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Original poster

Can I have a tumble dryer in the garage?

26 replies

LondonSuperTrooper · 19/06/2014 12:27

I have a very small kitchen but need a tumble dryer. I can't cope with the amount of washing that I do and having clothes airers all around the house.

I do not have the space in my kitchen but I do have a garage. Can I install the dryer there? I do have electricity but that is it! Or is this a totally non workable solution?

OP posts:
HauntedNoddyCar · 19/06/2014 12:46

It worked for me in our old house.

dottyaboutstripes · 19/06/2014 12:47

That's where mine is - no problemo!

BBQsAreSooooOverrated · 19/06/2014 13:06

Yep. That's where mine is. My garage has a vent thing for the hose to go outside.

trikken · 19/06/2014 13:09

Yep we did this in the house. Was fine.

Jojay · 19/06/2014 13:10

Yep, I don't see why not. Ours in in a brick outhouse. You can get condensor dryers if you can't work out how to vent it to an outside wall. The water collects in a little tank and you empty it as required.

Original poster
LondonSuperTrooper · 19/06/2014 13:12

Thanks for all of the replies. We do not have a vent. Can't I just put the pipe in a bucket and empty it?

I will google condenser dryers now......

OP posts:
trikken · 19/06/2014 13:15

I dont think the bucket thing would work. We have a condenser and its great. Much better than our vented one was.(probably just a better make though)

cariadmawr · 19/06/2014 13:15

Moved early this year that's where mine is all good except you get wet walking back and fore in the rain

MrsJohnDeere · 19/06/2014 13:19

Oh yes, should have said, ours was/is a condenser one (Siemens).

Spickle · 19/06/2014 13:31

Mine is in the garage and not vented. I open the side door and up-and-over door so that the steam can escape. Seems to work just fine.

PigletJohn · 19/06/2014 13:40

a small builder or heavy-duty handyman can easily make a hole in a brick or block wall.

Tool hire shops have a core drill that cuts a round hole of the right size.

Otherwise you will have vast amounts of steam which will cause damp, mould and rust.

Original poster
LondonSuperTrooper · 19/06/2014 13:41

OK that's great! I guess I can leave the garage door a bit so that the steam can escape.

This means that I can now shop for a tumble dryer :)

Thanks for all of your replies.

OP posts:
MummytoMog · 19/06/2014 14:17

We had a condenser in the garage and it was fine - you'd want to poke the hose outside for a vented, but I believe they are more efficient to run. I got very bored of emptying our condenser dryer and swapped it in for a vented. Also meant we could stack it on our washer, so win/win.

Xcountry · 19/06/2014 14:25

its fine but if you don't have a condenser dryer you have to find somewhere to poke out the worm bit.

Original poster
LondonSuperTrooper · 19/06/2014 14:42

Got it, thanks for the tips Thanks

OP posts:
burnishedsilver · 19/06/2014 15:08

It depends on the drier. Mine is a whirlpool condenser and it says in the booklet not to put in in the garage or shed... Something to do with the air temp.

Pinkfizzy · 19/06/2014 19:00

We've had a vented tumble drier in the garage for more than 15 years. It is a pain in the neck/back to walk back & forth with wet baskets of washing but clearly doable. However... despite proper venting, the damp has pervaded the concrete floor & fabric of the building to the extent that we are about to pull it down & rebuild as it reeks of damp & the concrete has gone black. Whether the two are related I cannot 100% say, but the tumble drier is not going back when it's rebuilt!

RuddyDuck · 19/06/2014 19:53

Mummytomog,why do you think you can't stack a condenser dryer? our condesnsor dryer sits on top of our washing machine.

Op, we used to have a vented tumble dryer in a garage. We didn't have it against an outside wall for complicated reasons, but had a sealed box thing that the pipe went into, which collected the steam/water. The garage never got noticeably steamy or damp, but we only had that arrangement for a little while so don't know if it would have worked longterm.

I think we bought the sealed box thingy from Lakeland. However, if you are buying a td new, I would definitely urge you to buy a condensor dryer. Then you won't have to worry about steam etc.

MummytoMog · 19/06/2014 22:11

Mostly because all the instructions told me not to. But also because ours was prone to a certain amount of dribbling at the front, which was ok in the garage and would not have been ok stacked on our very expensive washing machine. Also, vented are supposed to be cheaper to run and we were building the utility room from scratch, so easy enough to build a vent into the wall. I know you can plumb some of them in so you don't always have to empty them, but ours was not one of those! And I was so sick of emptying it...

burnishedsilver · 19/06/2014 22:52

Ours is plumbed with the washing machine so it doesn't need to be emptied. Also, it came with the option of a stacking tray. I think there's a lot of varience between machines. You can now get an A+ rated condenser but I believe they have a ridiculously long drying time.

MummytoMog · 19/06/2014 23:13

Our new dryer was my Christmas present from the in laws. It is Miele, sensor drying and is bloody amazing. It's so much quicker than our old condenser. When combined with our 10kg washing machine, laundry is basically five minutes work now :) useful, as we will be using cloth nappies again when DC3 rocks up in three months.

CalamitouslyWrong · 19/06/2014 23:23

We've got a utility area at the back of our garage, where both the washing machine and the (condenser) drier live. It's great. No problems with condensation. You can get into our garage from the hall though, so we don't have to trek outside with the washing.

Poshsausage · 19/06/2014 23:42

Mine is in garage too I just leave the door open

MillyMollyMama · 19/06/2014 23:57

I have a Miele dryer and it sits in its own solid cupboard housing with the washing machine below. It empties into the drain with the washing machine. Previously I had a condenser dryer. I would never now buy one that needs venting. Do they still exist? Of course it can go in the garage.

BarbaraWoodlouse · 20/06/2014 00:02

We had a condenser drier in an old single brick garage. Worked fine but I always assumed that it was technically negating the warranty as most electrical goods say not to have them in outbuildings etc (look at the small print for most freezers for example).