Would you buy a heat pump or condenser dryer (while you still can)

[AInightingale]

I have to make this decision as mine (a condenser, Beko, had a decent enough 11 years) is giving up the ghost and the govt is banning the sale of them from Jan next year. I have heard so many mixed things about heat pump dryers (though saving money would be good obviously). I really cba with a machine that will take hours to dry clothes, as I would never go out or to bed with a machine running. Do you need to spend more on a decent model, ie would I be better buying a lower priced condenser model than a lower priced heat pump one?

I have a Bosch heat pump. It’s changed my life. Well not quite. But I love it. My last condenser was a hoover and took forever to dry towels. Bosch does it in an hour. It’s quiet and doesn’t produce tons of condensation and damp either.

I've washed and dried my child's bedding and duvet (it's a toddler bed size, not a full single) in my heat pump washer dryer and got it all back on the bed whilst they've been at school (so in less than 6.5 hours, but can't remember exactly how long it took).

That’s so odd. I have a Bosch and it is great. It definitely restarts if I pause it

I’m in the exact same position. We don’t have anywhere in our house where we could put one, and everything I have read says not to put the heat pump ones in a garage. I can’t imagine we are the only people with this issue.

If you've nowhere to put a heat pump model but a garage or outbuilding then you'd be best buying a condenser before they are phased out early next year, even if that's to keep it boxed up in the shed or garage!

We recently bought a heat pump dryer and I don't think it takes ages to dry things but we went from no dryer to heat pump dryer so maybe that changes my expectations. It takes a few hours maybe 2.5-3 to dry a load a washing, I don't think that that is ages? I don't think it's particularly noisy either.

It saves electricity by virtue of the fact that it’s a heat pump, so doesn’t contain a greedy heating element.

I’ve got a Hotpoint heat pump dryer. It takes about 2 hours to dry a full load and, tbh, isn’t really that noisy. I loved my old vented dryer, but we moved so don’t have a vent now, so had to change.

My condenser does a load in an hour. 2-3 hours is a ridiculously long time. Towels take maybe 90 minutes occasionally. I haven’t got time to waste days drying washing.

Ah OK. I just set the dryer going and forget about it until I get a notification on my phone that it's done. Maybe a condenser dryer is different but heat pump dryers dont require you to sit and watch them wasting your say, you just stick your washing in and move on with your day.

Mine (the Beko one) takes about 90 mins to dry a full load of washing. I have an 8kg washing machine and fill the drum about 2/3 full with dry clothing.

It will always start out saying it will take 2h40m but it is finished quicker.

I only use the program Cupboard Dry and select the "+" which makes it aim for a further level of dryness. It doesn't matter if this program is interrupted or restarted. Sometimes if I need a pair of pants or something I will stop it part way through and see if some of the smaller/thinner things are dry and I can take them out. It will recalculate and continue drying the rest. I can pause it, take everything out and put an entirely new wet load of washing in and unpause and it just recalibrates and will go until it is dry. Likewise if stuff is still damp at the end of the drying cycle I can just take everything dry out and put the damp stuff back in and it won't run for 90 mins, it will just run until that stuff is dry. I find the time estimates are completely useless and rarely match up to reality.

I would suggest to the person unhappy with their Bosch machine to try this as it seems to work well with mine, I find all the other options whether Eco, quick, quiet or whatever all seem to leave clothing damp. I did find when I was in my phase of reading 10000 reviews though that the performance of the humidity sensors in this type of machine seems to vary a lot, so you definitely want one which has a good rating on this.

I swapped a heat pump for a condenser as I am just not awake, at home, long enough for the Siemens Heat pump dryer to work. It didn’t help that it got slower with age.

i do air dry with a dehumidifier in the winter and also have a heated airer, but for towels , I need the condenser.

That seems ages to me. With my vented dryer even a load of thick towels takes about 40 mins to dry.

@kombuchabucha May I ask a stupid question? Does it need ventilation (like a normal dryer) or will it be suitable for a windowless utility room ?

Just to add ..I had no idea vented and condensers were being phased out so soon. I think I must live under a rock!

No exterior ventilation required. The moisture is collected in a drawer, or the machine can usually be plumbed in to a waste pipe, like a washing machine.

Mine restarts also

It always seems there are a lot of people looking for issues with heat pump driers.
Ours is so much better that you would ever think reading people's reviews of them.
It is true they take a bit longer - but they only take ages if you put too much stuff in.
They damage clothes so much less and our is no louder than a normal tumble drier.
You can also buy special ones designed to go in out building if you are worried about the temp.
Plus it saves about £1 per load compared to our old drier.

I'd get a condenser.

As usual, these sort of policies completely fail to take in to account disabled people and carers. And claiming it's better for climate change is all well and good, but then put out policies to make the NHS more AI advanced when AI is so horrendously awful for the environment.

A friend got one and is totally disappointed as she reckons her house is not as warm as it used to be. I don't know which sort she has to be fair.

I’ve got a condenser, and as most political sorties are backing off from Zero emissions now, I don’t think it’s a problem.

Location is everything - heat pumps will take forever in a cold outbuilding but would be fine in a heated house. I wouldn't put a heat pump one in an unheated outbuilding, which will cause us a problem when we come to replace ours.

We had a heat pump one and it was shite, nothing ever dried. Luckily it broke so we got another condenser. Am considering buying another condenser and shoving it in the garage so we can replace our current one when it eventually gives up the ghost.

My old Bosch vent dryer went up in smoke, rather alarmingly, and I've replaced it with a Bosch heat pump dryer. Exactly the same settings, pretty similar drying times, same level of (not very much) noise, much cheaper to run than the vent dryer. Easy to do lint filters and to empty the water, five year guarantee. All good so far.

That’s because heat pumps generate less heat than other types, which is why they’re so cheap to run. Heat from electricity is very expensive, around 4 times the price of gas. If she wants her house to be warmer, tell her to turn up her heating!

Are they going to be phasing out condenser washer-dryers as well as standalone condenser dryers? We only have room in our kitchen for a washer-dryer.