Condenser dryer or vented dryer which is best?

When buying a new tumble dryer, you need to decide which type is best for you. You can either buy a classic, vented tumble dryer, or a condenser dryer. As you’d expect, there are pros and cons for both. This article will help you to understand the differences — including reliability and repair implications.

Condenser tumble dryers are popular, and more common these days, but vented dryers still have some advantages and conveniences, which you should consider before deciding which type is for you.

What is the difference between a vented dryer and a condenser tumble dryer?

The main difference, is how they deal with the hot, steamy air that drying creates. Vented dryers “vent” the hot damp air out as steam and fluff. This air should ideally be vented outside. Condenser dryers, conveniently condense the steam back to water instead. They then either collect, or pump out, the water.

Vented dryers are relatively simple appliances, whereas condenser dryer have a lot more parts and are more complicated. This inevitably affects reliability.

A vented dryer can cause a lot of condensation. So a venting kit is required to pump the hot damp air outside. It can pump this air either through an open window, (not ideal in winter when it’s very cold), or directly through an outside wall. The latter needs a large hole drilling through, and a kit fixing to attach the vent hose to. A venting tube, which either hangs out of a window or fixes permanently to a wall fixing kit may not even come with the dryer and might be an optional extra.

Condenser dryers just divert the hot damp air into a condensing chamber instead. It condenses the steam back into water and is collected in a plastic drawer. This drawer has to be manually emptied after each use. But it is possible to optionally plumb in many condenser dryers so that the water goes to a drain.

Which type of dryer is best?

It’s not possible to say one is definitely better than the other. It all depends on your requirements. But if you learn what their differences are, you can make an informed choice. So, there are pros and cons for both.

Vented dryers are cheaper to buy. They are also simpler, more reliable, and mostly more economical to run. Consumer group Which? once said, “on average, vented tumble dryers use about a fifth less energy than condenser dryers to dry a full load of cottons”. Though may no longer be true with the new heat pump tumble dryers. However, heat pump tumble dryers take a lot longer to dry laundry, and have their own pros & cons (discussed later).

So why bother with a condenser tumble dryer?

Although condenser dryers are more expensive and complex, they offer great convenience in exchange. They offer a solution to a genuine problem for some people for whom venting a dryer outside is difficult or impossible. Or if they don’t want the hassle and expense of knocking a hole through a wall for the vent, or hanging the venting tube out of a window (Can you use a tumble dryer without a vent hose?)

You may also want a more sophisticated dryer, with more features. Vented dryers are arguably primitive in comparison, but their relative cheapness and better reliability means they still sell plenty of them. They work well, and do the job as they have done for decades.

What about super energy efficient heat pump tumble dryers?

We now have a third type of dryer. Heat pump dryers are condenser dryers with a heat pump that looks just like a fridge compressor. They recycle otherwise lost heat, and are much cheaper to run. So it’s no longer accurate to say vented dryers use the least electricity. Heat pump dryers can be remarkably economical. One example I found quoted running costs of only £37 a year.

So should I buy a heat pump tumble dryer?

They are the cheapest to run and have the convenience of not needing a vent hose. The downside to these highly efficient heat pump dryers is greatly increased drying times. They are also much more expensive to buy, and more mechanically complicated. We have had 2 different brands of heat pump dryer in our household now. They may be cheap to run, but they take a long time to dry. This is the compromise. By recycling lost heat, the dryer is often not that hot, but it’s using “free” heat, so it just takes longer to dry laundry.

So you should look at how long it might take to get the extra purchase costs back in reduced running costs. In one example, Which? said it could be up to 7 years before the savings in running costs paid back the extra purchasing costs. However, prices do seem to be falling, and energy prices are rising.

Condenser dryers

Below are some pros & cons of vented and condenser dryers. Remember, it’s not about which has the most pros or least cons. It’s about understanding them and deciding which is best for you. Also, remember that heat pump dryers are condenser dryers with an added heat pump. Their pros and cons are similar to a normal condenser dryer with the main difference of being even more expensive, taking longer to dry, but being the cheapest of all to run.

So those are the disadvantages of each type of tumble dryer as I see them. Remember that not all advantages and disadvantages are necessarily equal. The following, much longer list, highlights the disadvantages of each type of dryer –

Vented

• Needs a venting hose (often bizarrely as optional extra)
• Vent hose ideally needs installing to vent through an outside wall (or pushed through a window)
• The flexible venting hose can be awkward to deal with, they are sometimes either not long enough to reach a window, or too long to vent directly outside behind the dryer. If vented at the back of the dryer, the vent hose needs cutting down, otherwise it kinks and traps fluff and water. But having done that, the dryer can then (depending on siting) be awkward to get out and then refit.
• The vent hose is usually delicate and easily damaged, so it can wear or tear easily, causing leakage of fluff and damp air
• If not straight, the vent hose can trap fluff, and even water, causing loss of function and overheating

Condenser

• More expensive to buy
• They have a lot more parts, some of which can be relatively difficult to get to, and require a complete strip down to reach. Replacing a belt for example can be extremely difficult – or impossible as a diy repair
• Less well-made models can still let some damp air escape into a room and cause some condensation or mould
• They are more complicated, with more to go wrong than on a vented dryer although overall, tumble dryers are relatively reliable
• They can have several filters, some not so obvious. So if not looked after by regular cleaning of all the filters, and cleaning the condenser chamber and water reservoir they can quickly become inefficient and cost more to run, or break down