wrote:

Hi All,

We are probably going to invest in a condensing (or maybe heat pump
condensing (is it another name for the same thing??).

This is because the only space we have left in the house where we could
locate a tumble drier has no outside wall, or easy way to get a
conventional vent out.

The plan would be not to connect it to a drain, but to keep Emptying the
water out tank.

Am I right in thinking that used like this the only connection required is
electricity in? (No other inputs and no outputs).

Or do they need anything else?

TIA

Chris

Condensing tumble dryers don't need an air vent. They do need a little
more cleaning (to remove lint from the condenser) but IME they work
well. They don't necessarily use a heat pump (see below) but they have
a heat exchanging condenser to remove the water in the exhaust air by
cooling it with incoming air. They do need excess water emptying, but
some can be plumbed to a drain rather than using a tank which has to be
carried to the sink. Get one with intermittent drum reverse (see
below).

However, I now have a Bosch one that I believe has a heat pump. A Bosch
Ecologixx 7, WTW86562GB. This cleans its own condenser, which is good,
except there seems no easy way to check it has done it properly.

This presumably has excellent ecological credentials, because it saves
electricity by apparently making no attempt whatsoever to dry clothes.
It seems not to raise air temperature above ambient (though i suppose it
may be drier) and takes at least three hours to dry a sock. It is the
most useless expensive piece of junk I have ever purchased. It least it
keeps a basketful of clothes out of the way for a few hours, I suppose.
It also doesn't have reverse tumbling, so it irretrievably wraps up
sheets or duvet covers into a solid undriable ball. Intermittent
reversing is *essential* for a tumble drier, so it never occurred to me
that it might not do it.

There may be better choices with heat pmps, but in this machine any
electricity the heat pump saves is undoubtedly wasted by the drum motor
running for days on end to attempt any kind of passive drying.




--

Roger Hayter