one in the garage, access also through garage door. We use a laundry basket with handles to carry washing between house and garage.
The sensor is great as it stops when load dry rather than having to go back and fro to keep checking.
Much better than damp washing around the house, especially bedding and towels in the winter. I now put all ds's vests and sleep suits straight in instead of trying to dry inside.
Different energy ratings available and I found the better the rating the more expensive the dryer.

[secretscwirrels]

They do eat electricity.
You might consider buying more school clothes so you don't have the problem of quick wash and dry?
I do have a dryer but use it very little, often to finish off -cos I never iron. My utility is a bit like a chinese laundry however.
The washing generated by your two small Dcs is only going to increase by the way........

[HopeForTheBest]

I love mine and wouldn't want to be without it. It means I can get a load of laundry washed, dried and put away (often doesn't even need ironing when folded warm straight from the dryer) really, really fast: if it's not filthy stuff, then 45 min fine wash, then about an hour and 20mins in the dryer and it's done.

I almost don't even need more than 1 set of bedding because it can be washed, dried and put back on again before we got to bed in the evening!

Worth getting a good one which uses less electricity and as Littlemissexpecting says has a sensor which stops when the stuff is actually dry (rather than running on for the sake of it).

[OhGood]

I got one last winter, on balance love it more than I love my husband, did not massively impact on our electricity costs, stop at nothing to get one.

On the slightly more guradian side, it has chewed up some clothes. I have previously avoided one because it's a stupid and unnecessary device that is just bad environmental sense. So we have a meat-free day foodwise to compensate.

[Bubbles1066]

I would give up many, many things before I gave up my tumble dryer. I love it. I went two winters without it. Cold, damp, smelly clothes all around that never dried. Damp all up the walls. Horrendous. It's OK if you live in a very warm house and don't do much washing but with 2 kids, one who is being toilet trained it's a necessity. Mine is a condenser, no room in the kitchen so it's in the dining room but that's OK as it heats up the dining room when it's on so less heating. Life is so much better with a tumble dryer. Dry, decent smelling washing. Heaven. I love it. Can you tell?
I bought it 2nd Hand for £100 and on average it costs me £40 or so in electricity for the 6 months I use it. £40 is 2 pairs of jeans, one meal out maybe? It's a no brainer.

[LeeLooDallasMultiPass]

I bought one when ds1 was born as he had reflux so sicked up down lots of bibs and clothing. Never looked back. Ds2 had worse reflux 3 years later. I worship my tumble drier.

Most recent one was bought in 2006, it is an AEG condenser sensor drier so stops when the clothes are dry. I couldn't tell you what energy rating it is but when I wash 7kg load of uniform trousers and jumpers (sweatshirt type) it takes less than 1 hour to tumble it dry on the "damp" setting.

As I put the washing machine on at the same time the washing machine still has an hour to go so the clothes stay in the drier in the heat which means they definitely aren't damp when they come out.

The spin on your washing machine makes a huge difference. I went from a 1200 spin to an AEG 1400 spin and it knocked off about 15-20 minutes of tumble drying. To compare it, when I wash kids t-shirts, underwear, and 2-3 pairs of jeans (my boys are 10 and 7) the tumbling aspect takes about 1hr 20. So cost wise it isn't that much.

I personally use it daily, I suck up the electricity costs just like petrol costs, I need to travel and I want clothes dried instantly.

If my house is damp my asthma kicks off so I weigh up money over compromised health. Buy one, I used to have mine in the garage and emptied the bottle every time which was a walk of 8m to the sink and 8m back and it still didn't put me off!

[Fluffycloudland77]

Siemens do an A+++ tumble dryer, whirlpool did one too for half the price but do you think I can find it now? No.

I have a spin dryer too.

[Suddengeekgirl]

Thank you all! :)

I've started looking online.
I want the sensor drying as that sounds more energy efficient.

Can anyone recommend a brand? I think Siemens etc will be too £££ unfortunately.
Also I've looked at appliances online/ao. Are their estimates of annual electricity cost accurate? even the C rated ones don't seem too bad according to their figures!

[Fluffycloudland77]

What you've got to look at is the unit price for one kwh of electric eg mine is 10p, multiplied by how many kwh it uses for an average cotton cycle.

So a machine that uses 3kw to do a cotton cycle would cost me approx 30p, one using 1.4kw would be 14p.

Always get the most energy efficient you can afford because over time the higher outlay pays off because energy prices rise every year.

[FreakoidOrganisoid]

I got mine last year. Makes life so much easier. I still line dry stuff where I can but no longer have stuff hanging around for days. I used my energy monitor to see how much it used. To get a load of cottons completely dry cost 50p.

Most stuff I tumble til nearly dry, give a shake then hang on hangers for a couple of hours before putting away- I find it doesnt need ironing then.

[Littlemissexpecting]

We got our siemens one in john Lewis. Found them best for guarantee, free delivery etc. they also had a special cash back promotion on.

[PinkStarStuck]

They are probably all like this now, but mine has a sensor dry thing so the dryer stops once the clothes are dry... (there is an override in case the dryer has got it wrong), I'm sure it's cheaper to run than my older dryer that just used to go on a timer and the clothes used to come out roasting hot and over dried.

[doglover]

A slight detour from the original thread but I was told that if we were to have a TD in the garage, we should have a vented one - the vent would just go along the garage floor ......................

[Suddengeekgirl]

doglover - wouldn't you need a hole in the wall too? Where would the steam go?

[doglover]

I was told it would just go out through/under the door?