A vented tumble dryer will work without a vent hose if it’s freestanding. However, a vented dryer, venting straight out into a room, will obviously pump lots of hot moist air into it. It will also pump out lots of small bits of fluff and lint. If the room is cold, you will get condensation on cold objects, and can get mould growing on rubber or other surfaces.
Using a vent hose on a vented tumble dryer may be inconvenient. Ideally it needs a hole knocking through an outside wall, or the hose at least needs pushing through an open window. This may sometimes be very difficult or even impossible. So, although, it is better to have one properly vented if possible you can use a dryer without one.
If fitted under a kitchen worktop it should be vented
As mentioned above, a tumble dryer running without a vent hose should be okay if the tumble dryer is freestanding. By that, I mean it is stood in a position where plenty of air can circulate all around it, and it is not boxed in. If a tumble dryer is pushed under the kitchen worktop, then it really needs to be vented.
At the very least, a vent hose should run so that the hot air vented from the dryer can exit into the room. You do not want a situation where the tumble dryer cannot suck in fresh air from the room, and cannot vent the hot steamy air into the room.
What about using an internal condenser vent hose kit?
If desperate, you could try one of those condenser vent hose kits which allow the end of the vent hose to go into a plastic container filled with water. However, my mother tried one once and it was useless. I’ve checked out reviews of them online and many people also report they are useless, but some have apparently reported they worked ok.
Summary
Vented tumble dryers ideally need to vent the hot, steamy and fluff-laden air directly outside using a properly installed venting kit. Alternatively, they need to be venting freely into a room. And ideally, which has an open window to help get rid of the hot and steamy air. A third option is to use a venting hose and place it through an open door or window to let the steam vent outside.
If it is not possible, or practical to do any of the above then as long as the dryer is not enclosed, and is, “free standing” then it should work okay just venting into a room.
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We have just returned from a holiday in France and had a great condenser tumble drier at the holiday home. It had a large water collection vessel that needed to be emptied after each cycle. It appeared to not need any venting at all and was highly effective and efficient.
We’re keen to see if we can get one but do not know if they are as a good as it seemed as we have read similar poor reviews on condenser driers.
Does anyone have any recommendations / comments – particualrly as we plan to house the drier in large kitchen.
Tom: This advice may be useful Tumble dryer buying advice
I would stick to AEG, John Lewis, Electrolux, Miele or Bosch brands.
Hi i have just bought a 3kg white knight vented dryer. It cam without a hose. So what i have done is put in in my pantry with its back to the window and the window is half open and i have left the door open. My question is will this cause mould or anything as the man who delivered it says it will be fine. Iam scared of it getting mouldy but i have used it already and so far nothing. am i safe to continue using this? I would appreciate it if u got back to me asap.
Thankyou Emma Deighan
Emma: If the walls are cold then it may cause condensation. The severity will depend on the temperature outside and it’s likely to be worse in winter.
If you have the window open it could prevent problems but it depends on several factors. If the dryer could be turned to face the window then more of the hot air could find its way outside but if not practical you’ll just need to monitor the situation.
If the walls starts getting wet you know you are likely to have issues.It may be OK, fingers crossed, black mould is likely to start slowly at first so keep an eye out for it.
Lots of spares and accessories can be hard to get, especially if the models are a few years old. The best place to buy a venting kit for the WK427 is likely to be the manufacturer themselves although there are venting kits available here – Venting kits
my Miele service engineer has just told me that using a condenser dryer in the garage is not good because they are affected by the cold/damp – is this true? it sounded like an excuse because the heater bank has needed replacing for the 2nd time in 6 months. The machine is 5 years old, has been in the garage for 4 years and has been OK up until now (just as the warranty runs out …).
Hello Rachel: Using any white goods appliance in a garage can be problematic, and is less than ideal for sure, but many thousands of people do. I have in my garage 2 upright freezers, one fridge, a washing machine and a condenser tumble dryer all of which appear to work ok.
However, during the recent extremely cold spell the water pipes to the washing machine did burst and the garage flooded. Also on our freezers the fronts often get a large wet patch of condensation as do the sides. I think this occurs when we use the washer and the tumble dryer if we don’t open the garage door to let air circulate.
I find it hard to imagine how being in a garage would cause a tumble dryer’s heater to fail. If it were mine I would want more details on exactly how it has caused the heater to fail rather than just a general, “they don’t like it in the garage” remark.
Here are some of my other articles that are relevant to appliances in garages
Many thanks – the repair was covered by warranty this time but I will certainly challenge further if it fails again. Much appreciate the advice.
Looking to purchase a tumble dryer to be used in my garage. I have heard that some do not work in cold conditions. Do you know of any that will work in really cold conditions.
The wall behind my washing machine is very wet. I have had all the plumbing replaced and there was not a problem. I have a condensor tumble dryer stacked on top. The wall behind this is dry but could this be causing the problem and if so what can I do about it.