Best type of clothes drier to buy?

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Rufus

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Does anyone know what the best type of clothes drier to buy is? I have a very old one that vents to the outside but its almost shot and it's probably eating electricity.
I have used the combo washing machine/driers before but I always found that it heated up the clothes very hot and caused running colours etc. and it never got the clothes as dry either, would this be the same as the "condenser driers" available at the moment?
 
Am considering buying one of those "american style" driers from Harvey Norman. Expensive but I was hoping it would last longer than the last piece of s*** I bought from Zanussi - as far as I know it doesn't need venting. If anyone has any better suggestions I would love to hear too!!
 
If you have a utility room with a window then an indoor clothes line could provide a solution, ours handles about 2 full washes and dries the clothes in 2-3 days.
 
I have a Hotpoint Aquarius condenser dryer with reverse action and I am very happy with it. Have had it for about five years now and use it all the time as I lost my clothes line to a home extension and a playful young labrador dog.
 
Electric driers are very hard on electricity, have you considered gas?
 
If going for Gas then get a Speed Queen...it is the larger American style... cost us about £1k a few years back..pricy (I know but trouble free)....can take hugh loads & very effective. Had a White Knight in the past but always gave trouble & subsequently fecked it out.
 
I have had experience of both condenser and vented dryers.

The condenser dryer took longer to dry clothes, and left the air damp and musty. I found bread, etc. seemed to 'go off' quicker. This dryer was in the kitchen.

I currently have a vented dryer in a utility area. I find it drys clothes quicker and therefore isn't on for 1.5 hours like the condenser. All the moisture is sent out the window.

I would choose a vented one every time!
 
Is it a difficult / messy / expensive job to get a vent piped in to your utility? I have an old condenser dryer and am in the market for a new one but would rather a vented one if it wasn't a major job.
 
At a guess, you could probably get it done for €100/€150 or so if you're within a few metres of an external wall. It's not rocket science... :)

I'd say you'll recoup the money very quickly in (a) cheaper drier price initially (b) shorter drying times/less electricity consumed, and (c) longer appliance life.

When we were getting our house built, years ago, I got one of the young lads on site to bore two 5" holes through our utility and adjoining outer storeroom walls (about 1.5m apart) and wedge a length of 4.5" piping through both. I attached the vent outlet to the inside and fixed a flap vent outside (about £5 material cost) and the cheapo vented drier we first bought lasted ten years, despite serious over-use. Once or twice a year I'd remove the outer vent cover and remove the built-up fluff...
 
Thanks for all your comments.
It sounds like a vented option will be cheaper to run and give better results from what you have all said.
I think I'll go the route of knocking out a hole in the utility room for the vent (an electric kango and some of that foam sealant, and a external discharge louvre will probably do the job!). The room is not plumbed anyway so a wast would be needed for the condenser dryer anyway if I went that route.
 
Rufus said:
Thanks for all your comments.
It sounds like a vented option will be cheaper to run and give better results from what you have all said.
I think I'll go the route of knocking out a hole in the utility room for the vent (an electric kango and some of that foam sealant, and a external discharge louvre will probably do the job!). The room is not plumbed anyway so a wast would be needed for the condenser dryer anyway if I went that route.
Click to expand...

You don't need a waste outlet for a condenser dryer....the water collects in tray that you just empty down the drain/sink.
 
I actually have a vent close by for an extrator fan that I don't really use. Is it possible to buy a longer length of the silver coil and use that for a vented dryer??
 
Yep. But venting efficiency will be affected by the total distance involved, and you do need a bit of insulation and a decent 'louvred' vent on the outside (thanks, Rufus, that's the word I was looking for!) — otherwise you might suffer from outdoor winds blowing the draught back in the wrong direction. It took me a while to get around this problem in relation to an extractor hob in the kitchen, a good 15m from the outer wall...

Tbh, I think the only real justification for a condenser drier is where you're in an apartment, or some other situation that rules out boring an outlet hole.
 
The American style dryers are brilliant but very expensive compared to the ordinary dryer.. In addition, you cannot just plug them in as they need a seperate fuse, so you have to factor in an electrician as well..

Used an American dryer last year in America. The whole wash, after being spun in a washing machine took 40 mins to get bone dry. On the minus side, the American washing machines are useless. They only heat the water up to luke warm and the cycle only lasts twenty minutes. More of a rinse than a wash.


Murt
 
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