Tumble dryers are a household staple and an essential appliance for many of us – especially for families with lots of washing – but, unfortunately, they are also one of the priciest appliances when it comes to running costs. Luckily, with all the lovely weather we got in the UK this summer, a lot of us were able to ditch the dryer and enjoy the loveliness of line-dried washing. But as we head into autumn and winter we’ll all be relying on our tumble dryers a lot more – just as electricity prices are set to rise again 😥.
So, what can be done to help cut the costs of drying our washing when the rainy season is upon us? And are heat pump dryers really significantly cheaper to run in comparison to vented and condenser dryers? We’ll try to break it all down for you.
What are the differences between tumble dryer technologies?
A good place to start is probably to explain what the differences are when it comes to vented, condenser and heat pump dryers.
The main difference between tumble dryer technologies is how they expel the hot air and moisture created when drying your clothes. Vented dryers have an extraction hose to remove the air, condenser dryers convert the hot air into moisture, which then collects in a water drawer that gets emptied and heat pumps reuse and circulate their hot air throughout a drying cycle. As heat pumps are a branch of condenser dryer, heat pumps also have a water reservoir that you empty at the end of a drying cycle.
The main difference between condenser and heat pump dryers is their energy consumption: heat pump technology reuses hot air rather than constantly generating more heat; consequently, heat pump dryers use substantially less energy.
How much does it cost to run a tumble dryer?
Many of our customers have, quite rightly, been concerned about the running costs of their tumble dryers this year. From October 1st 2022, the average price per kWh of electricity will be 34p. So, how does this affect the running costs of your tumble dryer? Here are the estimated running costs of each dryer type, using an example 9kg machine and doing a full load of laundry twice a week:
- Vented Tumble Dryer: uses 5.34kWh for a full load – this works out at £1.82 per cycle and £216 per year, on average.
- Condenser Tumble Dryer: uses 5.2kWh for a full load – this works out at £1.77 per cycle and £209.78 per year, on average.
- Heat Pump Tumble Dryer: uses 2.16kWh for a full load – this works out at just 73p per cycle and £88.06 per year, on average.
Condenser vs Heat Pump Dryers: The Savings*
| Loads per Week | Saving per Week | Saving per Month | Saving per Year | Saving per 5 Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | £2.29 | £9.85 | £118.25 | £591.23 |
| 3 | £3.44 | £14.78 | £177.37 | £886.85 |
| 4 | £4.58 | £19.71 | £236.49 | £1,182.47 |
| 5 | £5.73 | £24.63 | £295.62 | £1,478.08 |
We were quite flabbergasted ourselves when we saw these savings! 😱 (it even persuaded one of us in the office to recycle our in-need-of-repair condenser and go for a heat pump)! Many models of heat pump dryer also come with a 5 year manufacturer guarantee, so you’d not only have complete peace of mind for 5 years but also a whole lot of money saved in running costs!
Of course there are other factors involved when trying to calculate running costs. One of these factors is the appliance’s energy rating. You can get a lot of information about an appliance from its energy label; in the case of tumble dryers, the label will tell you the overall energy rating, the weighted annual energy consumption (AEC) in kWh per year, the load capacity, the sound level (dB) and condensation efficiency class indicator (essentially, how good the machine is at retaining humidity, instead of letting it out into your home).
We’re always Happy to Be Helpful!
We hope this guide has been helpful for those of you who are looking to find the most cost-effective way of drying your laundry.
As always, our brilliant sales advisers are on-hand in store, over the phone or by email to answer any questions you may have about tumble dryer efficiency and running costs.
