Do condenser dryers really get clothes dry?

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supersuds

supersuds

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Due to circumstances beyond my control, I'm in the market for an unvented dryer. I've never known anybody who had one, so I've been reading some reviews and some people complain that clothes never really get dry, while others indicate it isn't a problem.

Any thoughts from users? I don't mind shirts and trousers coming out damp, but I don't want to put towels away unless they're REALLY dry, for obvious reasons.

BTW, the dryer I'm thinking of is a Bosch like the one at the link. A combo like a Duomatic would be even better, but I doubt if any daily drivers are out there!

http://www.testfreaks.com/dryers/bosch-wte86300us/
 
condensor dryers

my splendide combomatic 6100 will get the clothes dry-just
takes a while,about 2 hrs for a load that includes a couple
pairs of jeans or some towels.
this machine works by trickling cold water along the inside
surface of the S.S.outer tub while the drain pump cycles.
I do not remember how many watts the air heater is,but
this little combo runs on 115 v
 
AIR COOLED CONDENSER DRYERS

They do work but they are slower and use at least 25% more electricity than vented electric dryers. They are also much more complex and trouble prone with out even considering the fact they are made by Bosch, one of my very least favorite dryers in terms of durably and performance. I don't think there are any heat-pump dryers available in the US yet? but if you really have to have a no vent dryer this would be the way to go in terms of efficiency and speed, these will even give gas dryers a real run for the money when they are widely available.
 
It's a compromise, I guess. I just don't care for the option of using a regular dryer and having lint everywhere. The only other condenser dryers that I can see being readily available are LG, which a lot of people here seem to disfavor, and Miele -- really out of my price range.

I do live in an area with low electric rates, at least.
 
Hi i can only talk about Miele and yes it will dry the load you can set it for how dry you like, If I could i would always go for a vented dryer, its so much quicker. but its not much more to run due the the hot air recirulating in a condenser dryer. Mines 6 years old and it been OK . just not the best I have ever had
 
I have an AEG condensing dryer, and even though not as quick or quiet as a vented dryer - it still dries laundry very well and doesn't leave laundry noticably stiffer than mum's vented dryer. I'd love to be able to vent a dryer, but isn't a possibility here - and the added bonus is that you can be super-stingy and use the condensed drying water for ironing.

Jon
 
Most of Germany uses condenser dryers - they work very well. I even find them to dry more evenly because I can easily mix different fabrics without the thicker items over-drying, which always happened in the SpeedQueen dryers I used.
 
I would hate that! Not only does it take LONGER to dry, but it costs more money to dry......But I guess if it's an *only option* then I would have to do it.
 
Condenser Dryers and energy efficiency

It was my belief that modern condenser dryers are infact more efficient than vented models and only take marginally longer to dry.

Not owned one personally but have always gotten on with them reallly well when i have used them.

The heat being put back into the room is a real bonus in our climate.

Matt
 
Hi Suds,

They do dry, but I've given up using my Miele Condensor dryer as a condensor dryer (I've removed the condensor and access door), as in summer here with Temps of 85 to 90F inside the garage and 80% humidity, it could take 3 plus hours to dry a full load spun at 1800Rpm.

If your laundry space is airconditioned, it'll work fine. You just need to have a room air temp differential from the temp inside the dryer for it to work properly. Unfortunately I'm in the sub tropics and it just gets too hot in summer when it's wet and damp. In Winter it works fine for the most part.

Cheers

Nathan
 
My Miele T420C (at that time a BOL condenser dryer) does a very good job. Yes, it is a bit slower than a vented dryer but it does a much better job than the vented Zanker I had before this one. My Miele is around 13 years old now and it still works flawlessly. I have cleaned out the condensor now and then but it doesn't seem to collect much dust.

The advantage over a quality condenser dryer is that they are better sealed than the ones from cheaper brands. So no humidity leaks out of the dryer with my Miele. A friend of mine

I called a friend of mine who has a Bosch Softstar, also a condenser dryer, about the same age as mine. That machine has gotten a lot of use because he refused to line dry anything for many years. It's still working great and he is still very happy with it.
 
to condense

I've recently switched to a Condensor dryer (AEG) and its much better than other vented dryers i've had. I think they do vary alot though in how good they are. My Hoover condensor dryer of about 2002 was hopeless at drying quickly and steamed the windows up in my kitchen. The AEG dries quickly and does not steam up any windows.
 
