Should I buy a tumble dryer?

[Suddengeekgirl]

We have never owned a tumble dryer.

I am fed up with trying to dry washing in the winter. I've been getting caught out by rain that wasn't in the forecast. And despite hanging washing out in the sunshine yesterday it still came in cold and damp. The dc are 2&4 so their clothes are taking up more and more space in the washer and ds needs his uniform washed and dried fairly quickly for school.

After lot of moaning dh has said just get one. :)

But now I'm worrying if its just an expensive mistake - in terms of electricity.

It would have to live in the garage, which is only accessible through the garage door. A bit of a faff but much easier than going out to the garden in the rain I guess.
This would also mean that I'd need a condenser one.

Anyhow after that rather long ramble ...

Should I get a tumble dryer?
We've managed this far without one...

[Suddengeekgirl]

Thanks piglet :)
The super heat pump ones are way out of the 'reasonable' price bracket for us.

Think we will go for a vented after all - the simplicity of repair jobs sounds sensible.

Still not sure about letting dh loose with a core drill...
still living with the bathroom mirror that is too high for me to see myself in

[PigletJohn]

looking at running costs on Which, the modern ones generally use about the same electricity: 30p to 50p per load depending on whether it is a light load of synthetics, or a heavy load of cotton towels.

The few which are cheaper to run are the heat-pump machines, which are three or four times the price to buy.

I prefer a vented, as it is cheaper to buy, and much less complicated so has less to go wrong. You can get a core drill from a tool hire shop that will make a neat round hole in a brick or block wall.

If you prefer to make a hole in a wooden door, a padsaw or jigsaw will do it.

[Littlemissexpecting]

I don't find the condenser too much effort to empty. You need to empty the filter after every load so I do both at same time. There is a drain near my garage so the water goes down there or on the plants.

[Suddengeekgirl]

Fluffy - after looking at buying guides online I thought the vented were cheaper to run than a condenser - unless you get one of the AAA+ super condenser types. The budget won't stretch to one of those. :)

Pink - after the trauma of buying this house I am never moving again! :) so any tumble dryer would be staying put - unless the kitchen gets gutted/ refurbished. Which isn't going to happen in less than 5 years or ever according to dh

[Pistillate]

Someone on a housekeeping thread was telling about their system with a dehumidifier... They had a clothes rail, hangers, a rack for small things. This requires a space set up for it, but she reckoned it was cheaper than running a tumble drier...

[PinkStarStuck]

I'd do vented if you know that your dryer is going to stay in that particular spot (i.e you aren't likely to move house...change your mind about where you want to keep it).

I love my condenser but it is a pita to take the tank out and empty it, I keep it away from any external walls so I don't have a choice...

[Fluffycloudland77]

The vented seem to be worse on leccy than condensing.

Cheaper to buy though.

[Suddengeekgirl]

Oh well now I'm confused!

Dh has had a very quick look at tumble driers online and said
"Why don't we just put a hole in the wall and get a vented one?"

I wasn't keen on sticking a hole in the wall but he's happy to pay a man to

So....
Vented or condensing?

[Aquariusgirl86]

I have one but if it broke I wouldn't replace it. It shrinks stuff so I don't put thd kids stuff in. Just underwear and sheets, and it's something like 50p an hour to run (not entirely sure!) I'm thinking of getting a heated airer

[LeeLooDallasMultiPass]

I wouldn't want all that warm damp air in my garage, there is a reason it has be vented out of a building.

just go for a condenser one.

I need to correct myself, I said before mine goes on the damp setting, it doesn't (I have just put it on) I put mine on storage dry.

Our AEG was from John Lewis simply because it died the week before Christmas and no-one could do a delivery for weeks and JL was open until 10pm. Dh drove a 2 hour round trip to collect it. That's how much we value the tumble drier.

[blueberryupsidedown]

We have a tumble dryer and dry the clothes mostly outside and use the dryer to get rid of the last moisture out of clothes, or when it's raining for days in a row, or when the kids are sick. It's very useful and you don't have to use it all the time for everything. COuld this be an alternative? //www.lakeland.co.uk/21736/Dry-Soon-3-Tier-Heated-Tower-Airer?src=gfeed&gclid=CNSIiue53boCFYbLtAodBRUAvw

[doglover]

I was told it would just go out through/under the door?

[Suddengeekgirl]

doglover - wouldn't you need a hole in the wall too? Where would the steam go?

[doglover]

A slight detour from the original thread but I was told that if we were to have a TD in the garage, we should have a vented one - the vent would just go along the garage floor ......................

[PinkStarStuck]

They are probably all like this now, but mine has a sensor dry thing so the dryer stops once the clothes are dry... (there is an override in case the dryer has got it wrong), I'm sure it's cheaper to run than my older dryer that just used to go on a timer and the clothes used to come out roasting hot and over dried.

