To get an heat pump tumbler dryer?

[StuffandFluff]

Haha - that title should be 'a heat pump dryer' - why is there no option to edit titles 🙄?
The difficult aspect of this potential purchase is that the garage is the only place we could put it - simply no space elsewhere, despite creative thinking! We really only need it for the dampest, coldest times of the year, when line drying is impossible in our small, shady garden.
Has anyone managed to successfully use a heat pump dryer in a garage? If so, what were the running times and costs like?
Thank you for any advice!

I have my HP tumbler in the garage. It is absolutely fantastic - drying well and economical. I actually got rid of my line this year as I dry everything in it.

Get one you won't be disappointed. I got the BEKO BM3T3822W 8 kg from Currys

Looked at getting a heat pump dryer. It looked like it would pay for itself relatively quickly but my understanding is that they take ages to dry. My current tumble dryer can dry a load in around an hour but the heat pump one takes at least twice that. I’d lose the will to live!

I got one last year to replace my vented one, I love it sometimes the cycle to dry things fully is long other times the sensor speeds the time up , it takes getting used to when an hour in the old one would dry things . I find there's less damage to the clothes with the new dryer. I would say I was advised to have it indoors as the outside temp could affect its efficiency. Mine is also piped into an outlet so I don't have to empty water from it which was a big factor in the choice. I haven't noticed a huge reduction in bills though.

No idea about HP dryers, but we have our condenser dryer in the garage and I love it. Use it all year round.

If you only use it very rarely, the payback time Vs the cheaper cost of a condenser tumble drier will be huge. We have an incontinent child and so have to use ours 2 or 3 times a week and I worked out it would pay for itself after 2-3 years of use.
They also take a long time so maybe 3 hours for a load of washing.

Ours is in the utility,not the garage. I replaced our old condenser with a basic heat pump one - Curry’s own make. It’s brilliant, it does take hours to dry but is less harsh on fabrics and costs a lot less to run. I use it all the time in the winter.

Mine isn’t in the garage, but an unheated utility room. It does take a bit longer than the old condenser, but not in any drastic way , and it’s MUCH kinder to clothes. Mine is an AEG which I got a couple of years ago…I don’t use it a huge amount as I like to dry outside as much as I can, but I think it’s probably paid for itself now in the running costs

Mine takes about 40-50% longer, but doesn’t dry stuff to a crisp like my old one did! You just work round the extra time

We have one in the garage and has worked perfectly in the coldest weather. It takes longer than our old condenser but it's in the garage so we don't hear it. We did the maths and was cheaper in the long run.

We have one in an unheated utility room, worked fine all last winter. Dries in about the same time as my old vented one so definitely saving us money.

It's a Beko

The cold was one of the things I was worried about when buying it so if you look at the specs or manufacturer's handbook it should tell you the minimum operating temperature. Seemed like Beko were designed to work at colder temperatures than some other brands.
They will work at colder temperatures, just take longer to dry fully.

They really are slower - no doubt. Its the one thing I miss about the old one.

However, if you aren't going to use it that much & mainly in winter, consider just getting a dehumidifier. Can also reduce drying time & tend to be more energy efficient

Wait, so they dry quicker if they’re in a warm room?

i have a Beko in the garage. Doesn’t take long to dry clothes and to be honest not noticed any difference in energy usage. I’ve had it since March. It was from Curry’s.

I swapped my old regular dryer for a heat pump one as I was told it wouldn’t shrink the clothes so I could put everything in it, rather than having to hang t shirts etc. First load I did it totally shrunk the T shirts and took aaaages! It also crumpled my lovely cotton duvet cover so despite being a large load washer and a large load dryer, I have to dry the laundry in 2 gos or hang up larger items like duvet covers as they just never get dry.

It may cost less to run than my old one, but it’s not the magic solution I thought it would be to my permanent laundry mountain.

We got a Bosch one when we had DS since nothing was drying in the winter. Love it, never had a tumble dryer before so nothing to compare it too, but agree it does take at least 2 hours to dry a load of towels or sheets. We just run it in the morning on weekend when we're out with DS, so don't even notice it. Mine isn't piped, so we empty the little water tank after each cycle, but that only takes a hot minute so no bother.

I have one in my garage and hate it, takes a ridiculous amount of time to dry. I would never buy one again.

I find it you over load them they take forever to dry but with the right amount of clothes they are a good economical way to dry clothes and much kinder then my old traditional driver. Also don't dry to completely dry, there is an option for hang dry and that is plenty dry enough to fold any put away but takes about 30 mins off the cycle.

Love ours, so cheap to run. We probably use ours daily tbh. Normally 90-120 minutes, but that seems a normal amount of time to me? Doesn't really bother me! I'm just getting on with other things. It's about the same length as our eco cycle on our washing machine, so it works well for us.

We empty out the waste water and use it on the plants.

Oooh, is it possible to do that? I always think there might still be detergent in the water so don't do it. Unfortunately the cisterns are closed so I can't use it in the toilets :(

I had a heat pump dryer and it was very good at taking forever and presenting you with damp clothing. Went back to a condenser. The heat pump was a Siemens and current one which quickly produces dry clothing is a hot point (purchased in lockdown - only one in stock) Had a Bosch a few years back and like all Bosch appliances I’ve had bits started falling off rendering it unusable.

Don’t overload them that’s the key. Mine dries quicker than my old condenser and I’ve never shrunk clothes in it etc

mines the beko one from curry’s, best dryer I’ve had.

Thank you so much for all of the advice - such a range of views! I am going to give it a go (but not one of the super expensive ones - so minimal payback period compared to vented and normal condenser machines) - accepting that the drying times are likely to be longer (but that this increase will be minimised if the machine is not overloaded). The greater energy efficiency seems to give considerable scope for the drying times to be longer, whilst still being cheaper overall.
I will also be mindful of the condenser efficiency rating (as the last two machines that I had - first vented, then condenser) caused a great deal of dampness in the room.

It seems people tend to struggle with heat pump machines if they’ve had other dryers before, for us, 3 hours in a heat pump is super speedy compared to 3 days hanging around on an airer. We love it! It’s a Bosch, beware the cheap ones, they might not be so good and it’ll put you off. My boss has a Beko and it’s awful.

They don't work at 5 degrees or less so getting one for your garage for the coldest days won't work! Last November ours stopped working and we had to dring it indoors (we only live in a small bungalow) it had to go outside mu daughters bedroom and is noisy so we couldn't run it overnight. It's been a huge pain to be honest

I’ve got one - LG - and it’s great. Dry everything in there now, whereas couldn’t do that in the old vented one we had. Took a little while to get used to (stuff coming out feeling warm, which I thought meant still damp - but once cooled down you could feel it was dry). Yes to not overloading it, make sure the fluff filter is emptied regularly, otherwise then it does take forever to dry. And I dry towels separately, not with the rest of the washing. Having them in really meant it went on for ages.