Can anyone answer a few questions before I start looking/purchase one:
I need a built-in/integrated tumble dryer and need it to vent sideways Is this possible?
If not, is there enough room behind a tumble dryer to turn the ven hose through 90 degrees where it comes out of the appliance and have i coming out sideways at the rear?
Can anyone recommend a make/model that they have or ones to avoid?
You comments would be appreciated
-- Cordless Crazy
I haven't had a crappy vented dryer in years. Buy a proper condensing one and you don't need an inconvenient hose snagging and kinking. You also don't need an ugly hole in the wall that will be in the wrong place/size for your replacement model.
I have a Bosch 6920 integrated tumble sensor dryer. It is absolutely brilliant. The filter works really well, it has a outlet pump and came with the drainage kit free. Sensor drying is such a convenient cost saving measure. No air hose is required. It collects water very well (it used to fill the huge tray every drying cycle, even after a 1600 spin which left the clothes feeling quite dry), with no obvious increase in humidity or condensation in the room. It was in a different league to my previous Hoover condensor.
Christian.
Hello,
Sorry to butt in (after lurking for years) but I'm about to have an extension built to increase the size of my kitchen and I was wondering about the possibility of having my washing machine and tumble drier moved into the cupboard under the stairs at the same time, to get them out of the cooking/dining area. My current tumble drier is a venting one, so I'd need to buy a condensor - do you think that it would be worth doing this and would it be feasible to run it under the stairs with a closed door to the cupboard, or would I just be storing up grief for myself with condensation and damp building up in the middle of my house? I'm getting a new shower room put in next to this cupboard, by the way, so it shouldn't be difficult to run plumbing and drainage through the wall between the two.
Cheers
Helen
Yes, although my old Hoover would have been a problem. The Bosch would handle this. However, you will need some ventilation, as it will produce some moisture which will cause problem if there is no way at all to get rid of it. With the adjacent shower room, it would be very easy to ventilate through there, as shower rooms need ventilation anyway.
I don't know what you've got planned/already existing in there, but just a simple grille between the rooms might work if the shower extractor is good. Alternatively, a humidistat fan to vent from the cupboard into the shower, or best of all, a ducted system with inline centrifugal fan that can suck from both rooms.
Don't forget to choose a model with a built in pump that can drain away. Emptying the tray of water every time is a drag.
As a simple rule of thumb, machines with the water tray at the top have the pump and can be mains drained, although sometimes they wish to use the opportunity to hawk an overpriced kit of parts to do so. My Bosch 6920 came with the "kit" free, and it consisted simply of a length of hose.
Christian.
The problem is that it's hard to know how much humidity a machine will produce before you buy it. I did have a look at Which but, although it did claim to mark the machines on humidity, they all seemed to come out on a similar level, which makes me think that either all condensing driers are pretty good now or the Which people didn't really measure them all that closely. Still, I guess I have a personal recommendation for the Bosch now!
The shower room isn't going to have a window in it, so I'm assuming the venting is going to be pretty good... Actually, a problem just occurs to me in that the vent will need to come out of the cupboard under the stairs through the wall where the shower is actually going to be (i.e., the shower is going to take up the whole of one end of a narrow room, with no wallspace on either side and this backs onto the cupboard wall), so I guess it will either need to be up above head height, or I'll need to forget it. Oh well, I guess I'll need to ask the builder if he thinks it's going to be possible.
Thanks for your advice, though - it's much appreciated!
Helen
Yes, it is possible, at least with Miele dryers, vent both sides an rear.
Miele dryers are very good but more expensive than the average
-- asalcedo
I agree. I was asking about tumble dryer venting about 3 weeks ago, but in the end plumped for a condensing model due to potential difficulties in how I'd vent it properly.
Good decision I'd say, and I'm well impressed with how well and fast it dries the clothes.
I bought a John Lewis own brand condenser, though it is actually made by AEG. Plumbed into drain so no resevoir to empty.
The 'drain out' kit for my John Lewis condenser dryer (actually made by AEG and identical mechanically to their current range) sells for the princely sum of around £30, and consists of little more than a length of small bore tubing to my knowledge. It's actually an AEG official part you have to buy from AEG, not John Lewis.
Fortunately the drain tube that enters the machine's reservoir actually emerges from inside the back of the machine near the top and connects to the reservoir on the outside. I simply took it off the reservoir, connected another length of much cheaper small bore tubing and extended it to my drain. How they can justify such a price for a bit of pipe is beyond me.
Above head height is what I was thinking. Remember, modern condensing dryers are actually quite good. You don't need a huge amount of ventilation, just enough to clear the air eventually. Nothing like the massive amount of ventilation required for a vented dryer.
Just opening the door for an hour or two would also work, but might not be to your taste.
Christian.
I'd actually wondered if I could get away with just fitting a vent to the cupboard door so that the hot air could vent gradually to the hall...
Thanks again for the info!
Cheers
Helen
I have done quite a bit or research on this issue.
I have a Miele condenser dryer draining to a waste pipe, it works quit well.
It can be installed in a cupboard, as I will have it, because th moisture loss is very low.
The important thing is to provide plenty of air for the dryer to ru economically and quickly.
For that, it is enough if the door to the cupboard is open and the doo leads to a medium size room, ideally a large well ventilated room.
Antoni
-- asalcedo
Read Which? magazine for reliability and efficiency reports. Copies in your local library, you can read them for free & take notes. You won't be able to take them out, and they are carefull designed not to (b&w) photocopy.
Andy
You'll be dumping a couple of kilowatts into the cupboard while it is running. Having that in an enclosed space is probably a bad idea. Having it come out into the house - if it is really dry - could be handy, as it will save heating.
Does anyone know if condensors these days are closed or open circuit? By which I mean:
Do they suck in air, dry the clothes with it, try to get most of the moisture out, then blow it back out, or Do they have some air which circulates, being heated, drying the clothes, then cooled to extract the water before going back around.
If any significant moisture comes out you don't want it in the house!
Andy
Are modern condensers good these days? Do they dry clothes efficiently
-- Cordless Crazy
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