To not have known this about tumble dryers? (Fuel bill related)

[HinchcliffeandMurgatroyd]

Not terribly exciting subject , sorry. I’m quite excited about possibly saving £££s though.

I’ve just worked out that my (fairly new) condenser tumble dryer costs about £1.25 a cycle to run, despite the fact I’m on a less-bad fixed rate.

A good heat pump dryer would apparently cost ~50p per cycle.

So £500 now for a better machine would pay for itself in 10-24 months. Tempted.

I knew there was a difference but thought it was a small difference. It took me 15 minutes tracking down the performance data and doing the maths to come up with those numbers.

I use mine a lot due to dogs, dodgy spine etc. So that’s potentially a massive saving.

Did everyone else know the difference between condenser and heat pump dryers was so dramatic?

YANBU = I had no idea.
YABU = Doh, it’s common knowledge.

I did know, but only because I purchased one recently.

Mine doesn't take hours. It takes about an hour and a half for a full load. That's the normal cupboard dry mode, not express or anything. I would use the eco mode but it leaves it just a smidge too damp with no option to adjust, annoyingly. I probably put about 5kg in as my WM is 6kg capacity (and I've weighed a load of clothes and don't usually get close to the 6kg unless washing heavy stuff, like jeans and towels). You weigh dry, BTW - took me ages to find that info!

You can find the cycle times on the EU energy sheet, as well as the kw/h usage.

I wouldn't mind if it did take hours though, because line drying was taking over 24 hours (over 48 in winter) and causing a horrendous mould problem. I also save significant amounts of my own time spent hanging hundreds of individual items up and taking them down one by one. I don't have to wait until I have the energy/motivation to move stuff from washer to line. It's actually been transformative for me in terms of energy and time saved (my energy, not electricity) and I don't re-wash stuff as often because I very rarely leave washing in the machine now it is so easy for me to move it on.

I agree the dehumidifier solution is mad - OK perhaps if you don't already have a dryer, and you have the space to run it, and are not bothered by the noise. But it's not energy saving compared with a heat pump, and the decent heat pump dryers don't cost £800+ any more. We paid €575 for ours, you can get them around the £400-500 range. I appreciate that is still a lot, but if you're looking to replace one anyway due to age or defunctness, it's worth spending £2-300 more to save on running costs in the long run.

I also find that it leaves the clothes looking nicer, much less creased and crumpled. I would say ironed looking but that thread the other day where somebody claimed this perfect t-shirt and shorts were unacceptable makes me think I have different standards to others here

It does make me a bit 🙄that people go on and on and on and on and ON about tumble dryers being the scourge of the planet etc. Biggest energy saving we made in the last year? Changing from using a console to play youtube on the TV to using a little google stick, and changing from using the whole oven to make single portion meals to using an air fryer unless we really needed the oven capacity. These were both completely painless changes that didn't change our lives in the slightest. You never hear of ovens or consoles being blamed as high users of energy.

It’s true it costs money to save energy! And honestly when you are strapped for cash you may not be able to afford an energy efficient tumble dryer:

Beko RapiDry 8kg heat pump dryer uses 1.46 KWh per 6kg partial load. Cost: £629

3-5hrs for medium dehumidifier to dry 6kg of wet clothes at average of 1.22 KWh per hour= 3.66 KWh to 6.1 KWh per load. Cost £250

Result: The average dehumidifier is 2.5x to 4.2x the energy cost of a heat pump tumble dryer while taking much longer time wise and taking up way more space in your home.

I think there’s a case to be made for government vouchers or subsidies on energy efficient appliances so that people with less money aren’t forced to use energy inefficient appliances- and end up paying more in long run due to higher energy bills.

If you do get a heat pump drier, it needs to be in a heated part of your house. So shed / garage won't work in winter: it needs to be at least 10deg ambient temp. But preferably higher. If it's too low, the cycle time increases massively, as the recirculated air cools down too quickly to be effective.

That might account for some of the complaints, as it doesn't seem to be widely publicised

Things that are no longer true - the need to preheat your oven at stage 1 of a recipe or before you start chopping things.

Our 'new' oven is around 5 years old and I quickly realised that it got up to temperature in under 5 minutes, so if I switched the oven on and then started finding ingredients, weighing out, mixing etc, it would spend around 10-20 minutes at temperature but empty, while I got things ready to put in it. So now I don't even switch it on until I know it's nearly needed.

Even with things like frozen pizza, if you switch it on and then start getting the pizza out of the freezer, taking it out of the box, rearranging the toppings and slicing up an extra mushroom to go on it, the oven's just about up to temperature when you're ready to put the pizza in.

But of course, we now have an air fryer, so hardly use the oven.

