Tumble dryer energy rating

[IHarding]

Unlike most appliances, there is a huge difference between the A- and B-rated tumble dryers that I’ve seen. A-rated using less than half the energy per cycle for an equivalent load.

I read the buying guide on this site. Is the information still relevant? Are the only A-rated dryers based on relatively new and unproven heat pump technology? Is there another factor here that’s not obvious from the manufacturer-supplied figures?

We’re not planning to buy a dryer until the autumn, and as we already have an ISE10 washing machine, were considering the ISE dryer, but as this is only B-rated it would be a lot more expensive to run than the most efficient machines currently available. The saleswoman in John Lewis told me that they are bringing out a new own-badged range later this year which will all be A-rated.

Thanks,
Ian

[kwatt]

Re: Tumble dryer energy rating

Hi Ian,

I might need to bust some myths here. 😉

The ISE CD601 uses, on average under test, 1.41kW per cycle to dry clothes.

So, that’s about 11-15p depending on your supplier’s pricing usually.

If you save 70{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} of that and, that’s a wild assumption, then you’re looking at 7-8p per load dried.

You need to do an awful lot of drying to justify the extra cost of a heat pump dryer. That’s why I’d usually only recommend them where there is a requirement to do a lot and, I do mean a LOT of drying as, otherwise I can’t really see it being justifiable in a domestic setting.

ISE might be doing one next year but it would be primarily for the light commercial arena, pubs, hairdressers etc where the machines are on often enough to justify the additional cost and you’d actually save money.

For most people in a normal home though, I doubt most would even notice the few pounds a year that is saved on the electricity bill if that’s the reason for looking at one.

HTH

K.

[IHarding]

Re: Tumble dryer energy rating

So energy rating is not the full story; doesn’t surprise me!

Picking one model from the John Lewis web site, the Siemens WT46W566GB A-rated dryer has energy consumption of 1.9KWh/cycle. If the ISE dryer only uses 1.41KWh/cycle on average that justifies the very small extra purchase price even before taking build quality and lifespan into account. A lot less fancy technology to go wrong too 😀

Thanks for your help
Ian

[Author]

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