Condenser Dryer, any recommendations?

Have to get a condenser dryer as there is no window or vent in the utility room. Its the only option.

What do I need to look for?

Can anyone recommend a good one?

We got a Zanussi about 4 years ago. Easy to use, fairly quiet, no noticeable ESB increases since and zero problems.

I'll let you know the exact model this evening.

There are plenty of other posts on this topic (e.g. click here ).

Anyway, from reading all these posts, I decided to buy a Zanussi ZDC67550W last month. Got it in DID Electrical. €10 more than Harvey Norman, but the delivery charge difference made it €10 less. Can't remember the exact price, but it was around €400. Keep away from Power City for those things, as they are more expensive for some reason.

Just one thing... if you don't have a vent/fan in the room, you may have to leave the door open or get a dehumidifier, as there can be quite a bit of moisture/condensation and heat generated.

Main decision factors which swung it for me were:
- capacity (7kg)
- energy rating (B)
- automatic sensor (switches off when clothes dry)

So far so good. Seems to be relatively quiet. One drawback (which applies to most of them) is that it takes a very long time to dry clothes. Models in the States apparently take a fraction of the time for drying, but they are much larger for shared use in apartment blocks, and I'm not sure if they are available here at a reasonable price.

we have the hoover HNC160-80, problem free for past 2 years.
If you are shopping around, its well worth asking your preferred store if they will price match, we used DID when buying this (along with 4 other appliances) and they priced match best price on all of them!

We bought a cheap BEKO 5/6 years ago. Moved 4 times, is being used about 6 hrs every week and has never given us any trouble.Was a bit wary about buying a B brand, but would absolutely recommend.

there is no window or vent in the utility room

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Does the utility room have an extenal wall? If it does, why not drill a hole in the wall and use a vented dryer?

rory said:

Does the utility room have an extenal wall? If it does, why not drill a hole in the wall and use a vented dryer?

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Good advice. We had both (not at the same time) There is condensation from the condenser, far better to drill the hole and expel the moisture, if possible.

Whatever make you get - buy one that has an automatic sensor to turn it off when the clothes are as dry as you want them. We have a Bosch one - it has been fine for the past 2 years. Remember to clean out all the fluff regularly too!

Yes the automatic sensor thing is definitely worth looking out for.

I can second the Bosch recommendation. They make good solid appliances generally and my parents had a Bosch condenser for 4 years without any issues.

I only got one 4 months ago but it's good as gold so far. It has lots of different cycles and beeps when it is finished (but you can turn that off). It will keep rotating the clothes a bit every so often if you don't turn it off when it is finished to keep them nice. It also has a countdown timer on it showing approx how long is left, but because of the automatic sensor feature, this can overstate the time. If I want stuff totally dry, the best cycle is supposed to take just under 2 hours, but unless you have a full load in it is a lot quicker - a bit over an hour at a guess.

fizzy said:

If I want stuff totally dry, the best cycle is supposed to take just under 2 hours

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Is that 2 hours to dry an average load from a washing machine? Seems absolutely mad and would certainly run up the electricity bill. Most loads that I would use in mine would be 1 hr max.

We have an Electrolux B rated condensor with a sensor also. When you put it on the cotton cycle the timer says it will take 2hrs but this drops rapidly and it generally is finished in around 1hr.

Caveat said:

We got a Zanussi about 4 years ago. Easy to use, fairly quiet, no noticeable ESB increases since and zero problems.

I'll let you know the exact model this evening.

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That model BTW was Zanussi TC 7102 W.

I suppose it may have been updated by now. It can take up to 6Kg and has a low temp. economy option too.

I brought a zanussi recently for my new house cant remember the model but works fine pretty good make reccommended to me by some friends.

What Ever you do, please do not purchase an Indesit Condenser Dryer,
We bought one less than 2 years ago for 280 Euro. It has broken down 3 times since then.
What a dissapointing machine,
From talking to friends at work, it seems to be the same for all their household products... be warned!

On of the repair guys says"if you have an indesit you are in the shi*"

Would certalinly agree about Indesit products. We bought a washing machine - constantly broke down - cost us a fortune in repairs. Never again an Indesit product.