Heatpump clothes dryer

[begreen]

Does anyone have a heatpump dryer in the house? Our 16 yr old dryer's electronics just blew out and the part appears to be hard to get (still looking). If we are replacing, I'm considering a heat pump dryer and wondering whether it's worth the extra cost. How noisy are they? Do they blow cool air into the room? Reliability?

 

[mellow]

I had looked at them earlier this year but did not move forward after seeing how long they may take to dry a full load. Our family of 4 would be screaming because everyone waits till the last minute to wash/dry. Maybe for someone that can let it run overnight it would be better suited for.

 

[begreen]

Not a problem for us. We never run our dryer on high heat and now there are only two of us using a jumbo dryer. We have lots of extra towels, sheets, etc.

 

[gthomas785]

I do not have one but am considering switching over just for the energy savings. We do enough laundry in our house that the payback would be pretty quick. I have read that the downsides are longer cycle times and the occasional need for deep cleaning to keep it running efficiently.

 

[EbS-P]

From the reviews I’ve watched is the temps aren’t as high so when clothes come out they might feel a bit damp.
Do you due diligence on vented versus non vented. I’ll look up consumer reports and post back.

Technology is mature enough. Find the best/ most reliable model is probably the most important aspect.

 

[John Galt]

We have been using a Whirlpool WED99HEDWO for two years. The pump went out within the first few cycles but was under warranty. The pump is accessible from the back, no need to pull the drum and dismantle the whole thing. Cleaning the coil does require the drum to be pulled, I haven't done that yet. The noise is the same as a regular dryer - motor, drum, belt. The pump comes on every 10 minutes (ish) and runs for 15 seconds and isn't too loud. Maybe the same as a cordless drill? The washing machine is louder when it drains than the dryer.

The air movement is like a computer fan, you won't notice it.

The damp feeling isn't really damp, things just are not scalding hot when you pull things out, sucking the moisture from your skin.

The extra time is true. Anywhere from 1 to 1 1/2 hours. That's how long our washer takes so no big deal. Just the two of us so we're not trying to pump out 6 loads in a day.

I bought it for the wattage during use. I don't remember the numbers it pulls but it's under 2k (might be 800) vs 4.5k a traditional dryer uses. I only have 8800W at a time, with the HP dryer I don't worry if the well or septic pumps start up. Same reason I got the HP water heater.

 

[John Galt]

The Miele is a sturdy little machine but much smaller. Uses 110V if I remember correctly.