Tumble Dryer Recommendations

[Belindabelle]

Tumble dryer has chucked it this morning and I need advice on what to buy.

What are those heat pump ones all about. Mine is a bog standard vented one. Are condenser dryers still rubbish?

Do you love your dryer? Come and tell me about it.

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This thread is quite old now so some of the suggestions may be out of date, but if you’re looking for tumble dryers, we’ve recently updated our best tumble dryer page with lots of great options rated by Mumsnet users, plus info on whether a heat pump or condenser dryer is best for your home. We hope you find it useful.
MNHQ

Hate mine. Siemens heat pump. Have had it about 2 years and it has grown steadily less efficient as time goes on. I am told this is because the condenser/ heat pump is sealed. Whereas in my old Zanussi, I could take the condenser out and rinse it through to get rid of fluff, hair etc. Can’t do that today. Talked to Siemens and they blamed my dogs - hair collecting in the unit.
Sorry, long post, but if you have cats and dogs which shed, avoid.

I have a Bosch condenser and i'm kind of a little bit in love with it

I’m happy with my Beko condenser but I’d have bought Bosch if I could.

I use a spin dryer first to keep costs down.

I have a Bosch heat pump dryer and I am happy with it. It is the first dryer I have had though so can’t compare to other machines.

I have had all singing and dancing ones but the one I've had no problem with is Beko,

I have a Samsung bubble washing machine and dryer and love them.

Vented are cheaper and cost less to run - the only real reason to buy a condenser is if you need one because of your house layout which you obviously don’t.

Heat pump is more expensive and takes forever to run but is more energy efficient. Most people who have them hate them tbh.

I love my Siemens condenser (not heat pump). If you wanted to put your tumble dryer somewhere else and needed a condenser I’d definitely recommend it.

DONT BUY A HOTPOINT

I have a candy condenser now and love it
I can control it from my phone

Mine's a White Knight vented. It's fab.

Miele heat pump tis amazing

Thank you all.

Been having a look at some reviews and to be honest I really just want a simple vented dryer but that seems quite hard to find.

Apparently the heat pump ones are more economical to run but it takes on average 11 years to recoup the initial high purchase cost.

I don't really want the of hassle of emptying a condenser if I don't need to.

I will keep looking.

Condensers are great. The best ones are the basic “two temp settings and a timer” ones. My first and current ones were like that and complete workhorses. In between I wasted time and energy over three flasher - but short lived - models.

Sensors don’t work properly.
LED doodahs are just more to break down.
Heat pumps are hard to maintain.

I don't really want the of hassle of emptying a condenser if I don't need to.

I’ve been using mine a lot this year (slipped disc) and I only have to empty the water drawer about once a month. Also it makes perfect distilled water for the steak iron (doesn’t cause lime scale).

I have a newer Hotpoint Vented that wasn't affected by the recalls. I honestly only chose it because the door opens to the right and my washer door opens to the left, so swapping between them was easier.
Anyway, it's never let me down, quick to dry etc

We bought an AEG heat pump in September. It's v energy efficient compared to our old one which would heat up our garage! This one makes no difference to the ambient temperature lol. It works faster and has lots of different settings which is useful

It works as a condenser or your can plumb it in and have it vented

I have a Beko condenser one and it's absolutely fab. Wouldn't be without it!

Beko heat pump and it's perfect for me.

Heat Pump - most expensive to buy
cheapest to run
slowest to dry
because they are recycling heat which they extract from the air, they don't get as hot as other dryers, which is better for many clothes. When you take clothes out they are dry but weirdly feel slightly damp for a few seconds (I think) because they are being dried in a damp atmosphere. Things need no or less ironing because of this.

I think the time factor is a big negative for many people but it is fine for me as I live alone so not washing loads and I'm rarely in a rush. 2 half loads will dry more quickly than one heavily loaded cycle.

The other big advantage to me is that it doesn't need venting like a standard one (or steam up the room) and it doesn't make the room extremely hot like a standard condenser. All the heat is used to dry rather than wasted. It really does cost pennies to run.

Planning on getting one on Black Friday so watching with interest

We have an indesit condenser and it is shit. It's plumbed into the washing machine drain so the water doesn't need emptying but you still have rinse the fluff collector*, which doesn't actually achieve anything except get water everywhere. You can still see it coated in fluff inside all the bits you can't get to.

• I don't know what this thing is really called it's some great block that slides in and out of the bottom and is separate to the little screen at the bottom of the door.

It takes hours to dry anything and even on the cotton 'extra dry' setting, things still come out not dry. It has loads of settings that end at 'still damp' which seems totally pointless. I don't know when you would choose to use such a setting.

We got it to replace an old school 'hose out of the window' job due to house rearrangement and the fact that it was about 25 years old and still worked apart from there was a deadspot on the timer and the hose had disintegrated with age. But it still functioned as a perfectly satisfactory drier, you just had to move the timer past the dead spot when it got to it and let it carry on.

But unfortunately all our appliances last for decades so I'm probably stuck with this useless lump until I die.

Barbara I agree re: Indesit condenser. The filter drawer thing was an absolute nightmare to clean (had to do it in the bath as didn't fit in my kitchen sink) and the washing took forever to dry yet still felt bit damp at the end 😠.

Mine packed in eventually (was only about 6 years old) and I have not long bought this Beko one and it is utterly amazing. I never thought I could be so in love with a kitchen appliance!

Thanks Quentin. I've always dismissed Beko because I thought they were a cheap own brand from Currys, but I think I might be wrong about that.

Ours is 2-3 years old so there's hope that it packs up soon. Of course I could just buy a new one but it seems so wasteful and I always fear that they're all as bad as each other.

I have a Beko condenser dryer with a sensor. You can plumb it into the waste on a sink but as I had it on the garage before I am just happy that it is now in the house!
I empty the water tank after every use and clean the filter. Hardly takes any time. There is a light which flashes when the condenser needs cleaning, and the censor needs cleaning with white vinegar every now and then. I have had it about three years and use it a lot. Big improvement on the washer dryer I had before.
Got it from AO.

I chose the Beko because the water tank is at the top. Some have them at the bottom.

Euthanise it @BarbaraofSeville - it would be a kindness.

When I was looking John Lewis had some really useful information on their website about pros and cons of different types.