I have, and currently use, an old dumb vented drier that works fine (although it needs a new vent hose) and I also have a much newer, but still fairly basic, condensing drier that stops when stuff is dry, can have a delayed start, etc.

Which should I use?  Is the dumb one cheaper to run than the condensing drier?

(Don’t bother saying “none” – it’s not an option!)

Condensers are more efficient than vented and, being newer, will doubtless have a larger capacity too so you can dry much more in a single cycle.

I’d say the condenser.

No brainer the condenser – more efficient as it uses the latent heat of evaporation from the water vapour.

No brainer the condenser – more efficient as it uses the latent heat of evaporation from the water vapour.

Isn’t this a heat pump? AFAIK condensers just condense and don’t do anything fancy like that. Happy to be corrected though.

Vented.

All the moisture exits by the pipe. Slight increase in power usage to add more heat. Drying time reduced = saved energy over condensing.

That’s what I think anyway, comparing my vented to my other half’s condensing dryer.

If the condensing heat is warming up a room even better. Can get a bit humid tho.

Drying similar materials together saves time and energy also.

Just found this from EnergyGuide:

Vented Tumble Dryer
A 7kg vented tumble dryer uses an average 5.85kWh of electricity on each use, which is around 585kWh each year. This would lead to an average cost of £2 per use or £200 per year.

Condenser Tumble Dryer
A 7kg condenser tumble dryer uses roughly 5.6kWh of electricity for a standard cycle and roughly 560kWh per year. This would lead to an average cost of £1.90 per use or £190.40 per year.

If the condensing heat is warming up a room even better.

Our drier is in a utility room – when we had a vented one, we had to run the vent out of a window which made the room (and adjoing kitchen) cold in winter which will have added to heating costs for the house. With our newer vented one, we get the benefit of an extra bit of warmth in winter (we have never had any issues with it getting particularly humid) and in the summer we just open the window (it can get unbearable if it’s a warmer day and it gets used).

Get a monitor plug and work it out exactly for your specific machines.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=energy+monitor+plug

Condenser, especially when the temperature drops. At least the waste heat stays in the house rather than warming up outside.

In winter I put mine on delay so it warms the kitchen in time for getting up. I’ll still replace it with a heat pump one when it dies though (which it probably will soon because it’s a Hotpoint)

Isn’t this a heat pump? AFAIK condensers just condense and don’t do anything fancy like that. Happy to be corrected though.

Heatpump is entirely different surely 🤔 on our condenser I’m pretty sure the incoming cold air is preheated by the water vapour being cooled in a heat exchanger.

^ I guess it works on the same principal as a condenser combi boiler…

and in the summer we just open the window (it can get unbearable if it’s a warmer day and it gets used).

Er, obvious solution is obvious…

Er, obvious solution is obvious…

Not necessarily so.

I think he’s saying if it’s a warm day take advantage of free drying.

Generally the condenser one should be a bit less energy hungry at drying clothes than the vented but it’s fairly marginal. It’ll also depend on how good each machine is – a crap condenser one that takes ages might be worse than a good quality vented machine for your use.

The big issue in winter is the vented one is basically blowing warm air out of your house. So if you want to keep your house warm then it’s a no brainer – all of the energy that goes into the condenser unit stays in your house. That caveat is that if it’s a rubbish condenser unit and introduces at lot of moisture to your house.

The energy use between a good heat pump dryer and condenser or vented is night and day though. We chopped our old vented machine in for the most efficient Miele heat pump drier and it’s just amazing how little energy it uses. The old one used to cost £1-£2 to run a load and we’re now way less than 50p.

I think he’s saying if it’s a warm day take advantage of free drying

I know.

Ignoring the fact that we should probably be using heat pump driers – are we saying that, seeing as the condenser is much newer, nicer looking (?) and is a condenser, that I should pull it out the barn and put it into the utility room?

Does the heat of the room it’s in make a difference?
The utility is pretty warm when the old oil boiler is running so a lot of stuff gets put on a drying rack on top of the boiler.

The reason I have it is because I bought it (for £20 off ebay!) for one of my daughters 12 months ago for her student flat – she’s in Dubai now and I don’t think they have much use for tumble driers there!!

And seeing as there’s just two us in the house most of the time now we don’t really use it that much!

Does the heat of the room it’s in make a difference?
The utility is pretty warm when the old oil boiler is running so a lot of stuff gets put on a drying rack on top of the boiler.

Yes, they do significantly heat a room (with moist air). We have a small utility (probably approx 5′ x 8′) and it can get uncomfortably hot, especially in the summer. I definitely prefer our condenser to our old vented one though.