Home: Our guide to choosing an energy-efficient tumble dryer

We take out the marketing spin and find the best-performing tumble dryers to muscle through your load

Samsung Heat Pump dryers with QuickDry, offer 35-minute cycles for up to 1kg of washing and WrinklePrevent. 

They're often regarded as twirly-moustached energy villains in terms of appliances and electronics, so let’s take out the marketing spin and find the best-performing tumble dryer to muscle through your load.

HEAT PUMPS

Reviewing tumble dryers just five years ago, heat pump dryers (HP) were bracketed as executive-level luxury. They carried a high price tag and an excruciatingly long pay-back period — somewhere in the area of 11 years if you vouched for an early €1,200 German model.

Well, with an increasing choice of impressive budget models, and the escalation of electricity prices, a 9kg heat pump dryer for under €650 could now pay for itself in six years, running at around 40% of the power required for an equivalent vented dryer in the €300 range.

Samsung has launched a bespoke range of washers and dryers (heat pump); DV16T8520BV, €2099, expert.ie.

If you are lucky enough to have solar photovoltaic panels on the roof, and install a HP dryer, most of the year it will run for nothing on all but the very darkest of days — I speak from experience. Combined with time-of-use tariff energy deals, running the machine before 8am on delayed start, you can take the growl out those kWh horror stories.

HP dryers are a form of condenser dryer, but run for much longer cycles (three hours is not unusual on ECO mode). Samsung has recently introduced what it terms OptimalDry technology which cuts these speeds down in their top range HP dryers (Samsung DV90N8289AW). HPs collect moist warm air from the cycle and pass it over an evaporator, before returning the hot air to the drum to dry the clothes. You can choose to empty a reservoir of the collected water, store and re-use it, or pump it off as grey-water.

Many HP machines can finish a 9kg load for less than 2kWhs (eco cotton modes), and a small load for just 1kWh. Mind you, those long HP cycles will be maddening for families drowning in PE kit and puree-spattered baby clothes — be warned. 

With a front-mounted tank inside the port hole or in a drawer base, most HP dryers have a generous door together with standard sensor technology, timing choices and programmes. They run relatively cool, so are superb for protecting delicate garments even on a long cycle. HPs do not do well in out-buildings with temperatures of 10C or less. Better machines will be protected against mould and bacteria.

Hoover DXO H9A2TCEB 9kg heat pump with just 259kWh annual running costs, €489.99, Argos.

Our pick: The Hotpoint NT M11 9X2SXB, 9kg in a lush silver, “A” rated. YourEko claims it can save you up to €3,995 over its lifetime compared to the cheapest equivalent vented model (used 5 times a week over 13 years at just under 30c per kWh). Full load: 2.07kWh, half load: 1.2kWh. 

Annual running at 258kWh. 12 cycles including half-hour and anti-allergy cycles, sensor technology. Just under €630. Suppliers include Currys. Hoover DXO H9A2TCEB 9KG. Full load: 2.28kWh (dry cottons), 259kWh annual running costs and a 30-minute quick-dry; €489.99, Argos.

VENTED DRYERS

At cheap to moderate prices, vented dryers can be the most expensive machines to run of all varieties of these machines. They are falling out of favour with less choices in most brands. “C” energy-efficiency ratings are commonplace, and with power prices in ascent the difference between an “B” and “C” rating can spin up €150 in extra annual running costs in a busy household.

Their design has changed little, with hot air blown over a heating coil to warm the drum. 

A vented 8kg dryer at a rare “B” might manage a full load at 5kWhs, and a washer/dryer could push the grid take up to 6kWh or more, handling just 7kgs at a time, which in my book is a wash out of a nuisance. What they do offer are fast drying times — ideal for occasional rather than heavy use for busy individuals running out the clock.

Concentrate on finding a vented machine with the best sensor features, rather than set-time machines. Sensors will detect the humidity of the load, and ensure each load is handled as efficiently as possible.

They can stop the run when the garments are dry or slightly damp, not baked. Duvets and pillows are the only items that need to be arid dry coming out of the machine. Even the cheapest machine will include the settings cottons, synthetics and delicates, but without sensors you really need to get to know your dryer and to anticipate when the load is probably dry enough to wear, air or iron. 

Hoover HLEV9LG, 9kg is a solid C-rated vented machine with 14 programs, €299, Harvey Norman.

Expect to pay more for extras like a machine colour, shoe racks, sensors to handle wool items, and of course remote, app-control — which is inexplicable as dryers should only ever be used when you are at home to monitor them. 

In terms of practicalities for a vented machine, all you need is an AC power outlet and an outside wall. In their defence, vented dryers will conduct all the moisture out of your machine in steam, reducing any chance of condensation problems (possible with the other two varieties of machine).

They are quieter than most HP machines on the market, so check the dB count if you are siting a machine in an open-plan kitchen or a broken-plan kitchen/diner/utility. Reverse action and a cool finish (common to Hoover, Hotpoint and Indesit) will avoid tangled and creased clothes. Watch the skinnier 53cm depths for integrated and semi-integrated machines. Hats off to retailers including the “Lifetime Energy Saving” YourEko facility when searching for dryers online.

Our pick: Hoover HLEV9LG, 9kg is a solid “C” rated machine with 14 programs, sensors included, and a nine-hour delayed start to use those cheaper tariffs. Full load: 6.03kWh, half load: 2.05kWh, 636kWh per year annual running costs. Just €299 (do consider the lifetime costs), Harvey Norman.

Bosch Series 4 WTN83201GB, 8kg Condenser in white (top of stack). ìBî rated, €449.99, soundstore.ie.

CONDENSER DRYERS

If you don’t have a vented position within reach, a condenser dryer is a good alternative, and in terms of energy efficiency, standard, non-HP condensers have improved immensely in the last few years, with “B” energy ratings as standard. As for price, they fall between vented machines and HPs, and have overtaken vented machines as a family favourite.

Like HP dryers, the moisture in the drum condenses into vapour and then droplets, and is guided to a tank where it is collected or you can pipe the water off if you have a suitable plumbed position. Incidentally, this collected water is very soft, effectively distilled, and fantastic for ironing and watering plants. 

Condensers and HP dryers are both ideal for upstairs areas, inside rooms (not on outside walls) and apartment kitchens and utilities where putting a Kango hammer through the wall is problematic. 

They offer some of the quietest machines too. If you have a need for speed, choose a condenser. The warmth of a running condenser machine will come out through a front grille into the room, adding a little blessed warmth in winter. 

To reduce any condensation issues, ensure you keep your tank emptied after each cycle, clean and air the filters of the machine after every use, and leave the door open when the machine is empty, as they can otherwise give off a faint pong with traces of moisture lingering in the innards of the unit.

Our pick: Much loved by reviewers for its fast performance, the Bosch Series 4 WTN83201GB, 8kg Condenser in white. “B” rated, it boasts AllergyPlus and the Bosch Sensitive Drying system which protects garments in its fabric-friendly drum by evenly circulating warm air. 4.63kWh per cycle, 560kWh annual running costs, €449.99, soundstore.ie. Hoover H-Dry 300 10KG in a massive machine at 10kg, ideal for large families. 5.7kWh for a full load, 670kWh running per annum. Watch out for this and all machines for the 0.5kWh used when left plugged in and on stand-by. Good spec’ and price at €369.99, did.ie.