Traditional Dryers vs 'HeatPump / Condenser' Dryers

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ZollyMonsta

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#315217 23-Jun-2024 21:09

Hullo. Older fella starting again with furnishing a house.

I've always had traditional dryers requiring venting.

Does anyone have any recommendations or feedback on the new 'Washer/Dryer' all in one units? As I am needing to buy a washing machine and I'm wondering if I should venture into buying one of these units.

I hear stories that the drying in them takes hours, then I hear from others they are great. 🤪

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lxsw20

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#3252267 23-Jun-2024 21:15

The one we had in the UK was awful. All it really did was make clothes hot and wet.

Volt

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#3252274 23-Jun-2024 21:54

I don't have a combo washer/dryer, but I do have an F&P heatpump dryer and love it. It seems to use less power than the matching washing machine.
Drying a load of towels takes about 1hr20 to 1hr30 to dry (never damp), clothes usually in less time.

Link to model

johno1234

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#3252297 24-Jun-2024 07:27

The vented F&P dryer is mechanically the same design for decades. It is simple cheap reliable and will last for years. However it makes your clothes quite hot, uses a bit of power and most of all requires venting.

Heatpump driers largely the opposite. No venting. Don’t bake your clothes. Low power consumption. Expensive. Complex. Nice.

The condenser dryers are in between. They use water as part of the process ironically. No venting. Middle complexity and cost. They do take longer to dry.

The benefit of the combo is one process. Your clothes go in dirty and come out dry. A long time later as they are condenser dryers. Take up half the space. They also don’t come in large capacity models.

If you don’t have kids in the house and go to work I’d get a combo. Not worried about capacity. Not worried about time. Load it in the morning. When you get home it’s washed and dried.

Got a lot to dry, on a budget and have a vent, get a vented dryer.

Can afford the best, get a heatpump dryer.

rp1790

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#3252303 24-Jun-2024 07:51

I have ahd a Samsung washer/dryer for about 8 years and it's pretty average at drying. I recently bought a Haier heatpump dryer and while it's better on the clothes it does take a long (long) time to dry. I actually would buy a conventional dryer if I had a chance to do it again.

My partner has just bought an apartment with a Bosch washer/dryer, can't say what model and it has the vent that just drains into the sink, like a condenser dryer. The dryer part actually works rather well and I'm quite impressed with it.

DjShadow

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#3252305 24-Jun-2024 07:57

I've got a Bosch Heat Pump Dryer, does a really good job with drying as long as you set the right cycle on it. Barely noticeable on the Power Bill also

johno1234

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#3252306 24-Jun-2024 07:57

Taking your laundry to your partner’s apartment is a sound decision then 😹

Gurezaemon

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#3252312 24-Jun-2024 08:22

If nothing else, the vented ones are simple and there seems to be very little that can go wrong.

I'm still using a F&P one that my mum bought to dry my cloth nappies back in the late 1960s. It just keeps going.

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alasta

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#3252323 24-Jun-2024 09:14

I have a Panasonic combo machine and it both washes and dries very effectively. My main complaint is that it has no lint filter, so it needs to be regularly wiped down as lint accumulates around the inner door and seal areas.

The main drawback of a combo machine is that their drying capacity is typically much lower than their washing capacity, hence the need to either limit your washing load size or alternatively do your drying in two batches.

I would recommend seperate machines if you have sufficient space but in my case the combo machine was the right call as I live alone in a small apartment.

johno1234

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#3252324 24-Jun-2024 09:19

Gurezaemon:

If nothing else, the vented ones are simple and there seems to be very little that can go wrong.

I'm still using a F&P one that my mum bought to dry my cloth nappies back in the late 1960s. It just keeps going.

We finally gave ours away to a kid's flat. Into its third decade. I think I have replaced the starter capacitor and drum bearing on that and some other ones.

tweake

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#3252394 24-Jun-2024 11:47

first thing is to get a decent washing machine with a good spin cycle. clothes should come out fairly dry, not wet. a dryer is a bad choice for drying wet clothes.

the problem with vented dryers is your blowing your nice warm house air to the outside and sucking in cold/damp air from outside into the house, that you then pay to heat up. so your paying twice, once for the house heating to heat the cold air, then the dryer to heat it up more, then you throw it away. they are also a bad thing for good air tight homes. there is also lint issues for the ducts and fire risk.

i'm a little rusty on it but condenser dryers depend on what the house interior climate is like. many nz homes are not good, so they can work poorly. this is where heat pump dryers are a lot better. also the residual heat from the heat pump helps heat the house, win-win.

Jase2985

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#3252584 24-Jun-2024 15:52

For us, we had to weigh up the difference in cost between a vented dryer and a heat pump dryer and how much energy it would save ve the extra cost. Say it was $600 more, that's an awfully long time if your only using it in winter, which is what we do. We just couldn't justify it, especially with solar. We just got one with a time so we could shift the drying to cheap nighttime power.

itxtme

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#3252850 24-Jun-2024 23:05

Jase2985:

For us, we had to weigh up the difference in cost between a vented dryer and a heat pump dryer and how much energy it would save ve the extra cost. Say it was $600 more, that's an awfully long time if your only using it in winter, which is what we do. We just couldn't justify it, especially with solar. We just got one with a time so we could shift the drying to cheap nighttime power.

I would agree with Jase2985, if you dont think you will use it that much then the cost benefit may not be there. We have an F&P heatpump dryer and I think it is good at not ruining your clothes and not making a mess in the laundry due to humidity. Ours drains straight into the waste. With our we always use the Timed option, not the smart cycles (they are rubbish). It is slower. 1/5 hours for a load, 2 if its heavy wet items like towels. We have two kids under 5 so ours gets a lot of use.

As would be over 4 to 5 year old going strong.

lchiu7

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#3253576 26-Jun-2024 18:53

I bought a heat pump drier from Midea about a year ago for $900. It replaced a F&P drier I had purchased in 1986! It so good not having condensation everywhere in the laundry and while the drier takes longer to dry, it only uses 900W of electricity and treats the clothes gently. For example I recently washed a pair of jeans which I would normally line dry as per the laundry instructions. But the weather did not cooperate so I put them in the drier using the jeans setting and after about 2 hours they came out dry and still quite soft. Highly recommended.