How essential is your tumble dryer?

Very essential for me. I try and only do a partial dry and let them hang dry to finish off. But getting work clothes dried over the weekend without it can be a pain otherwise.
 
I haven't had a tumble dryer for 15+ years now. Don't think I'd bother even if I had the space now tbh, clothes last much longer when they're not tumble dried all the time.

Line in the garden and rack + dehumidifier in the winter works fine, plus the dehumidifier is useful for other stuff.
 
I recently replaced my standard condenser one with a heat pump dryer, it uses about 1400 watts per cycle, or £0.45. Life is too short to be messing around hanging it on radiators or drying racks. It always amuses me when I see people running outside franticly pulling in their washing when it starts to rain.
 
I've not owned a tumble dryer since the 90's and have never had an issue getting my washing dry, completely unessential item for me.
 
We have 3 kids in a small 3 bed terrace so it's very essential for space for space and mould reasons this time of year. I binned off the landlords manky dishwasher for it. We have a heat pump type which is fairly gentle and gets the job done. I have no idea on its energy usage but our bills are fairly low regardless.

I can't wait for the housing market to resemble something sensible again so we can have more space, but I'll likely still want a drier for the colder months.
 
koolpc said:
Very essential!

Take yesterday. I got soaked to the bone walking back in the rain from town.

Put some of my wet gear in dryer. Bingo! Dry in no time.
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If I lived in a flat and didn't have the space I'd definitely agree.

We're very fortunate that we have a utility room to hang stuff in which is well ventilated and warm specifically for that reason.

It depends on your environment and lifestyle. Even with 2 kids living in the countryside and the fact they love to get muddy we survive without it. Albeit out washing machine is also a tumble dryer but we've used it maybe a dozen times in 6 years.
 
Scuzi said:
Many people who air dry their clothes indoors in the winter become nose blind to the mouldy smell they emit. It stinks. Tumble dryers are essential here in the winter.
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If you have dogs you can't smell anything bad anymore! :D

If you have a well ventilated room there's no issue with mould. We still hang stuff outside when there's no rain, but even indoors we don't have any issues with mould.
 
happy_2008 said:
Where does your tumble dryer sit? Mines in the Conservatory and i was thinking of changing to a heat pump one but apparently they should be in places with at least 10 degrees.
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Ours used to be plus 10oC but are now rated to plus 5oC irrespective of it being a heat pump or conventional heater.
 
We have a heated clothes airer with a cover that we use a lot, but things like bed sheets and covers go in the tumble dryer when the weather's crap and we can't hang them outside.
 
robj20 said:
Where else would you dry clothes in winter and when it's raining.
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There's these things called drying racks you put in a room or near a radiator.

unless your ceiling has a hole then you don't worry about outside elements
 
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arknor said:
There's these things called drying racks you put in a room or near a radiator.

unless your ceiling has a hole then you don't worry about outside elements
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And then the condensation forms!

That moisture has to go somewhere.
 
koolpc said:
And then the condensation forms!

That moisture has to go somewhere.
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yea windows have this thing called "air vents" a great modern invention apparently.

if your washing machine has a spin cycle your clothes should come out feeling mostly dry anyway, unless your overloading it
 
Hedge said:
For some insane reason we never replaced our tumble dryer when it died in our last house and in the years since then we've had a child and just kept drying clothes on the line / clothes dryer.

Recently I did one week of laundry when my missus was away with work and I couldn't get over how much of a faff it was (yes admittedly it's not usually my household chore:)).

Now I want to buy a tumble dryer and Im being told 'we've managed this far, it's only because you made a big deal out of it, you now want one'.

She's right.


How essential is a tumble dryer in your household? Surely it's almost a necessity for people with children!?

Help me justify it :D
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I haven't had access to a tumble dryer for about 15yrs!we dry everything outside or occ8 hang inside.
 
Never bothered with one - if we didn't have a well ventilated spare room though would probably be a different matter. (Spin cycle also helps).
 
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Essential in the winter for us. We live in NZ South Island and it's practically a cold, damp, Scottish mist for 3-5 months a year over winter.

Missus Regulus do laundry every single day and it's dried in the tumble dryer every night as we have free power between 9pm and midnight. In the summer we tend to line dry
 
arknor said:
There's these things called drying racks you put in a room or near a radiator.

unless your ceiling has a hole then you don't worry about outside elements
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And where do you think the water goes. You would either need to leave your Windows open thus increasing heating cost. Or use a dehumidifier again costs, so may as well use the dryer.

Not all windows have vents either, none of mine do.
Not to mention the convenience of a dryer, can have stuff dried in economy nice which takes about 4 hours, or have them done in 30 minutes.
 
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Scuzi said:
Many people who air dry their clothes indoors in the winter become nose blind to the mouldy smell they emit. It stinks. Tumble dryers are essential here in the winter.
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Dehumidifiers exist, and take up a lot less room than a tumble driers, and are much kinder to your clothes.
 
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