Tumble Dryers!

[Tallulahbella]

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!

I think your dryer may be faulty. I got an AEG heat pump dryer 2 years ago and it's fantastic. Certainly never takes more than 3 hours to dry a load and usually around 2 hours. It was expensive but totally worth it. It changed my life as I used to air dry clothes and in winter they would take days to dry as we don't put the heating much.

I have a Samsung heat pump tumble dryer and it definitely doesn’t take more than 3 hours to dry a big load.
Yours doesn’t work.
we had a fault with ours that I reported 6 days before the warranty ended and Samsung fixed it- eventually. They basically replaced every electric in the machine though.

There are dozens of vented models still made and still available for delivery tomorrow!

I think that it is sometimes dependent on the brand rather than the type of machine.

I originally got a Hotpoint vented dryer. It was awful. It got far too hot and over dried everything. It was ok for towels but I wouldn’t risk it for anything else. I got rid of it after a couple of years. I replaced it with a Miele condenser which was far better and lasted me years. I’ve now got a Miele heat pump which is brilliant and even better than my old condenser. It takes roughly the same amount of time to dry (possibly faster) and seems more gentle on clothes. It doesn’t shrink anything and dries everything as it should, depending on the setting. I was nervous of getting a heat pump because I’d read so many bad stories about them, but I’ve got no complaints with mine.

I’ve got a hot point heat pump and it’s very good. Some of the cycles are a bit long though so I tended to use the cycle for jeans and that seems to work for pretty much everything

??? 4 hours to dry a load? Wow.
My tumble dryer has a vent through the wall. Nothing takes longer than 1.5 hours to dry.

I replaced my condenser with another cheap condenser. It works fine, and will dry virtually everything except stuff that's ultra delicate. Most stuff is done in less than an hour.

I like making the green choice but I'd read that heat pump dryers take forever, and if I wanted something that took that long I could save space and get a washer/dryer combo.

I'm having to replace my Samsung HP dryer.
Ive had it 3 years and the HC unit has just gone.
I'd never have a HP dryer again - I don't think they are as good as they are touted to be.
I'm replacing it with a sharp basic condenser model, which is cheaper than a call out and HC unit would be

Why do you need a dryer at all, they're dreadful things. I got rid of mine goodness knows how many years ago and I've never missed it. Family of 5 with pets, dog etc.

We’ve recently replaced a very old Beko condenser (that had been on the absolute last legs for ages) with a Beko heat pump model. Very happy with the Beko - can dry a decent load of clothes in about 90 minutes and it’s very quiet. Also seems to release less humidity out into the room than the condenser did.

Don’t need but choose not to have clothes hanging round the house/creating dampness

I bought a Bosch hp two years ago and love it. 2 hours to fully dry a load of towels, less for general clothes. There must be a fault with yours and it’s definitely not fit for purpose

Yep, I did all the maths and ended up not bothering with the expensive heat pump ones and got a fairly basic hotpoint condenser. It’s great. About 6 years old now.

Do you spin the clothes at least twice in washing machine before putting in dryer?

We have a Samsung AI heat pump dryer and it takes no where near that long to dry loads. Are you using to towel setting when drying?

Well that sounds horific. We moved house recently and left our washer dryer behind as there was a washing machine here. Ive just ordered a heated airer as Im sick of wet washing hanging around. When the washing machine dies I know Ill get a dual machine

Pretty much all of North America has vented dryers. Doesn’t feel like old technology at all. Dries fast, towels are fluffy and fresh. It doesn’t add humidity to the air or burn the clothes to a crisp like a condenser.

In my case I have one because I live in a flat with nowhere to line dry in any weather, and no desire to have the place festooned with damp laundry 24/7.

I have a Samsung heat pump drier it starts off saying it will take 3 hours to dry but is usually around 1.5 hours so not much longer than my previous condenser dryer and it doesn’t shrink my clothes.

ive had my logik heat pump for about 4/5 years, and never had an issue and I defo don’t do any extra maintance of it especially involving tweezers.. that’s madness
a 8kg load takes 2-2 and half hours to dry which works about the same as my washing machine cycle so I can move from one load to another.. I occasionally put clothes on an extra spin cycle before drying to remove extra moisture (especially with towels/bedding) maybe try that and see if it improves drying time?

Like most appliances which we probably don’t “need”, it makes life easier. The alternative when it’s nigh on impossible to get anything properly dry outside in winter months is to have wet washing hanging around, making the house damp. Having said that, Mumsnet is a prime example of different families washing things with different frequencies, if families are happy with not washing things as often, it’s probably not as much of an issue getting things dry.

The more concerning thing here is you leave the dryer on when you leave the house when I assume no one is home?

isn’t tumble dryers one of the leading cause of house fires?

I think you’re better off with a condenser drying. Heat pump might be cheaper but I can drying 3 bath sheets together in mine in 30 mins which when you think about it costs probably about the same as heat pump but without the faff

You know I’ve been suckered in to buying Bosch and Neff and Dyson white goods. Give me good old Beko any time. Worst was an expensive Dyson washing machine where the drum rotated two directions at once - it had a product recall and my God what a hassle that was! Never again.

Where does Op says that? She turned it off when she went to the cinema