[Littlemissexpecting]

We got our siemens one in john Lewis. Found them best for guarantee, free delivery etc. they also had a special cash back promotion on.

[FreakoidOrganisoid]

I got mine last year. Makes life so much easier. I still line dry stuff where I can but no longer have stuff hanging around for days. I used my energy monitor to see how much it used. To get a load of cottons completely dry cost 50p.

Most stuff I tumble til nearly dry, give a shake then hang on hangers for a couple of hours before putting away- I find it doesnt need ironing then.

[Fluffycloudland77]

What you've got to look at is the unit price for one kwh of electric eg mine is 10p, multiplied by how many kwh it uses for an average cotton cycle.

So a machine that uses 3kw to do a cotton cycle would cost me approx 30p, one using 1.4kw would be 14p.

Always get the most energy efficient you can afford because over time the higher outlay pays off because energy prices rise every year.

[Suddengeekgirl]

Thank you all! :)

I've started looking online.
I want the sensor drying as that sounds more energy efficient.

Can anyone recommend a brand? I think Siemens etc will be too £££ unfortunately.
Also I've looked at appliances online/ao. Are their estimates of annual electricity cost accurate? even the C rated ones don't seem too bad according to their figures!

[Fluffycloudland77]

Siemens do an A+++ tumble dryer, whirlpool did one too for half the price but do you think I can find it now? No.

I have a spin dryer too.

[LeeLooDallasMultiPass]

I bought one when ds1 was born as he had reflux so sicked up down lots of bibs and clothing. Never looked back. Ds2 had worse reflux 3 years later. I worship my tumble drier.

Most recent one was bought in 2006, it is an AEG condenser sensor drier so stops when the clothes are dry. I couldn't tell you what energy rating it is but when I wash 7kg load of uniform trousers and jumpers (sweatshirt type) it takes less than 1 hour to tumble it dry on the "damp" setting.

As I put the washing machine on at the same time the washing machine still has an hour to go so the clothes stay in the drier in the heat which means they definitely aren't damp when they come out.

The spin on your washing machine makes a huge difference. I went from a 1200 spin to an AEG 1400 spin and it knocked off about 15-20 minutes of tumble drying. To compare it, when I wash kids t-shirts, underwear, and 2-3 pairs of jeans (my boys are 10 and 7) the tumbling aspect takes about 1hr 20. So cost wise it isn't that much.

I personally use it daily, I suck up the electricity costs just like petrol costs, I need to travel and I want clothes dried instantly.

If my house is damp my asthma kicks off so I weigh up money over compromised health. Buy one, I used to have mine in the garage and emptied the bottle every time which was a walk of 8m to the sink and 8m back and it still didn't put me off!

[Bubbles1066]

I would give up many, many things before I gave up my tumble dryer. I love it. I went two winters without it. Cold, damp, smelly clothes all around that never dried. Damp all up the walls. Horrendous. It's OK if you live in a very warm house and don't do much washing but with 2 kids, one who is being toilet trained it's a necessity. Mine is a condenser, no room in the kitchen so it's in the dining room but that's OK as it heats up the dining room when it's on so less heating. Life is so much better with a tumble dryer. Dry, decent smelling washing. Heaven. I love it. Can you tell?
I bought it 2nd Hand for £100 and on average it costs me £40 or so in electricity for the 6 months I use it. £40 is 2 pairs of jeans, one meal out maybe? It's a no brainer.

[OhGood]

I got one last winter, on balance love it more than I love my husband, did not massively impact on our electricity costs, stop at nothing to get one.

On the slightly more guradian side, it has chewed up some clothes. I have previously avoided one because it's a stupid and unnecessary device that is just bad environmental sense. So we have a meat-free day foodwise to compensate.

[HopeForTheBest]

I love mine and wouldn't want to be without it. It means I can get a load of laundry washed, dried and put away (often doesn't even need ironing when folded warm straight from the dryer) really, really fast: if it's not filthy stuff, then 45 min fine wash, then about an hour and 20mins in the dryer and it's done.

I almost don't even need more than 1 set of bedding because it can be washed, dried and put back on again before we got to bed in the evening!

Worth getting a good one which uses less electricity and as Littlemissexpecting says has a sensor which stops when the stuff is actually dry (rather than running on for the sake of it).

[secretscwirrels]

They do eat electricity.
You might consider buying more school clothes so you don't have the problem of quick wash and dry?
I do have a dryer but use it very little, often to finish off -cos I never iron. My utility is a bit like a chinese laundry however.
The washing generated by your two small Dcs is only going to increase by the way........