To ask for condenser or heat pump tumble recommendations?

[Changesarecoming]

Our tumble dryer, possibly the most over used appliance in our household, has given up this evening.

I have had a look online and the model is no longer made and I am confusing myself looking for a replacement.

I am looking for a push and go style ( I think previously called turn and go ) as we do not use specific settings, rather just pop it on for a specified time. It also enables us to stop it mid cycle if we need to pop out.
Can anyone recommend one of these? Or alternatively, convince me that the models with the programs and no pause button are decent?

Don’t do it! My condenser tumble-dryer was the worst appliance I’ve ever had. Took so long to dry anything. Towels needed around 6 hours (2 cycles). Nothing ever felt really dry. I’ve gone back to vented and I’m so much happier. It's really quick and my clothes feel properly dry now.

Condenser dryers are the only ones available now. There is a guy n YouTube who repair them & gives the low down Have a look

That’s not true, vented dryers are available. I vent mine through the cat flap in the garage door.

Heat pump driers will be the only ones for sale from late 2025 due to legislation
Ignore previous post above,

I have a Samsung heat pump dryer. It’s plumbed straight into the cold water drain under the sink so don’t have empty the water tank. It has various programmes such as delicates, sportswear which I do use. It’s capacity is 8kgs.

But it's 2026 now? So are they banned or not?

I have a Beko heat pump one with programs, but it has a pause button as well. Have been very happy with it. It takes about 90 mins to dry a full load of clothes even if there are things like towels in it, but we have always had it indoors. I understand if you have it in an unheated area, a heat pump dryer won't work well at all.

I just use the Cupboard Dry programme. Everything else seems to leave things slightly damp which is not what I want. It has a function to dry for a set amount of time as well, but I never use that because the cupboard dry with the sensor works perfectly fine and stops when the clothes are dry. The only thing that sometimes doesn't dry properly are sweatpant waistbands but I just put them back in with the next cycle, or hang over bannister for an hour or so.

The sale of new traditional vented and condenser tumble dryers will become illegal in the UK from the end of 2025 (or July 2026, depending on the source of information), which means retailers are phasing them out

I’ve had my Electra condenser dryer from ao.com for a few years now and it’s always worked great. Highly recommend

It has times or programmes and a pause button. Simple dial and start button.

Bosh heat pump dryer here. Excellent. Extra dry setting gets things bone dry.

I've had a Samsung heat pump condenser for about 7 years, absolutely love it. You can set a program but still pause it if necessary, and it usually finishes a cycle quicker than estimated as it checks the dryness of the load half way through and adjusts accordingly.

If it’s vented there extremely simply not a lot to them what’s wrong with it

gave you looked at getting it repaired

AEG heat pump here. Its amazing. I can pause or cancel the cycle to check it whenever I want to. I only use eco cupboard dry setting which is perfect for getting clothes dry.

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/9500305

No issues with this one. I like the timer on it.

I think we might have the same one. Kept in our utility room near boiler so it gets quite warm in there. The program says it will take almost 4 hours to dry a load to cupboard dry but actually is usually done in 90mins and like pp says it turns off when it senses it is dry.

You can also pull the door open while it's running and it will pause if that's a particular feature you want. Ours isn't plumbed in but we just dump the water into the sink after every load (it could probably manage two loads before it was full).

You must have had a faulty one. I've had three condenser dryers and they've all worked brilliantly.

I have 2. An aeg and a Bosch. There is nothing in it really. They both have loads of programs but I just put on the warm extra dry function. Go for the biggest drum you can afford and don’t stuff it full. The trick with heat pumps is to keep the filter really clean. They are much lower energy than vented - mine uses less power than the washing machine but it is true they take ages - 3 hours really. We used to have a vented which was v quick but used tonnes of power and shrunk the clothes. The heat pump I put wool jumpers in.

My heat pump drier is shite, takes forever. I was waiting until it died but now I’ve learned on here that condensers are being phased out, I’ve just ordered one.

I hate my heat pump dryer, it’s absolute crap and takes forever. However we have ours in the garage and we had a hotpoint engineer out last week to fix the door latch on our washer. He said they aren’t designed to be in an unheated space / room and need an air temp of 12 - 15 degrees to work properly.

On the older style ones he said shops can’t buy in new stock but are allowed to keep and sell any existing stock.

Possibly, but that would mean that everyone I know has had faulty ones too.
I gave my opinion based on my own experience, you don’t have to agree.

We have a Miele tumble dryer with a water tank (it's currently in our dining room and nowhere near any drainage) and it's absolutely fine. An ordinary programme gets things nearly dry but we just bung it on for a further 30 minutes warm air and that does the trick. Something like towels will take around 70 minutes (plus the 30 if I wanted them bone dry). If we're going out we just stop it by opening the door.

I had no idea they're phasing out condenser dryers and pleased we got ours first

Thanks all. We loved the heat pump. We can't have vented due to where it is located. We have had vented before and they are great.
We have one now, ordered one online before I confuse myself!

Our Bosch series 8 heat pump dryer is great, I generally use the mixed load if there are towels or easy care if not
you may want to play around with the settings to find out what works best for you

I have a Cozee heat pump from amazon. Was reasonably priced, I run it at least a day and electricity use isnt crazy, and it was free installation and removal. Quiet. Can pause and check.

We have a Bosch. It is just so brilliant. a full load is dry is 1.5hours. A week load of towels in 2 hours once a week. It is used daily in our house too. I loathe clothes hanging around the house on airers.

I think we have the same one and love it.