Heat pump tumble dryer

[not done it yet]

Bear in mind the heat pump drying cycle will be about twice as long as a condensing drier. Still much cheaper to run and safer.

The time and power don’t really affect the energy used. What will affect the kWh is the load and % water content (both initial and finsl).

Our “Bodge’ starts with a time indication of almost 3 1/2 hours, but ‘cupboard dry’ is sensed, so presumably (guessing) it turns off at a certain pre-determined humidity level in the air going to the heat pump, or at a delta-T of the air before and after the heat pump.

Definitely should be a much safer machine - with less than a 500W heat input, compared to perhaps an over 2kW heating element.

 

[DAPPH]

Do keep the sensors and path ways for air circulation inside you driers clean and de-fluffed it makes a massive difference . I use a big 3 inch bottle brush thing to remove any accumulated gunge in the air paths , especially any surrounding the moisture sensor probe that just inside the front of the machine & partly covered over , then vacuum it up to get rid of it .

People who use the laundry softener liquids ( like my wife ) or stinky bits of treated cloth type stuff like Comfort & Lenor don't do themselves many favours for the softener slime they leave behind builds up in the driers , absorbing a lot of moisture and preventing shorter drying cycles.

The self contained whirlpool condensing dryer we have ( now eight or so years old ) has to have both filters taken out , soaked in a bucket over night that has had five squirts of " elbow grease " soft liquid soap in it to break down the grease / silicones in the softeners then they get washed out under the power shower's hardest jet in the morning to blast out all th slimy fluff crud in the filters

. I also use the aqua vac with the reduced flattish nozzle & a spray bottle of just clean water to well wet up & suck out any damp gunge in the condensing radiator fins after taking out the big " turn this handle to release the lower filter " in front the condensing radiator . Very occasionally after I've been too ill to do it on time as per the diary dates I've had to shape and thin a wooden lollipop stick on the grinder to help hook out any bigger clumps of wettish fluff that had gone through the final reticulated foam filter onto the cooling fins before using the vacuum to get them . .

If you guys want any of the 6 to 10 mm thick or greater holey filter screen foam to make you own spare or replacement filters rather than paying £ 12 or more for a pair or each . Look up reticulated foam sheeting . IIRC I paid £36 for a 1x 2 mtr length several years ago .. made new filters & spares for the dryer , various vacuum cleaners , the pond filtration system and some filters for a box that my welder was to be sat in whilst on top of a filing cabinet on wheels . Covid 19 in Nov 2019 . stopped that idea dead .

Yes Covid 19 , in mid Nov 2019 , kicked that one into touch ..it's now sitting on the back burner wating to go on the Round Tuit list ..... again.

 

[Colin Barron]

We bought an expensive Bosch one, it lasted about a week and broke, sent it back and bought one none heat pump for half the price. Look at the payback as now from talking to a repair man he told me many dont last long when out of warranty as they eventually clog up and its almost impossible to un clog them

My Miele heat pump tumble drier is about 7 years old, the only fault was at 5 years when the drum heat sensor carbon contacts that run on the outside of the rotating drum were worn. Parts cost £50. Average life of Miele tumble driers is 11.8 years according to Miele.

 

[Kayos]

so why dont they make heaters with them. you cant get out more power than is put in

They do, air source and ground source heat pumps immediately spring to mind

 

[Kayos]

This, and several other posts, seem to misunderstand how the machines operate.

No, they do not just take power for a minute and a half and then recirculate it. The element needs to run to raise the temperature of the washed items and then supply heat of vapourisation for some the water extracted during drying. The dried items are, of course, warm when the drying cycle is complete.

However most of that heat of evaporation is recovered by the heat pump, and used again. It works just like your fridge or freezer (but the heat extracted by the heat pump is returned internally, instead of lost from a radiator on the outside of the fridge/freezer).

I bought a ‘Bodge Self Cleaning Condenser’ machine (don’t know its model number). It has given no problems in the time we have had it and has simply had both the dry fluff filters cleaned each cycle, and the water filter washed through about every five cycles. Collected water could be used for plants - but is usually poured down the drain. Water is now a costly commodity to just pour down the drain - check it out!

I think it was about four hundred notes. Advantages are more than simply using less energy. I’m not sure it saves 80% over other types of driers, but certainly only uses about half a kilowatt (and not all the time, of course). It does take longer, so likely a little more fluff produced from the washing.

It does have a lower temperature setting, which obviously extends the drying time - but it still uses 500W of power when the heater is on. It cannot be as efficient as the faster drying because other electrical drives sre in operation for the whole drying time.

I would guess the energy savings exceed 50%. Depends on the system it replaced, I suppose - my old tumble drier was a condensing type, but energy was lost from the machine as warm air (but dry) and at least helped, during colder periods, to heat the house. Non-condensing machines would either preferably be vented to the outside or create an awful lot of damp air if vented inside!

The other main advantage, for me, is that my solar panels could certainly not support a machine requiring over 2kW of power (so more energy would be needed from the grid). With only a 0.5kW draw, the whole of that energy-use can be generated by my solar panels. Just need to choose when to run it. This is exactly the same reason why I use a 1kW kettle.

