Slightly OT: Installing a new tumble drier

[James Noble]

This wouldn't normally be a problem but the wife and I have encountered a major problem.

Our trusty tumble drier is dying after 20 years of service. It is a side vented model which vents through a hole in the kitchen wall to the left of the drier.

On visiting the local white goods emporium over the weekend we found out that it is near impossible to get a side venting drier (Zanussi seem to be the only one) as most now vent out of the back only. We were pushed in the direction of condensing driers but the efficiency of such is awful and we want to continue with a vented machine.

I am having trouble understanding how the new driers are supposed to be installed. Do I have to drill (a.) 100mm plus hole immediately behind the drier which a. means a second large hole in the wall, or (b.) are there kits available to turn the vent pipe through 90 degrees so that I can use the existing hole in the wall?

The 3 shops we visited said there are no kits for anything other than behind the drier so, are we stuffed and forced to buy a condensing drier?

Any help welcome.

[Peter Crosland]

You may be able to fabricate a 90 degree bend. Otherwise hiring the drill and bit to make another hole is not too arduous and the old hole can be sealed with the core from the new one plus a little cement.

Peter Crosland

[Robin]

At the risk of going further OT, I'd be interested to know your evidence for that statement. It's not the impression I was left with after looking at it albeit briefly and a couple of years ago (and leaving aside the additional options of gas or heat pump). If there were really such a big difference I'd expect it to show in the energy efficiency class as they are defined with only small differences between vented and condensing driers (to allow for the gain the vented driers get by taking air from the house which may itself have been heated ): see eg

Yet many condenser models seemed to be on a par with their vented siblings - or at least they were when we last shopped for one a couple of years ago.

[Chris J Dixon]

Bosch have some models which have the option of using side or rear vent:

have a similar one a couple of years old, and, at the risk of tempting fate, it is performing well so far.

Chris

[TMC]

With our current drier when we moved it into the new utility room where I had to have a side vent (as a back vent would have been into neighbours carport) and I also needed the drier to be flush to the wall I built a plinth and was able to divert the vent within the drier to drop out of the bottom

However if you have space at the back you could use cooker hood venting gear or even air con trunking

I will be tipping driers over in the shop when I have to look for a new one

[James Noble]

Peter Crosland said the following on Mon, 29 Nov 2010 at 09:12:15

Thanks for your input Peter but there isn't enough room behind the machine to fabricate anything. I think you are correct in suggesting that we might have to bite the bullet and drill another hole although I am loath to do so for cosmetic reasons.

[James Noble]

Robin said the following on Mon, 29 Nov 2010 at 09:31:57

Efficiency concerns based on comments from shop droids (3 stores) and comparisons of drying times and energy usage for a given load.

For instance, the drier we are looking at is available in a vented and condenser version, both fully sensing. The vented drier takes 120 minutes and uses 4.3 KW whereas the condenser machine takes 160 minutes and uses 5.1 KW.

[Richard Russell]

I don't know about kits, but I'm using an ordinary 90-degree elbow bend like this one:

our reason for using a vented tumble drier isn't efficiency (AIUI a modern condenser type with heat pump is *more* efficient) but to reduce room humidity. Even the best condenser models chuck out a considerable amount of moisture into the air.

Richard.

[Andy Burns]

Do you know if either or both of those figures are peak or constant power drawn during the drying cycle?

[Tabby]

kW isnt an energy figure, its a power figure. And no plug-in 13A appliance will draw over 3.1kW (or rarely upto 3.5kW)

Since your present drier is working, why change it? Would it not be as easy to fix whatever's wrong with it?

NT

[James Noble]

They are the total power used for the given load i.e. 7Kg from a spin cycle on the washing machine to cupboard dry. The data is from a chart produced by the manufacturer (Beko) although it was not readily available and had to be obtained from a friendly dealer.

Both machines are "C" rated.

[Andy Burns]

That would be the total ENERGY used, but it would be measured in kWh not kW.

[Andy Burns]

Hence I wrote the word power!

True, that's a bigger clue that the "KW" figures really are kWh figures.

[Robin]

Thanks for the figures.

The regulations allow a class C vented drier to use up to 4.7 kWh (0.4 kWh more than the one you are looking at) and a class C condenser to use

5.1 kWh (the same as the one you are looking at). Assuming the regulations have got more or less the right adjustment for the warm air taken from the house and vented then the difference between the models is around 0.4 kWh - say 5p at current prices. Of course those fivepences will add up over the years (and grow with energy prices); the house air won't always be heated; and there are other factors such as the time taken you mention and the humid air being vented into the room by a condenser. But I'd not seen 10 per cent as a big difference in efficiency.

[John Rumm]

You can get flat ducting kits for extractors etc. You may be able to go from round profile at the back of the drier into an adaptor and come off to the side in flat, thence round the corner.

Quite a range here:

[John Rumm]

Obviously neither - you can only draw 3.2kW from a normal socket. I expect he actually meant 4.3 kWh rather than kW.

A point worth noting however is that the condenser will throw all the waste heat out into the room in which its working. While the vented one will throw most outside. Since these things will be be used more frequently in the winter, you have to decide if your heating system is capable of making up for 4.3kwh of lost heat for the price of the extra

800wh of electricity. Chances are it can't, so you would actually be better off spending a little more on heat you keep rather than a bit less on some to throw away.

[Lobster]

swapping my tumble drier:

really well: as you can see, it has to go through 4 90-degree bends to reach the hole in the wall: and by using the flat ducting, I can get the drier very close to the adjacent wall.

David

[Toby]

However, a vented drier will dump all that heat, plus any heated air in the house to draws in (assuming it lives in the house), outside, where a condenser will dump almost all of it in the house, and seen as you usually only use the drier when it is cold and wet outside, it will supplement your heating, and not be wasted so I expect when looking at the full picture, the condenser is more efficient.

[James Noble]

I quote from the document: "The total power consumption for each program is as follows". The figures are then given as KW not KWh.

[Robin]

I can only think it is a glitch in that particular document since other Beko documents give the energy consumption in kWh: see eg

(page 13) or (page 14)

(Not totally anal as we are looking for a new drier for an aged relative.)