Tumble Dryer – only the best for you

Choosing a tumble dryer as an additional appliance to one’s household should require some thought and careful consideration. It serves under the principle of drying up all the moisture from the clothes when they are loaded into the tumbler-like container and the container is rotated speed enough to process the drying. The agitation in not having extra spacing to dry clothes is totally avoided. Lot of time and energy is saved when using the tumble dryer and the need to worry about the weather is totally uncalled for. Just pop in the laundry into the dryer and the rest taken care of.

They come in both built-in and freestanding models. Freestanding models are easy to operate and moved around to power points. On the other hand, built-in tumble dryers had to be fit with special assistance to power access and should go in accord with the decor and environment. Almost all the products available in the market are the front loading models and availability of top loading tumble dryers seems to be very few.

Types of Tumble Dryers

Usually tumble dryers are broadly divided into two, the vented model and the condenser model. There is a third one which is a combination of washer-dryer wherein the dryer is quite small in size paving more way for the washer area.

Vented Tumble Dryers

These models tend to expel or release the water vapour through a hose. It is passed out through a wall vent or any other exit. The outlet is either right or left and located at the rear of the appliance should be checked before deciding upon the purchase just to make sure if it would suit your kitchen. If there is no availability of wall exits, one should be made for this purpose. The hot damp steam is passed out through the available pipes or hose which once connected does not need much maintenance. These models of vented tumble dryer whether they are free standing or integrated is much economic and consumes less energy. The running and maintenance cost is low and cheaper than that of the condenser types.

Free Standing Vented

Integrated or Built-in Vented

Condenser Tumble Dryer

The condenser tumble dryers separate and expel the moisture into a separate container. The process is done by heating the air within the container and blowing towards the tumbling laundry. This moisturized air is recycled and re-condensed to be collected in a container or tray. These models are easier to position as it does not need a vent but quite exclusively uses more electricity. Both freestanding and built-in models are available in this type of tumble dryers. Condenser models use the hot air inside the container and so dry off the clothes much quicker than the vented type. The water collected in the tray or the container can be drained and cleaned with ease and is not a big detrimental process.

Free Standing Condenser

Integrated or Built-in Condenser

Essential Features

Settings

Most of the tumble dryers be it freestanding or integrated, comes with at least a minimum of 2 individual settings for synthetics and cotton fabric. Few models have the extra option for drying the very delicate materials like silk, satin, etc.

Sensors

Modern top of the range tumble dryers have a refreshingly new built in intelligence feature, the heat sensors which determine the exact time the laundry is dry. One can also select the best programme to initiate the drying process depending on the need. Iron dry allows the clothes to retain some amount of dampness which helps in easy ironing and the hanger dry facilitates the right amount of dryness so that the clothes can be left in hangers to dry without much creasing. For clothing which one prefers to wear straight from the cupboard, the extra dry setting is extremely useful.

Timer

Naturally the timer setting in a tumble dryer like all other appliances, allow having a personal choice of timing in allowing the machine to run. The timer settings vary from 80 to 160 minutes and a machine with a more generous time setting gives the user more peace. Some of them have extra time to dry out heavy loads like duvets. A temperature setting makes it easier to determine the drying needs of delicate clothing. The delay timer option allows operating the dryer at the absence of the user. The exact timing to start, the type of drying and the automatic time switch off makes life much easier in the busy life style of today.

Other features

A fluff filter which is nothing but a large filter of mesh helps air circulation and keeps the fabric clean and fresher. Both the filter and the reservoir weight indicator is a helpful feature. The user becomes familiar with the right number of clothing that could be dried at one single stretch. The tumble dryers usually are accompanied with large doors which are specifically designed to have a wider opening. This helps in loading and unloading the tumble dryer more easily. The specially integrated heat sensors automatically switch it off when the clothes are sufficiently dry as per the requirement.

The reverse tumbling feature found in the tumble dryer rotates both clockwise and anti-clockwise that is highly useful as it helps the clothes to separate without tangling into each other. This is good for quick drying and removing. If the tumble dryer is equipped with an anti-crease setting, ironing is made real easy.

Energy Efficiency

Most of the domestic tumble dryer manufacturers grade their model from A-G depending upon their energy efficiency and the drying performance. As in all other appliances, A is the most efficient and G relates to the least. Some rate their models with AAA and also with colour ratings of red, amber and green codes. Even if the A rated models are high on the expense side, they very well compensate in consumption of electricity compared to that of the G model which is cheaper.

Load capacity

All the models have their weight capacity indicated which helps selecting the exact appliance required. Small families can have models between 3-5 kg and medium sized families opt for 4-7 kg. Extremely large families or if the tumble dryers is used for heavy loads bigger models till 10 kg are available. The weight of an appliance is determined by the size of the drum and the weight it can hold.

Capacity (in kg)	Equivalence to type and number of dresses
3 kg	15 T-shirts or 4 pair of jean pants
4 kg	20 T-shirts or 5 days of shirts, trousers and underwears
5 kg	25 T-shirts or about 6 extra large towels
6kg	30 T-shirts or equal to 8 pairs of jean pants
7 kg	35 T-shirts or 3 adult bathrobes and 2 big towels
8 kg	40 T-shirts or large duvet covers, bed sheets and pillow covers for 3 single beds and 1 king size bed
9 kg	45 T-shirts or 12 pairs of jeans pants
10 kg	50 T-shirts or 13 extra large towels