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!

We have a new heat pump dryer. Full load of towels takes 2hours 35- and that is 'extra dry.' 'Cupboard dry' is 2 hours 15. (I'm not really sure what the difference is!) However, that's crazy for yours!
Fully load of bedding on the 'Bedding XL' is 2 hrs 55.
And my electricity bill has gone down.
As others have said, that's surely got to be broken?

I've got a cheap Beko heat pump and have no issues with it at all!

We used to have a Hotpoint heat pump dryer which took an eternity to get clothes from wet to damp. With much trepidation replaced it with another heat pump dryer, Indesit this time. Its been so much better. It manages to actually dry clothes. Takes longer than the non heat pump we had years ago but not by much. About 2-3hrs per load.

We have a Samsung heat pump and have no problems like you’re having. Somethings not right

I've only once had a tumble dryer, I found clothes could shrink and get very creased. I have airers and a dehumidifier instead - I can hang clothes so most of them don't need ironing (I hardly ever iron) and the dehumidifier uses a lot less energy than any sort of tumble dryer. Clothes dry the same day - I close the door so the whole room gets very dry. It's a good method unless you don't have any space at all to air, or need clothes drying very quickly.

I have the same Samsung heat pump dryer. It dries a normal large load in 1hr 30 mins. Towels can take a little longer but never more than 2 hours. I don’t use any of the programmes - just put it on ‘time dry’ for 1hr 30. If not dry just an extra 30 mins. There are some other settings which can effect it so maybe worth a look in the instruction booklet. I find the programmes which are supposed to stop when things are dry never dry things as dry as I like them. I’ve had the dryer 3 years now and no change in length of time to dry.

I've got this one and dries really quickly. Yours definitely sounds faulty. I've never scraped it lying on my back either

Bosch self cleaning heat pump here and it’s amazing. Dries a full load of towels in under two hours and costs very little to run. Sounds like yours has an issue as it shouldn’t take that long to dry. My mum has a lower series Bosch heat pump that replaced a 30 year old Miele vented dryer and that is also a fab machine. Takes a little longer than the old vented dryer but a fraction of the cost to run. Heard of so many issues with Samsung, ditch it and get a Bosch!

I have a heat pump dryer and it's an absolute dickhead. I cannot wait for it to break, it takes so long to get anything dry I can't believe it is actually any cheaper.

It's a Bosch not a Samsung though.

That's crazy. My heat pump drier does a 10kg load in 2 hrs. Ours is Hisense.

Yanbu but you know you can turn up the drying level right which make it's quicker. And use the cotton setting, not eco.

We had a Blomberg heat pump that was good initially but 8 years later it was taking 9 hours to dry a load. Was very tempted to get a condenser but they seem to be getting phased out. As we live in a new build very warm house we have stuck with heat pump. We got a new Hisense last week and so far it’s been brilliant. Less than 2 hours for an 8kg load. Towels which were taking the full day now take 1.5 hours and come out so fluffy. It’s got wifi connection too and really neat and compact

Tumble dryer is obviously faulty, but YABU writing a novella about it.

Edited: didn’t mean to quote anyone.

We have a Bosch heat pump condenser (series 6 I think) that will dry a full load of towels in just over an hour and also self cleans itself and is pretty economic to run too. Your dryer sounds ridiculous.

Heat pumps for drying and heat pumps for central heating ARE USELESS.
I’ve actually been thinking of purchasing a gas combi boiler to keep in readiness for mine going wrong.
i feel so bad for you, we are told we are doing the “right thing” but actually we are not!! .

Ours is a condenser dryer, I can get a full load totally dry in 80 minutes! And that includes heavy stuff such as jeans. Plus they always come out smelling fresh.
It's dropping to bits now and rusty round the edges, so I'm going to have to replace it soon and I'm gutted, as I love it!
If it's still under warranty, can't you return it?

Yep, during the first winter of extortionate bills we worked out that my heat pump machine was cheaper per load than my friend's condenser one - 45 minutes for mine vs 4 hours for hers!!!!

I have a Miele heat pump dryer and even on a delicate gentle dry the puffer jacket I dried earlier today was done in no time definitely under 2 hours anyway
Towels dry under 2 hours as does anything else

Yes, I couldn't be bothered waiting on a heat pump drier, most brands have a 5 year lifespan.
I hated my heat pump dryer.
My cheapish dryer is great.

I use a condenser dryer with 2 boss it balls. Everything dries really quickly. I did once consider a heat pump dryer but heard similar stories to yours. Boss it balls are great.

I have a Samsung also - DV90BB9445GHS1 Heat Pump Tumble Dryer 9kg - 2 years old. In a utility room same as you but directly plumbed in under the sink so it drains all the water out and no emptying for me. It dries fine - superking bedding set in just over an hour, so yours definitely must be faulty somehow. I sympathise on the brush thing and being on the floor cleaning it. After reading on a random thread somewhere, I am buying a foam filter and cutting it to size to put in front of the bit you have to clean with that brush, so going to try this after I clean it again 😂You're doing everything right and cleaning it when the machine tells you - I hope they sort it out for you soon!

Our condenser dryer is in the coal house that’s connected to our house and is really cold this time of year, but still manages to dry anything we put in , even full, in 2 hours or under. I just be careful and don’t put certain things in. It doesn’t smell bad or of nothing though it smells like laundry?

You can still buy vented ones. 40 mins max for a full load in mine

How often do you actually use the tumble drier? I only ever used it for bedding and towels, not clothes, and I used to have a tumble drier at home, which was never very effective and cost loads to run. Then it broke down suddenly in winter just as I had loads of heavy stuff to dry and so I was forced to take it all to the laundrette - which was a game changer. Now I just go to the laundrette once a week with all the washed bedding and towels and dry it all in about 20 minutes in their huge, efficient driers. It’s not even that much of a bother, I just go and have a coffee in the cafe next door as I’m waiting. Possibly not an option if you live in the middle of nowhere, but I’d never go back to using a home tumble drier again.

I go at the heat exchanger on mine with the hover brush attachment every so often and it’s much quicker to dry immediately afterward. I also wash the filter that sits in front if it.