Beko Dryer
@ Ronhic
I am shocked that the prices are so high for you, unless your energy prices are very high it would take a long time to recover the additional cost over a conventional drier. I recall looking (more like browsing really) at this type of machine several years ago and at the time John Lewis were offering their own branded machine (Electrolux/Janussi manufacture I think) but even then it was only about £500. From my research we have a reasonable selection at various price points although this Beko is by far the cheapest, the next I could find being John Lewis at £499 (7KG) AND £599 (8KG) - both apparently Electrolux. Interestingly John Lewis only offer heat pump driers under their own brand. There were also offering a Beko (different, possibly older model) at £419.
@ Seamus
To be honest I have not got as far as finding out, I will have a look when I get home at the options available under manually setting the time.
@ bajaespuma
I am pleased you found my findings of interest, I am not entirely sure how much of a market such a drier would find in the US given that gas driers seem to be so widely used in the US, where they are pretty rare here (with few models on sale here). Are even conventional (ie non-heat pump driers) condensor driers widely available in the US?
From all I have read here I suspect the main market for such a drier might be in apartments or locations where venting arrangements or where a 230V drier power supply is not readily available as the power consumption seems to be much lower - your electrical vented driers appear to have a much higher electrical loading than ours which generally have a max loading of 3000 watts, heat pump driers are considerably lower than this.
@ Washer111
As I stated earlier up the thread one load in this drier is almost two loads (excepting the towels) from my washing machine so, in my case at least, the converse to what you say was true. Anyhow I am not someone who waits, ready to pounce, as soon as the drier is finished, once loaded I am happy to leave it to get on with the job and attend to it when finished. And if I use it overnight with the benefit of the "delay" setting then it is even less of an issue, I am also quite happy with my washer taking almost 3.75 hours to do a wash if I select the soak option at the start of cycle. It is all about how you organise your life to deal with the chores.
I am pleased with what I percieve as improved performance over my old drier with lower running costs - its a win/win situation for me.