Can’t remember when it was actually bought, but it has certainly saved a lot of grid energy/cost during that time, with often half a dozen loads per week during periods of inclement weather. The washing line is still the cheapest, of course. A small closet with a dehumidifier would be a good option to employ, for drying clothes, etc (but we don’t have a suitable small room in our house) and would avoid the ‘fluff’ problem - but the heat pump drier was a good buy, IMO.

Having worked for the UKs biggest manufacturer of heat pumps I have a pretty good idea how they work, I posted the simple version

 

[premmington]

You will laugh at this: But with rising energy costs - I have revamped our washing line - new line/pulleys etc:

And bought one of these to go under the car port.

Brabantia WallFix Wall-Mounted Airer

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First load wifey hung out on the new line in the garden suffered a bird pooh strike - "seagull the size of a flying pig".

 

[brightspark]

You will laugh at this: But with rising energy costs - I have revamped our washing line - new line/pulleys etc:

And bought one of these to go under the car port.

Brabantia WallFix Wall-Mounted Airer

Buy the Brabantia WallFix Wall-Mounted Airer at Robert Dyas online. Free Click & Collect on this product or Free Standard Home Delivery when you spend over £30

www.robertdyas.co.uk

they nick em round our aeria

 

[knighty]

like where . our drier is out in the cold so draws in cold air be like vaccum cleaners with less powerfull motors that dont suck as hard to save electric. but it dont because it takes longer to suck the crap up negating the saving `

I was talking about heat pumps, not heat pump dryers

heat pump dryers are mostly just dehumidifiers with a drum in the middle

also, it doesn't matter that it's cold for a heat pump they still work just fine - the condenser grill on th back of your freezer still gets hot even tho it's -18 in your freezer

 

[Devilgate]

Heat pumps generally use a refrigerant working fluid. Compress it, you get a hot side. Expand it, get a cold side. Moving heat, not making it.

The problem with heating is that it the cold side heat exchanger would ice up.


Gas is very effiecient for heating purposes. Conversion to elec is still poor. If your power comes from a gas fired plant you will now be using 2-3x more of Putins export.

Nope. Definitely electrcity coming through those wires.

 

[Devilgate]

We bought an expensive Bosch one, it lasted about a week and broke, sent it back and bought one none heat pump for half the price. Look at the payback as now from talking to a repair man he told me many dont last long when out of warranty as they eventually clog up and its almost impossible to un clog them

Yeh, Bosch haven't seem to got it right this time. We opted for an AEG. You can access the condenser from the front of the machine for cleaning (even though it claims to be 'self-cleaning'.

 

[DAPPH]

they nick em round our aeria

With all the washing as well !

 

[DAPPH]

Yeh, Bosch haven't seem to got it right this time. We opted for an AEG. You can access the condenser from the front of the machine for cleaning (even though it claims to be 'self-cleaning'.

Here's how I've been cleaning out Whirlpool self contained condensing dryer for the last nine or so years ( water drain off plumbed high up in to the the washing machines waste drain pipe )

Spray the cooler matrix with the " Elbow Grease " liquid soft soap , on the condenser element if you can get at it , leave it five min to break down the fats & gunge in the fluff ( as it's a mild caustic ) . Gently use a wet & dry vac to suck the muck off and at the same time trigger spray clean plenty of clean cold water over the area being cleaned /sucked off . This will not only dilute the " Elbow Grease " to harmless levels , it will also aid the removal of the loosen fluff & muck .

 

[not done it yet]

Yeh, Bosch haven't seem to got it right this time. We opted for an AEG. You can access the condenser from the front of the machine for cleaning (even though it claims to be 'self-cleaning'.

Can’t complain about ours. Not missed a beat (yet). Only draws ~500W, lets out no hot air and dries the clothes. Admittedly it may take a little longer than a 2kW machine, but has far cheaper running cost than lower rated machines. Ours has probably been used six times each week up until this year.

Driving 500W from a smallish PV system is a lot easier and cheaper than taking most of the energy from the grid (for a 2kW+ machine).

We had an AEG washing machine that lasted over 20 years, with admittedly some repairs (all in-house labour) so, yes, they are a better machine - but a fair amount more pricey, too.

 

[DAPPH]

We picked up a brand new " £ 158 Blyss WDH- 316 DB " dehumidifier yesterday afternoon as the 10 yr old 183 watt one had started gumming up in the plumbed in draining system . ( Man cupboard rejuvenation project almost at the top of the ROUND TUIT list.

This new one is 300 watts but can be set up with a timer to make use of cheap rates , it has 75, 60 & 50 % RH level settings and can be used as a clothed dryer at the 300 wtts mentioned room floor space must be in excess of 4 M squared .

In 60 % Rh ( recommended ) it was down to 130 watts current draw on dehumidifying and heating the iced up element .. out solar PV can handle that most days when nthe sun is shining.

Saw a " Click ? " episode of the very very latest solar PV panels , flexible and able to generates using all manner of solar radiations such as ultra low infra red normal infra red and UV's in fact they can generate when ever there is light which I took to also include moon light for that's nowt but reflected sun light . They are 3d printed on film and then sealed up in a sandwich of film life expectancy about 30 years ?

The good news is even better ...... it does not use rare earth minerals so that frees us up from the Chinese strangle hold .