Heat pump tumble driers - any good?

[Celeriacacaca]

We're looking at replacing our vented drier and I'd never heard of heat pump driers before now. Does anyone have one and are they any good please? My current drier is a nightmare as it's too deep for the slot under the kitchen counter which means the venting hose is crushed behind it so it keeps turning itself off mid-cycle. My choice of replacement will have to be either be a shallower vented one or a heat pump one.

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MNHQ

We paid £500 for a top of the range Bosch Heat pump dryer, it lasted 10 days Bosch couldn't have been more unhelpful, thankfully AO.com refunded us and suppled a Beko Condenser that was half the price and to be honest dries the clothes better. A local repair man did tell me after the event that whilst heat pumps save money and have very long dryer times they don't last as long and are often unrepairable after couple of years

Thanks @Funf, I've read a few reviews that say they take longer to dry, which suggests more wear and tear on the parts.

Its all to do with fluff.
In a tumble dryer we have the fluff catcher, we clan every time we remember.
But some always gets through to the workings
On a condenser type dryer the workings can be removed and rinsed in the shower, problem solved, like this

In a heat pump dryer they cant so they dryer is fine but the heat pump heat exchanger gets clogged until drying times get too long and finally it wont dry and you need a new one.

I bought one second hand.
It does take longer, I’m guessing as it doesn’t get as hot (which was weird to begin with).
Really happy with it, the cost saving on the electric bill should be huge vs our old hotpoint that never dried either after the fire fix.
It also dries wool and delicates which I wouldn’t have risked in a normal one

Thanks @Evilpea. When you say longer, how much longer please?

To answer your question. Nope they aren’t. They take ages and don’t dry properly. I recently got rid of mine, during my ownership it broke down 3 times, clogged with fluff and at 1 point took an engineer two days to piece back together. I bought a Beko condenser, short cycles and good drying. The difference is unbelievable.

I have a beko one that's been fine. Used it for about a year. Yes it takes longer but costs less to run and is kinder to clothes ( and planet I think ?)

It’s difficult to say how much longer, maybe half hour on a big full load.
But the yearly cost saving is bonkers, something like £28 a year vs £200.

Thanks @EvilPea - that's an impressive saving. So, on balance, would you buy one again?

If you look on ao.com they have the exact yearly cost in the product descriptions (it obviously depends on your electricity supply, but it’s a good comparison).

Yes I would buy another, but Ive only had it 6 months (the dryers 3 years old), so haven’t had the issues others have (yet!?).

We have a Bosch 9kg self cleaning condenser heat pump tumble dryer and it’s been very reliable, although it takes longer to dry.

We have had it 2 years now, and it’s had heavy use as a family of 6 no problems.

We’ve got a Samsung one and it’s fantastic, dries things properly, doesn’t crease clothes, it’s quiet and cheap as chips to run. It does take longer than a traditional tumble dryer but I think it’s doing less damage to our clothes due to the lower temperatures.

Have had 2.
A beko one lasted a year or so but Hughes refunded us after an engineer visit. We then went for a £1300 Miele one which has been great so far. Low leccy bills too.

We have one and I can't wait to get rid of it. It takes forever to dry a load of washing. I think the record was 8 hours to dry school and work clothes. Its just not practical for us.

I love my, incredibly expensive, Miele heat pump. You have to get rid of the fluff and empty the water after every load but that’s hardly onerous. It takes about 1 h 40 min to do a 7 kg cotton load. If I used the eco setting it would take longer but I’ve not noticed any increase in my fuel bills. The clothes still look good.

Careful. I bought a "cheap" Mielie....nightmare...only rotates in one direction......as a result I have to stop it it and rearrange everything frequently (3x for a king sized duvet cover otherwise it gets so knotted). If we went away on holiday it would take me literally days to get washing done and dried. HATE IT WITH A PASSION.

Reviving this as I am looking for one. I want one that does reverse drying, doesn’t take hours and hours and has a good energy rating and guarantee.

We have a John Lewis one we got about 4y ago. Has been very reliable for a family, and when you do consecutive loads the drying time for the subsequent loads is quite short.

We have a Samsung, was about £600 on offer with 5yr guarantee.
It's brilliant - dries well, quiet, doesn't kill clothes and seems to cost virtually nothing to run. Highly recommended and I'd buy it again.
We always had vented dryers before (including one of the whirlpool/indesit range that set our utility room on fire, but that's another story).

@ISeeTheLight

We have a Samsung, was about £600 on offer with 5yr guarantee. It's brilliant - dries well, quiet, doesn't kill clothes and seems to cost virtually nothing to run. Highly recommended and I'd buy it again. We always had vented dryers before (including one of the whirlpool/indesit range that set our utility room on fire, but that's another story).

Do you mind sharing a link please? Just been looking at some Samsungs.

@Runningdownthathill it's this range - though ours is white and 9kg ao.com/product/dv80m50133x-samsung-heat-pump-tumble-dryer-silver-46353-126.aspx?&WT.z_PT=MDA&WT.z_AT=Heat%20Pump%20Tumble%20Dryer&WT.z_MT=Search&WT.z_MAT=Samsung&WT.z_FT=Free%20Standing&WT.z_PC=DV80M50133X_GH&WT.srch=1&WT.z_KW=DV80M50133X_GH&WT.z_DT=m&WT.z_RTM=PLA&ef_id=CjwKCAiAqJn9BRB0EiwAJ1SztdruP_H1wQ7IcK2IwQwAK664FjlfcJPp1DbZkrC3Jc2PnbZ9_soAhBoCPW0QAvD_BwE:G:s&s_kwcid=AL!8149!3!304780354273!!!g!300333542806!&gclsrc=aw.ds&&&WT.z_CN=MDA%20-%20Tumble%20Dryers%20-%20BT&WT.z_AG=MDA%20-%20Tumble%20Dryers%20-%20Samsung&utm_medium=shopping&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=mda+-+tumble+dryers+-+bt|mda+-+tumble+dryers+-+samsung&utm_term=brand|DV80M50133X_GH&utm_content=pla-300333542806&gclid=CjwKCAiAqJn9BRB0EiwAJ1SztdruP_H1wQ7IcK2IwQwAK664FjlfcJPp1DbZkrC3Jc2PnbZ9_soAhBoCPW0QAvD_BwE

Wow apologise for the massive link!

I have the one @ISeeTheLight has posted, its great, so much better than our vented Hotpoint that blew up! Not very noisy, dries well, easy to maintain and the 5 year warranty was a big selling point too.

A lot of the responses haven't been my experience at all. I got a which best buy. It was a beko (I know) and we have been so pleasantly surprised. Costs hardly anything to run. Which states something like £36 a year for an average family I have been looking at our monitor and did the sums and I think that's fairly accurate. We have had it 3 months so far and I wouldn't go back to a condenser unit. It is kinder to the clothes as it dries with lower heat, it takes a bit longer to dry but to me it's no biggie. I'll take my clothes lasting longer (old one would shrink everything) and low electricity bills over longer drying times anyday. Depends what is important to you.

I wonder how many people who say they don't dry are the people who put them in garages / sheds / unheated spaces? You can't do this with a heat pump driers, they can only operate within a particular temp range. Too cold and your clothes will never dry.

They are much gentler on you clothes although do take longer. But because they are quieter they're less intrusive than other driers. Definitely worth paying for one with counter rotation though.