Thnaks for all the replies!

Just a few specific responses, but I appreciate all the comments. :)

Jon, saving money by using the condensed water for ironing is possibly THE stingiest idea ever. (I love it!)

Nathan, the summer heat consideration is something I hadn't thought of. It can get fairly hot and steamy here. Mine would have to be in an un-air conditioned garage (that is unless I opened a connecting door to the kitchen). I guess the air conditioning unit is then drying the clothes, indirectly!

Louis, glad to hear from someone with specific experience with a Bosch. Though I'm sure John Lefever knows what he's talking about.

Hmm. Decisions, decisions.
 
Why would you use a dryer in the summer?

That's not essential and wasteful and as many have already pointed out it takes longer for the machine to do its job if it's a condenser model.
 
Hi Gabriele,

Where I am, the wet humid time of the year is November through to February, which is summer. I either end up with washing hanging all over the garage on the internal line, or I put it in the dryer.

The other 8 months of the year are usually dryish and I hang everything outside. Having said that, we've had rain almost every weekend for the last 6 weeks, so everything has already been going through the dryer.

In winter clothes dry on the line in the garage in up to 12 hours. In summer when its humid, it can take 24 - 36 hours.

The southern states of Australia have Hot dry summers, we're just a little too far north for that.

Nathan
 
So Nathan, I' never complain again about my wet climate

Gabriele we have to remember it and stop complaining about the thick fog in winter and the humidity in summer : somenone else on the other side of the world has a summer climate far worse than ours in the Padan Plain :)

in case I'll fly there in Oz, for sure I won't arrive in december, i'd rather go in Iceland :)
 
Jon, saving money by using the condensed water for ironing is possibly THE stingiest idea ever. (I love it!)

No, it isn't. Some years ago, a woman on TV - it was about how to save money - suggested to recycle the fluff from the lint filter as cotton pads from cleansing ones face etc.!!!
 
DRYER VENTING

US dryers and others with powerful blowers will work quite well with up to 20 or 30 feet of flexible vent hose draped out a door or window as a temporary vent. The trick is moving the vent hose between uses which keeps lint from building up inside, plus you wouldn't have a restrictive vent hood on the end of the hose. I have customers who have done this for years with no problems, when laundry day is over they roll it back up and stash it in a corner. With a long vent hose just avoid the really tight bends which are what really restrict air flow the most.
 
The southern states of Australia have Hot dry summers, we&#3

...Yep, we do...

Sheets spun at 1200rpm will dry in just on an hour when hung in the shade on a 30c day here if there is a very slight breeze....
 
Terrible weather!

Hahha :) I understand that but I also live in a terrible weather area!
Bologna is known for being wet and humid all the time but as I dry indoors with heating constantly set at 25°C it's not a problem for me, towels are dry in 8 hours spun at 800 rpm... (don't talk about energy wasting... I know it but as the heating is shared I can't do anything about it).
The problem is down in the south where my parents live (in Salento)! We have some 200 days a year of 100% humidity and even when the air temperature is 40°C clothes don't dry unless they're in the sun because we're at dew point for most of the day!

Anyway, a condenser dryer is as valid as vented one and at least as energy efficient as the latter, given you get a "B" or "A" class model that scores better than any "C" class vented dryer (all the current vented dryers are in "C" class for energy.
Do they sell Blomberg down in OZ? They made "cheap" heat pump dryers and they sell at only 750€ compared to the 1200 for the other vendors.
 
Do they sell Blomberg down in OZ?

Unfortunately not.

I had a Blomberg washer in the UK (1301 fuzzy digitronic) from 2001 to 2004...loved it and very nearly brought it back to Oz with us.....

We do get some aspects of Blomberg though given they are now owned by Arcelik whose main brand is BEKO where the Blomberg technology has spread through the range...

BEKO machines are sold here as Fisher and Paykel....
 
