Heated clothes driers

Soldato
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Please can people share their experience and recommendations on a good one? I'm talking about this type of thing:


My partner doesn't like tumble drying stuff and complains bitterly in winter about how long it takes clothes to dry outside on the washing line.

What better Christmas gift can a spouse get than something to help with the domestic chores? :)

Plus, she puts out 2 clothes airers in the garage and I'm constantly having to potter around them. I'd much rather devote some precious garage floor space to one of these things and be done with it.

Thanks.

If it is cold in the garage (and I am assuming it is) there are two golden rules. A very simple machine is best. Some more complex driers are designed to operate in the warm, indoors, and will not function in the cold. Second is that you MUST have it vented or it will rust everything else in the garage.
 
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Interested in what you end up with. We're planning to use the box room in the new house just for drying stuff. Dehumidifiers range so much in cost its hard to know what to get.
 
Soldato
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In a cold garage, you'll want a dessicant dehumidifer. This will also warm the air.

What's the grow tent for?

The garage is tinder dry with a large pitched roof, the loftspace has been boarded out leaving 2 open hatch spaces. I fear that any warm moist air will go straight up there and condense.

If I set up one of those tent things with a dehumidifier and clothes airer inside, and a small heater if need be, I'm hoping that the heater will warm the air, the dehumidifier will extract the moisture and my garage doesn't turn into a mouldy mess.
 
Soldato
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Well I've gone for the grow tent and dehumidifier combo, and I'll also get a small thermometer to monitor temps. If it goes below 5c, we already have a small oil filled radiator which isn't being used, it's a 750 watt unit but I expect a very low setting will easily keep temps above 5c if need be in such a small enclosed space. I also have some leftover insulation that I could plonk on top of the grow tent too.

I'll report back once it's up and running, fingers crossed it works well!
 
Soldato
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The garage drying system is up and running and the initial results are very good. Here she is in all her glory:

PXL-20231209-155138956.jpg


It dried a full load of towels in 7 hours. For lighter stuff, such as t-shirts and underwear, it dries a full load in about 5 hours. It may be quicker, but I checked after 5 hours and everything was dry.

From the towel load, the dehumidifier extracted about 2 litres of water, and about 1.5l from the t-shirt and undies wash.

The Mrs is really pleased with it because in addition to be able to dry clothes more quickly in winter, apparently the clothes smell nice when they are dry.

My garage is still bone dry so very pleased overall. I'll dismantle it and stow it away in spring when line drying outside becomes viable again.
 
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How did you decide on the Blyss 12L? I was looking into the Meaco Arete 12L but seems to be sold out everywhere.

I'm planning to use mine in the box room just to dry clothes.
 
Soldato
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I've been tempted by one. However, it only deals with half the problem. All you'll end up doing is moving the moisture from the wet cloths, onto your windows and walls.

I could only imagine using one of these in combination with a dehumidifier, or in a room with an open window.

You still need to ventilate your house in the winter. Probably even more so than in the summer.

I dry clothes on a heated drying rack for a decent proportion of the year without a dehumidifier and whilst I know that would speed things up, we have no damp issues because the house is appropriately ventilated.

We have the Robert Dyas one, in case it's of interest.
 
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Soldato
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How did you decide on the Blyss 12L? I was looking into the Meaco Arete 12L but seems to be sold out everywhere.

I'm planning to use mine in the box room just to dry clothes.

I just googled "dehumidifier" and one of the first results was the Blyss 12l, and the reviews on Screwfix site were generally good, apart from a number of people moaning about the instructions not being clear. The thing has 3 buttons: ON/OFF, fan speed and laundry mode, and I've not even looked at the instructions.
 
Soldato
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he garage drying system is up and running and the initial results are very good. Here she is in all her glory:

PXL-20231209-155138956.jpg

(if it's obvious from the picture I must be blind ) how is the dehumidifier hooked up to the exhaust and bag inlets, presumably you have a slim drying rack inside, too
 
Soldato
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(if it's obvious from the picture I must be blind ) how is the dehumidifier hooked up to the exhaust and bag inlets, presumably you have a slim drying rack inside, too

It's self contained. The tent vent holes are all closed using the attached cords and spring toggles that come with the tent. The air in the tent is cycled through the dehumidifier, which collects the water into a removable container.

There's a minky drying rack inside:


I'm sure ours only cost about £20 a few years ago.
 
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I just googled "dehumidifier" and one of the first results was the Blyss 12l, and the reviews on Screwfix site were generally good, apart from a number of people moaning about the instructions not being clear. The thing has 3 buttons: ON/OFF, fan speed and laundry mode, and I've not even looked at the instructions.

Awesome, cheers. My local screwfix currently has 2 in stock but my missus is trying to tell us we need the 16L version which sounds like overkill just for drying laundry. The 16L only has a 2.5l tank aswell. ... not that it's much hassle to empty after every load or two.

Is it quiet and do you know how much it costs per hour to run?
 
Soldato
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Awesome, cheers. My local screwfix currently has 2 in stock but my missus is trying to tell us we need the 16L version which sounds like overkill just for drying laundry. The 16L only has a 2.5l tank aswell. ... not that it's much hassle to empty after every load or two.

Is it quiet and do you know how much it costs per hour to run?

I also looked at the 16l version and was surprised to see the 2.5l tank.

It's pretty quiet, if you had it in a spare room running with the door closed I'm pretty sure that you wouldn't hear it.

The unit itself is 300w, I don't know exactly how much it costs us but my partner finds it more convenient to stick a wash in the washing machine in the evening after work, then load up the drying rack and leave the dehumidifier on the low setting overnight, so we're using less than 300w on this basis. Everything is dry by the morning. I think there's some sort of timer setting which we might use once we get a better understanding of how long stuff takes to dry.
 
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Was glad to see this thread, was seriously considering one of the heated type dryers, as where we dry clothes it can take an age and the stuff can end up musty. So great to see the general opinion that they aren't much cop.


Well I've gone for the grow tent and dehumidifier combo, and I'll also get a small thermometer to monitor temps. If it goes below 5c, we already have a small oil filled radiator which isn't being used, it's a 750 watt unit but I expect a very low setting will easily keep temps above 5c if need be in such a small enclosed space. I also have some leftover insulation that I could plonk on top of the grow tent too.

I'll report back once it's up and running, fingers crossed it works well!
Bought that same dehumidifer from screwfix. Looks good and not too loud (spec says 42db)

Do you know exactly what the laundry mode on it does, as opposed when not in laundry mode, or to continuous ?
Also, am I right in thinking you just manually push the top vent open (saw that in several comments on screwfix)
I guess the timer units are in hrs, so set to 1 and it turns off after an hr ?
 
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