Talk to me about tumble dryers please

[Ilikecakes]

Head spinning with the choices available. I've always used a vented dryer and been happy enough, but need to buy a new one and it seems heat pump is the way to go, but I've read loads of complaints about the length of time it takes to try. We're a family of six, and I'm washing constantly, so can't afford the 8-9 hour drying cycles I've read about.

I was about to push the button and order a Hoover Dynamic heat pump one but a thread on here put me off and now I'm back to square one! Would be quite happy with another vented, but from what I've read, that would make me an earth murdering philistine.....

Top budget of around £500, ideally 10kg or more capacity and we could actually have vented, condenser or heat pump, completely open. Please help!

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This thread is quite old now so some of the suggestions may be out of date, but if you’re looking for tumble dryers, we’ve recently updated our best tumble dryer page with lots of great options rated by Mumsnet users, plus info on whether a heat pump or condenser dryer is best for your home. We hope you find it useful.
MNHQ

Bump. Apologies for dullness

Our heat pump one takes nowhere near 8-9 hours to dry. Maybe 2 at most so I'd look around at different heat pump ones, they are much more efficient so cost a lot less to run.
We have this one www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/household-appliances/laundry/tumble-dryers/aeg-absolutecare-t8dee945r-heat-pump-tumble-dryer-white-10158137-pdt.html
But it's not 10kg and it's quite a bit over your budget (but we only paid £440 for it in the Amazon prime day sale so maybe it's worth waiting for sales and getting a better one then?)

Wow that was some saving! Thanks for the tip but really can’t stretch to that amount just now...!

Yes it was an absolute bargain for £440. But definitely not worth £930 if I'm honest.
The slightly older version is a lot cheaper but even smaller capacity still. Hmmm I'm being no help at all am I...?

I have a Bosch series 4 heat pump that I'm very happy with. I always dry on low heat and when I kick it off it says a dry time of 2 hours but is sometimes shorter than that as it has a sensor which stops it when the clothes are dry. I can't remember how much it cost but think it was £4-500.

I haven't had vented or condenser to compare so can't offer any advice there.

We replaced our heat pump with a straight condenser dryer after the condenser in it completely clogged and it kept cutting out.

www.johnlewis.com/john-lewis-partners-jltdc08-condenser-tumble-dryer-8kg-load-b-energy-rating-white/p4809580

The condenser is much much faster with more control over heat settings and the heat exchanger can be removed for washing, while the one in the heat pump dryer was fixed.

I've had a vented and condenser. Wasn't ever fussed on the condenser and the vented cost an absolute bomb in electricity to run, although it was fast. Vented one was getting to the point it was dangerous, with the timer not working on it. So I've just replaced with a Candy heat pump dryer and I love it. It does take an extra hour or so compared to my old one but the difference is cost is huge. My vented one was costing around £1.50 a load whereas is say this costs around 30/40pence to run per load. It was £423 so more expensive but not the most expensive one you could buy. I don't regret my choice at all.

Don’t buy from currys. My friend I both did and regretted it. BBC watchdog have loads of co plains about them. You just can’t get hold of them if there is a problem. They don’t care once your product is delivered.

We replaced our old vented one with a new vented this year, cost £280. We don't have a smart meter bit it is reported to cost about 50p a load and it only takes about an hour, much better than our old one

Thank you all. I can definitely live with an hour or even two more than my current machine, especially if there’s a longer term saving to be made too. Hmmmmm......

Defo don't go for the hoover you were looking at. I remember reading the reviews for what I'm sure was a similar model and they weren't the greatest. I've had mine a few months now and love it. The sensor drying function is great.

We had a Candy heat pump one and it would take about 5 hours to dry a wash. It drove me mad. We replaced this summer with the Hoover Dynamic one and its amazing! It can dry a whole wash in just over an hour. It's incredible compared to the Candy. I haven't seen the other threads about the Hoover so I don't know what other people had issues with.

I had a terrible hoover heat pump and worse customer service. Just replaced it with a 10kg Blomberg condenser which was a Which Best Buy and it is fab. Dries so fast.

LTK21003W if you want to do a search.

I have a condenser Indesit, at this time of year it gets plenty of use (5-6 loads per week, sometimes more if toddler has accidents etc). Its very cheap to run, quiet and easy to maintain (I pull out and clean the condenser thingy one a month running it under the shower head and leave it to dry). Towels usually take a couple of hours to dry, clothes much less. A load of bedding (1 double 1 King 2 singles) takes the longest at about 3-4 hours but then it just needs airing over the bannister for an hour or two before I can put it away.

Ours cost less than £250 and we've had it 7 years now and no problems (touch wood)

Our electric bills dropped sharply when we replaced our old heat pump as it had become so inefficient.

We have a condenser and I love it. It isn't any slower at drying than our old vented one. I always do an extra spin cycle before tumble drying though, I've noticed that whatever dryer I have used that makes a significant difference.

Thanks again all

We have just bought a condenser as we have it inside with no where to put the vent. It has changed my laundry life! Dries completely in one cycle, no faffing or checking. I really recommend it! https://www.johnlewis.com/beko-dcb93166w-condenser-tumble-dryer-9kg-load-b-energy-rating-white/p3387402?sppc=1dxDSA-ELECTRICALS-PP39700045680842908&tmad=c&tmcampid=1&gclid=CjwKCAiAlNf-BRBBEiwA2osbxVyImrznxO4zj9Y8VrY4bXA-CjeGJUEh5vTpOinm1wAq0ZPidbACRRoC-gQAvDDBwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

We have a Bosch one. It takes 2-3 hours. It works really well. One disadvantage is the self cleaning condenser. Our old one eventually got furred up and you can't remove it to clean it so the machine was effectively dead. That was after about 7 years. We replaced it with a Hoover that broke during lockdown so we couldn't get it fixed. went back to the Bosch.

The Bosch one dries at a cool temp which means clothes you might not put in a hot drier are fine in there. I can tumble dry almost everything together and don't have to worry that DH will put a load on without sorting and roast my knitwear. The hoover one, although also cooler than a regular drier, was a bit hot and in the few months we had it some jumpers were killed :-(

I had a hoover heat pump tumble dryer and it was absolutely useless, it took hours to dry your washing. I recently changed to a condenser and the difference is amazing, yes it may be more expensive but the time-saving is worth it!

I think a lot of drying time is down to the washing machine spin speed. I used to have a 1200 Bosch washing machine and then when it died I got a 1400 AEG. I noticed a massive difference in drying time.

I have a 9kg Beko sensor condenser tumble dryer and love it. It takes just under an hour to dry. Cost under £300 within the last year.

I hAve just got a heat pump one as could not find an integrated condenser.

I hadn't read great reviews but tbh imnor noticing much difference from my condenser. I dont use it loads - mainly in winter so I decided the mixed reviews weren't a big deal. The one thing I have noticed if sometimes when you first open it you think clothes are still damp but actualy give them a minute and some fresh air and they feel dry! It wasn't expensive at all. Water dispenser is also much easier to empty and keep track of than my condenser as it sits in the door.

• I'm not - need to proof read before I press post!

We have a Beko heat pump dryer and I LOVE it. Seems to take a couple of hours to dry a load but my clothes are in much better condition. They don't shrink as much and feel dry rather than hot (i can't explain it). Best thing I've ever bought, I'm evangelical about it as sad as that sounds!!