Vented Tumble Dryer – Miele or Zanussi?

Hi. 🙂

It is me again! 🙂

I have tried to read up as much as possible on here about getting a new vented tumble dryer to replace our elderly Creda compact from the 1970s. 🙂

I recently purchased a Miele Premier 520 (£480) washing machine, which fantastic. We need to buy a new dryer, but we really only need to use the dryer from about October to March every other day or so. The dryer will be placed in our brick porch that is on the front of our house, and this is secured by our front door.

The temperature never falls below 11 degrees Celsius or so in there, even in freezing weather, and the porch is double-glazed and the cupboard where the dryer will go is brick and concrete-lined all around. At present, there is a freezer in there that has been running for twelve years without fail, but we would instead like to put a dryer in there instead. There is a large square air brick in there for ventilation, with plenty of room for adding a vent (for the expelled air of course). It is not draughty in there.

Seeing as we will only be using this dryer for a few months (weeks?!) in every year, is there any real need for us to get a Miele T 7734 at around £580 (http://www.miele.co.uk/Products/Features.aspx?pid=110)? I know Mieles not only offer reliability – and a five-year warranty with that one – but also good performance, but do you honestly believe we need such a premium dryer? We already have the Miele washing machine, as well as a Miele fridge that is fantastic because it has lots of room and more shelves that other fridges do not have, but we do not wish to assume that Miele is always necessary. At other times, it will never be used for months on end, although we will attempt to have it running every week or so if that is necessary to prevent any problems. What should we do with the dryer when it is not used? I assume leave the door ajar and perhaps use it every week with a few damp cloths inside.

The alternative is a Zanussi TDE4235W at just over £200 (http://www.zanussi-electrolux.co.uk/node39.asp?ProdId=15885). I do take Which? comments with a pinch of salt, but I know Zanussi dryers, even far cheaper ones, score well in tests, and I do believe I have read on here on more than more occasion that a Miele washer but a Zanussi dryer may be the best choice for our family. The Miele washer goes on once a day; the dryer will be idle all the time except every other day or so between October and March. At all other times of the year, the dryer will not be used at all. We purchased the Miele washer because there was not a huge difference in prices between it and Zanussi, Bosch, etc., at our dealer, and it is regularly used and so should pay for itself in time.

The only thing that concerns me is the guarantee periods, with Zanussi only offering one year but Miele offering five years (parts, labour and call-out) at the moment. What if the Zanussi fails with less than a year’s use because we will hardly use it? However, if the Zanussi does fail and needs a repair, we would still not be paying anywhere near the nearly £600 for a Miele. Whatever we get, we will be going to our local independent dealer that we have known for years, and we know one of the staff members personally. (Yes – they hate anything Indesit-based! ;-))

Cost is not a major concern because we do want to have a quality machine, but we do wonder if a Miele really will be necessary in this case. If we were to use a dryer daily, then I would guess a Miele would be a better choice given the extra demands placed on it that might result in a Zanussi running daily failing sooner. Although I know many of you do not pay great attention the energy ratings, both come up with a C rating, although I believe the Miele is quite a bit faster than the Zanussi. (Our Miele washer is very fast, too.) My only other worry is performance: will the Miele really do a far better job of drying than the Zanussi? Both machines can be used automatically (with sensor programmes for different fabrics) or using a manual timer, and both are 6kg machines (although the Miele apparently has a couple of extra litres of space! :lol:).

If you could suggest whether I should go for a Miele or Zanussi dryer, I would be very grateful. 🙂 The Zanussi appears to include the venting kit, but that appears to be a separate kit with the Miele, although I do not know if this costs extra. I assume it does, pushing the price beyond £600.

Thank you for your help now and in the recent past. 🙂

Regards,

Carl 🙂