Have you tried cleaning the sensor? It's usually just above the door on the inside. If it gets clogged with dust or grime it won't sense properly.

@thecatsthecats
I read a tweet saying that there should be a website called Things That Are No Longer True. You input the date you graduated university or school, and get a summary of all the advice that has changed. Ditto, having a baby etc. I wish I could be bothered to make it!

I would adore such a website!

I haven't had a drier for about 9 years now. It broke at the same time as the dishwasher and we couldn't afford both at the time, then got used to not having one. DH was pleased it probably cost about £200 a year in replacing shrunk clothing!

I have been considering one this year as the launderette I used to use for bedding and towels in winter has closed. I've heard you can't put a heat pump drier in a garage though as it's too cold. Can anyone confirm if this is true, I've had mixed answers from googling.

You can also have the sensor replaced by a repair person.

We upgraded to a heat pump a couple of months ago when my old ancient pipe out the window mini dryer started smoking, DH chin hit the floor when I told him how much it was at the time but I love it and glad we made the investment.
I didn't know exactly how much more efficient it was but glad to read this! I don't know exactly how long it takes but I'd say 1-1.5 hours but holds twice as much as my old one.
I still try and use it as little as possible but with a busy household it still gets used quite a bit.

My lakeland heated airer costs 6p an hour to run. It holds 2 loads and if I throw a table cloth over it it all dries in less than 4 hours. I have had it for nearly 20 years. One of the best things I ever bought.

I’ve just been looking at one (hot point), but it says your room temperature needs to be a minimum of 10 degrees? We don’t have a utility room or space in our kitchen, so our dryer is in the garage. Pretty sure that’s below 10 degrees in some parts of the winter.

I’m not sure. EXH had one in his flat when we met and I don’t think it had a vent hose. So maybe some special kind of condenser? Might be worth checking.

Heat pump dryers are comparatively new.

Forgot to add, I love that it stops when clothes are dry, my old one was forever being left on far too long just to make sure stuff was dry for when we got home.

I didn't know. I already have a heat pump drier and that info has made me feel a bit better about using it when I need to, thanks OP

Yes they’re really inefficient and make the house damp

It captures and recycles the same heat over and over during a cycle instead of throwing out heat into the room (condenser) or hose (vented type). That’s my non-expert understanding.

Glad to be useful!

Didn't even know there was such a thing as a heat pump dryer! Mine is a basic Indesit that is probably close on 20 years old.

It's also one of those that Hotpoint finally admitted to being a fire hazard e so although it's been modified to be "safe" I am rather afraid to use it. So I don't!

Probably not as often as I should but that thing is far too high maintenance, it has two filter type things that you're supposed to drag out and rinse after each use, which doesn't really seem to achieve anything apart from drip water all over the place (you can see all the fluff still stuck inside it) plus probably cleaning the sensor.

It just seems like more hassle than it's worth, especially as it's never worked that well even when it was new - for anything to be actually dry, you have to use the 'extra dry' setting. It has about 15 different settings and only one of them seems to produce dry clothes. TBH, I wish I'd sent it back, but you never realise that things don't work very well until it's too late.

Maybe I'll task DP with 'servicing' it before winter. He uses it more than I do anyway, his clothes stand up to tumble drying more than mine do, so only his generally go in, plus the towels and bedding.

But we're quite lucky with appliances generally, most last forever and seem to function quite well. It''s just this dryer that's been annoyingly shit.

Is the sensor quite accurate? I had a sensor on my previous condenser and it was a total liar.

Replaced our early gen heat pump dryer a few months ago and the new one is massively more efficient. I was quite worried after MN reviews about 5 hrs of drying. It's been total rubbish.

There's a 40 mins setting that will do a whole load with maybe a few damp spots. Even 2 bath sheets, 2 hand towels and a bathroom floor mat is mostly dry in 40 mins.
I save the water to use in the iron as we're a hard water area and the irons start to "bleed" rusty water over everything in no time.
It's a Bosch model. Not top of the range but A rated

The one I have Beko RapiDry has a minimum ambient temperature of 5C. A pp mentioned some have a minimum ambient temperature of 10C.

No they’re not inefficient and they cannot make a house damp and no moisture escapes from them- they’re a closed system.

That's really not true!

I have a heat pump drier, it has an energy efficiency rating of A+++

It doesn't make the room damp either: the water collects in a container. Also, it doesn't take 8 hours as mentioned above.
Perhaps you had experience of an older model, @HotDogKetchup ?

I literally cannot imagine doing without a tumble drier. It’s akin to saying I’ve stopped using my hob and am now only eating cold food. I just am not considering it as a viable option.