White Knight gas tumble dryer

White Knight releases 7kg carbon friendly gas tumble dryer

I’ve received a press release regarding White Knight’s 7kg “carbon friendly” gas tumble dryer.
White Knight are owned by Crosslee and have specialised in tumble dryers for many years. They usually make budget priced but decent tumble dryers. This product is of interest because it claims to have a very low carbon footprint and running costs. However, it must be remembered that it needs a gas supply to run as well as electric.

I’ve enquired as to how much it’s likely to cost to install one and was told, “on average, installation costs around £100.” This is a one off cost, but it would take several years to recoup through reduced running costs unless you are replacing a very inefficient dryer or unless you tumble dry a lot. There are A rated electric dryers with heat pumps that are not too far off the efficiency and carbon figures for this gas dryer – however, they are still “higher”, are more complex and take much longer to dry clothes so a gas tumble dryer is a viable option to consider.

According to White Knight there are several benefits of using a gas tumble dryer as opposed to an electric model.

Lowest Running Costs

Shortest Drying Times (The BG44AW is the fastest drying domestic tumble dryer in the UK – a full load dries in 60 minutes.)
Lowest Carbon Emissions

I must point out that the figures used to promote the dryer are mostly comparing with C rated tumble dryers which I was initially suspicious of but a quick look at common dryers on sale from Hotpoint, Indesit and Hoover etc show that many of their dryers are in fact only C rated (which I’m surprised at).

Here is the press release -

CO² REDUCING TUMBLE DRYER IS NOW EVEN BIGGER

British manufacturers Crosslee, Europe’s largest independent tumble dryer producers are launching their first ever 7kg capacity gas tumble dryer range. These unique products are a reaction to an increase in consumer demand for larger more powerful machines with low CO² emissions.

More than 40% of UK households use a tumble dryer and almost 4 million dryers are sold every year. Tumble dryers account for a massive 4.3% of the UK’s entire domestic energy consumption (Figures from MTP). This percentage could be significantly reduced if the UK was to convert to gas tumble drying. The Market Transformation Programme, a government funded organisation reporting on sustainable products, states that gas dryers could significantly help the government reach its CO² emission reduction targets. These simple facts helped contribute to White Knight gas dryers being backed by the Energy Savings Trust, now sporting the Trust’s Energy Efficiency Recommended logo. White Knight has also teamed up with Carbon Footprint Ltd, the company behind the carbon reducing website Carbonfootprint.co.uk. The website now highlights the massive benefits of the gas dryer by comparing its CO² emissions and running cost to an electric equivalent in their home appliance energy consumption comparison table.

Andy Stevenson at Carbon Footprint Ltd says “The new 7kg gas tumble dryer is the silent hero of CO² reduction, an extremely worthwhile product and excellent addition to our website.”

The expansion of the White Knight gas dryer range offers functions to cater for the technical needs of the energy conscious consumer. The range includes a reverse action model, working to reduce the possibility of tangled clothes leading to easy ironing. White Knight is also releasing the 7kg sensing version, automatically switching off when the selected level of dryness is reached, avoiding further unnecessary CO² emissions. Gas dryers can be faster and 2/3 cheaper to run, saving time, money and of course the environment.

Sue Wood a Maintenance and Finance Manager working for HouseMates, a Cheshire company who lets rooms in shared houses for professional people says, “I have been buying gas dryers for years, reliability is first class and they save me hundreds of pounds a year! I am very interested in the new 7kg model. I would recommend gas drying to anyone”

White Knight gas tumble dryer | Gas tumble dryer fact sheet (small pdf document)