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AIBU?

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Original poster

Tumble Dryers!

133 replies

Tallulahbella · 25/10/2025 09:24

Sorry, long post and very first world problem!

AIBU to replace an expensive Samsung heat pump tumble dryer with a cheaper condenser dryer?

I previously had a cheap condenser dryer and was I used to the quick drying of towels/bedding, accepting the compromise that they didn’t come out smelling laundered (smelled of nothing) and I had to be careful what I put in to avoid shrinking/damage.

Since last year I’ve had the Samsung heat pump and the benefit is it’s so gentle on clothes, I can put literally anything in it and it comes out smelling as nice as if it’d been line dried, however it takes FOREVER.

Its definitely got worse. As an example I put towels in at lunch time yesterday, they were on until we went out for dinner/cinema last night at 6pm. Back on at 11pm and I had a notification it had completed at 5am, got up this morning and still wet so have been on since 8am, it’s now 9am - that is 13 hours!!!!!

I have tried a small load - 6 hours to dry a duvet cover and 2 pillow cases. 12 hours for 4 bath towels.

I am still in warranty so had someone out yesterday who said the heat exchanger at the bottom needed to be “immaculate” before he’d be allowed to do anything and there were no faults on the machine. He suggested cleaning by scraping with tweezers?! I have cleaned as instructed, at the frequency instructed with the brush provided. After his visit, I DID lie on the floor for an hour scraping each of the metal grids and to be fair, some gunk did come off but I since then has been this 13 hour towel marathon.

I don’t believe for a minute that people are lying on the floor scraping vents with tweezers as part of BAU maintenance in 2025 🫣

I don’t know whether to get them out again with my shiney vent, knowing I may be charged this time for “non-fault” call out or just cut my losses and replace.

Everytime it does it’s little song to tell me it’s finished and I open the door to wet stuff, I feel like taking a sledge hammer to it 😭

Also, if I didn’t WFH I literally wouldn’t be able to use it as I wouldn’t run it when no1 home and wouldn’t have 12 hours a day at home!

OP posts:
Another76543 · 25/10/2025 09:39

That definitely doesn’t sound right. My Miele heat pump doesn’t take anywhere near that long. It’s comparable to how long my old condenser used to take. It’s not in a garage/cold room is it? I know they don’t like that.

Edit : just seen it’s in a utility. It definitely sounds like there’s a fault with the machine.

NewMummyNew2021 · 25/10/2025 09:39

I Have an AEG one bought new last year and it took so long to dry anything it was driving me insane. We had engineers out at least 3/4 times as it just couldn’t be right.

long story short the filter at the front was not letting the air through so was effectively holding damp air in the drier. Finally an engineer went in the bottom of the drier and showed me where the air should flow, could put my hand in and showed me with the filter in and without. There was no flow!
he ordered a new filter and problem solved. Much much better, still takes too long for my liking but more like 3/4 hours for a full heavy load
I would try that with an engineer and see if that’s the problem

Original poster
Tallulahbella · 25/10/2025 09:38

ChipDaleRescueRangers · 25/10/2025 09:30

Heat pump dryer take a little bit longer than a condenser but not that long. I can get a very full 9kg load dry in just over 2 hours with my aeg heat pump dryer.

Is it in a cold place like a shed or a garage? Heat pump dryers dont work well in those kind of places. They work the best in a warm place.

I should have mentioned that, it’s in a utility room off the kitchen so in the house

OP posts:
MagdaLenor · 25/10/2025 09:35

Ours is a condenser; for comparison it takes about an hour to dry sheets, 2 hours for towels. Nothing we have takes longer than that. We're not particularly assiduous about cleaning it all out regularly, either!

Eenameenadeeka · 25/10/2025 09:33

We also replaced a condenser dryer with a heat pump one (it's a Bosch I think) and it's the same a total waste of time! Takes all day to dry a load. I actually hang the washing first, and then put it in the dryer when it's almost dry already which seems a bit of a waste of time but otherwise it's going all day which is crazy.

ChipDaleRescueRangers · 25/10/2025 09:30

Heat pump dryer take a little bit longer than a condenser but not that long. I can get a very full 9kg load dry in just over 2 hours with my aeg heat pump dryer.

Is it in a cold place like a shed or a garage? Heat pump dryers dont work well in those kind of places. They work the best in a warm place.

MagdaLenor · 25/10/2025 09:30

That's crazy! I've had tumble dryers for over 30 years and never had that. It's obviously faulty.
I can't believe that engineer's response. Nothing needs to be that immaculate in order to function.
You could call them out again, explain about the ludicrous times which make it completely impractical as a piece of equipment.

Boomer55 · 25/10/2025 09:27

I’ve got a basic condenser dryer, and accept that some stuff can’t go in it. My washing smells ok though.

There’s no way I’d have a dryer that took that amount of time or was that much faff. 🤷‍♀️