My first ever tumble dryer is arriving tomorrow!

[BertieBotts]

I'm excited even though that's a bit sad

What do I need to know? What can/can't go in them generally? (I know I can check the labels of individual things, but some of them will be faded/cut out).

Yay !

Costa a lot to use

But I who cares

No more radiators covered in clothes

No more putting on cold socks in the winter

No more not having dry clothes to wear in time

Yay yay yay !

I love(d) using mine, but had no idea (didn't really think) about how much power they used until I started analysing our energy use.

Mine isn't a heat pump one, and churns through 2.8kw every hour. (So that's 78p per hour based on my new fixed rate of 27p per unit)... do for 80p an hour I'm now hanging it out to dry (I can be very tight!) ... But I can't find how much power a heat pump one uses? They say low energy, but takes longer? I wonder how much electricity they actually do use though?
1kw per hour? (27p?)
2kw per hour? (54p?)
@BertieBotts - can you offer any insight? ... congratulations on your new toy

You don't look at the cost per hour as this will vary based on what the machine is doing at the time. You want to look at the total cost of one standard cycle start to finish (probably best to try and compare based on the cycle you'd most often use).

If you have a smart meter you could measure one cycle and base it off that, or if you have the manual it might say in there, for example mine uses (according to the book, have not tested yet, it's only just arrived) for a standard eco/cotton 7kg cycle 1.17 KWh. I don't know if listing this in the manual is just for newer machines. I'm in Germany and we pay approximately 30 cents per KWh so will cost about 35 cents (plus whatever proportion of the standing charge).

The older heat pump/energy class B ones (under the older rating system that goes up to A+++) were using about 2.75 KWh per cycle when I was researching them, so would cost me about 82.5 cents to run a cycle. It looks from a quick google that "the average" tumble dryer costs 4.5 KWh to run but I don't know if that is a condenser without heat pump or a vented one or how old it is - the vented ones are the most inefficient. 4.5 KWh would cost me about €1,35 which is about 4x as much really.

They do take longer than condenser dryers only, but I don't mind about that because it will still be much quicker than line drying, and speed is not my goal so much as reducing the time spent arranging things on and off the line, and reducing residual moisture in the home. It will be a huge bonus if I can fit in more loads in a day but even combining one TD load and one line dried load will be 2 in a day and I can currently dry a max of 2 lines' worth without running into issues.

If you are looking at new models the important things to check for are heat pump, moisture sensors and then just check the energy rating/energy use per load. Energy ratings are in the process of changing to a newer system which can be a bit confusing.

There is a great channel Lord's Electrical on Youtube with a friendly chap who explains all the power usage etc which I found really helpful.

My condenser tumble dryer costs about 50p an hour. I normally wash all of clothes Friday and Saturday and dry Saturday. My electricity for that day is normally around £4 and the washing machine / tumble dryer are on fairly constantly compared to just under £2 on a normal day. Overall alot cheaper than going to a launderette and the tumble dryer doubles up as heating as we live in a flat and everywhere is toasty whilst it's on.

I tumble dry everything apart from socks and nothing has been damaged yet. If it's something that shouldn't be tumble dried I just put it on the lowest heat.

I’m the opposite and rarely tumble dry anything apart from socks. Can I ask why you don’t TD yours?

I hope you are now in a drying euphoria @BertieBotts

@BertieBotts

Anyone who thinks I shouldn't use it is welcome to come over and run my washing for three kids up and down four flights of stairs every day to prevent my house getting mouldy 👍 and catch up with 4-5 loads when I forget for a few days due to my ADHD.

I've done a lot (13.5 years) of "it's more eco, we don't need it" but I think it will exponentially improve my mental health, and they aren't actually the power guzzlers they used to be, as the newer ones re-use the waste hot air to dry the clothes more quickly. I worked it out and it should cost about 40p a load to run. And I got one with a ten year warranty so hopefully it won't need replacing after a short time.

Can you put t-shirts with plasticky prints in them? I think that's what I'm most unsure about. DH and DS2 have loads of these and I don't want to ruin them. DH is a fan of ripping labels out too.

I've found even if turned inside out they have a tenancy to go crackley in the dryer so I probably would, if possible, not tumble dry stuff with those prints on.

DDs printed tshirts don't go in the tumble dryer. When I used to chuck them in they've ended up cracked and peely. I shake them and hang them on a hanger near the dryer to benefit from the warm air or hang them off the bathroom towel rail

@Trolleedollee

I’m amazed on here how many people don’t have one. They’re a game changer, I’ve always had one. I dry everything apart from my shirts, dresses and skirts and wool. I dry all the kids stuff apart from sweatshirt material things

I got rid of mine. i think I had only used it twice and needed the space for a freezer. Everything dries on a washing line most of the year.

It does mean that I try not to wear heavy sweatsshirts in November to January unless I can put up with them sitting in the washbasket for weeks

@FourChimneys

Try not to use it unless you really have to.

Bad for your clothes.
Bad for your electricity bill.
Bad for the environment.

Sorry!

This.