WATER BUCKET VENT KITS

These do not work and only make the humidify problem worst from an unvented dryer. Further these vent buckets are not recommended by any appliance manufacturer for there dryers and I drought these would pass many building codes world wide. Its much better to build a vent box that uses at least a 20" by 20" high quality pleated filter on one side. This type of vent can be used on any vented dryer in a large well ventilated area Gas or electric. Remember gas dryers only produce a fraction of the pollutants that a gas oven or cook-tops do to say nothing of using candles or smoking in your house.
 
LOL Agreed John to so many of your points.

A gas oven has a burner of 12,000 to about 18,000 BTU/h. Stove-top burners run in approximately the same range of heat outputs. A gas dryer (full-sized) typically has a 22,000 BTU/h burner. If both run for the same amount of time a dryer is probably slightly worse than an oven in terms of pollutants such as carbon-dioxide, carbon-monoxide, sulfuric -oxides and nitrous-oxides just based on the heat output alone!

And even the combustion process itself of natural gas (methane, CH4) generates water vapor which may lead to mold and mildew, without even drying clothes!

CH4 + (2)O2 => Co2 + (2) H20

I am a huge opponent of UNVENTED gas appliances (including stoves) which are the No. 1 source of indoor air pollution. Sad that such pollution is so easily avoidable, yet exists. Vent your stove, open a window or don't cook with gas! a gas oven at 350*f (175*C) running for even just ONE hour produces and releases into the home harmful levels of pollutants

Studies in the UK has shown that children that grew up with gas cooking have TWICE the allergies and asthma, and respiratory ailments (for life) that those who grew up with electric cooking do.

And to all my friends who say, "but my granny had unvented gas heaters for 50 years and survived just fine" to that I say "Yes, but there are healthier options!"

And yes candles, unless they are bee's-wax or soya are petroleum-based paraffin which is nasty! Any light one sees is CARBON from incomplete combustion which coats ever surface in the room and house. NASTY! So while candles are comforting and like having company with you, THINK about it! Electrons can be broken down into photons which is a big fancy word for LIGHT waves/particles. In theory we are all made of LIGHT and candles/flames/ (controlled) fires are a huge comfort to us. But I digress, don't I ? LOL

Always great to see you posting, John! [this post was last edited: 10/22/2010-14:18]
 
I have had a condenser dryer for 11 years and yes, it takes longer and is noisier but can be put almost anywhere and for me, that is a huge bonus. Mine lives in the cupboard under the stairs. When I first bought it and I had my TINY apartment I had it in my bedroom!!

I wouldn't be without it!
 
Paul - how are you? How do you find having the condenser dryer in an understairs cupboard in terms of drying times? If our plans go ahead to get a dishwasher in our kitchen, only place it can go is where the tumble dryer is at the moment and the dryer will be relegated to the understairs storage space. Only thing I'm concerned about is the more confined space reducing the condensing efficiency of the dryer. I'm probably worrying over nothing but will be nice to know regardless :)

Jon
 
UNVENTED GAS DRYERS AND RANGES

Gas ranges are among the dirtiest of gas burning appliances and the one that is most often used unvented. This is because the flame is often in contact with colder metal, the metal pot on the stove top or the steel plate above the oven burner. This contact with the flame causes combustion temperatures to be reduced which causes much more carbon monoxide to be produced. A gas clothes dryer does not have this problem and produces a fraction of the carbon monoxide that preheating an oven does or boiling a pot of water does. Steve great points about burning candles in the house, any time you burn a solid fuel it will normally produce far more pollutants than burning a gasses fuel.
 
ooooh I stand corrected and educated! TYVM
I didn't know that about hot flames hitting cold steel!

See boys and girls and girly-boys, THIS is how it is done. (I am not tooting my own horn; Lawd knows If I could I'd never leave home! LOL)

I said my stupidity, (based on limited logic and experience). I got gently corrected and everyone is the wiser. The logic was explained to me and now all is well.

Was that so hard?

Thanks John!
 
I'll have to think about the long vent hose. I've seen someone do this but it seems gawky and inconvenient. Also, in my case, it would involve opening a garage door (no other way outside) and leaves and other trash tend to blow in during winter months. The advantage would be having a normal dryer when I eventually move elsewhere. But thanks for the suggestion!
 

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