Tumble dryers - what would you do?

[OrangeLane]

I'm lucky enough to have what is essentially a large cupboard part-way up my stairs. I use it as a laundry room - the washing machine and tumbler are in there, and lots of shelves above (we have very high ceilings).

Because it's a tumbler with a hose out the window, the window (tall and thin affair) has to be wedged open to allow this. We're a family of 6, so there's a lot of laundry and the tumbler is on quite a lot.

This is all fine when it's not cold outside. But when it's the colder half of the year, this 'room' ends up freezing and damp. There's no heat source in the room. It's a very old house and external walls are 40cm-thick stone. So it's a heat sink house.

I'd like to fix this problem, but it feels like I have two main options - which would you do, and have I missed any options?

1. Find a way to get the hose outside another way. E.g. drill a hole through the 40cm-thick stone wall, or get a bit of glass cut out from the window, or replace the window with a one that has a small opening bit and big non-opening bit. Any of these feel pretty expensive.
2. When the tumbler comes to the end of its life (it's pretty old), replace with a condenser one. But I hear these aren't anywhere near as good as the traditional hose ones.

Any strong views?

Thanks!

@OrangeLanejust be aware that heat pump dryers are genuinely heavy if you want to put it in a cupboard half way up the stairs. I know you already have a washing machine in there but it’s just something to think about

Thanks, I appreciate that. They're side-by-side, rather than stacked, so hopefully will be ok. But will check the weight when choosing one.

(Plus, despite the thick stone this house was built with causing a lot of issues in some areas, it does at least mean it's solidly built! #silverlining)

Yes, after learning in this post that the non heat pump tumble dryers will be banned after 2027 I read that article too. However, I never have any problem emptying my tank and I can use the water from the tank for the iron as it is limescale free.
Thank you for starting this post. As I said previously, I run my standard old condenser tumble dryer in a cold garage. I have decided to wait until this breaks down. When I get a replacement I will get a Hotpoint or Beko as they are advertised as running ( but maybe not efficiently) down to 0 degrees C. If my garage gets any colder then I will just have to run a fan heater in it first. This last option seems to go against eco ideas. I do live in one of the warmest parts of the UK and I don’t think the garage will go down below 0 very often.

Beko condenser first one went on and on this is my second no trouble at all, have the matching washer very pleased with both

We have a condenser tumble drier on top of our washing machine, separated by a pull-out shelf. When the washing machine was plumbed in, the plumber just left a second waste water pipe off the drain into which the tumble drier pipe dribbles. There is/was no sophisticated plumbing work required. They are easy enough to convert back, should you ever need to.

There might be some Black Thursday/Cyber Monday bargains next month.

Fit a piece of clear acrylic with a hole cut in it for the vent and seal the open areas with clear caulking tape.

As you are a heavy user the energy savings from a heat pump tumble dryer will be massive so you should do that. Definitely don't wait for the hose out of the window dryer to break down it must be costing you a fortune in heat loss and high running costs.

I've only ever had a heat pump tumble dryer, I've had it about three years. My mum has always had the ones like you have, with a pipe out of the window, and I'm amazed how good this is. Perfect for me as I can put it anywhere there's a plug nearby, and it doesn't give off wasted heat. Very cheap to run too, around 10p a cycle according to my smart meter. It's Miele, it wasn't cheap to buy but works really well.

I had 2 hours' free electricity yesterday, so I popped a load of washing in the drier rather than hanging it outside. The cotton heavy load was pretty dry within about 45 minutes (probably takes about 90 minutes on a cool dry). I was just wondering how long it would take in a heat pump version?

I suspect my drier will last for decades as we only tend to use it if something hasn't dried in time for DD or we have a week of rain forecast (also have a dehumidifier and u/floor heating in kitchen once the cold weather comes)

I'm inclined to agree.

Plus, it's just so fricking cold to try and go in there at this time of year! I shiver the whole time I'm in the room.

Just bought a heat pump one last week amd l love it already!

Heat pump condenser drier is the way forward, they work very well and produce way less extra heat than any other.

Also, did you know that putting a dry towel in with the load cuts the drying time way down?

I have a Miele T1 9k heat pump that's around 4 years old, and it's been great - we've been very happy with it. We had it plumbed in, so don't need to empty the water.

@BoredZelda I didn't know that. Interesting, I'll give it a try, although on the cottons normal dry setting, ours dries a load in just over an hour.

That’s an interesting tip! Meant to say as well that on the sensor programmes, my Beko says that cottons extra dry takes 3hrs 5 minutes, but it never takes that long and it adjusts the time remaining as it cycles through the programme