Just the same as with washing machines, this is one of the most common questions that repairers get asked; what we’d recommend and that’s more true of the independent repairers than any others because they’ve no real skin in the game as it were as they often don’t sell them or make anything from what people buy.
For simplicity, just as with washing machines and others, we’re breaking it into three basic sections: budget, mid-range and premium.
And again, there are no affiliate links; we make zero from doing this so what people choose to buy is not a concern or has any value to us, we’re just trying to help people buy better machines that last longer.
Therefore, these are opinions of the guys who repair machines and know them well and what they recommend.
Best Type Of Dryer?
Vented, condenser or heat pump, we mean here, and we can’t tell you that as each individual or family’s needs will differ so mileage will vary massively on this question.
What we would suggest is having a look through the other articles in this section, which we hope will shed some light for you and help you decide what will probably suit your particular needs best.
A nice video on heat pump dryers is here:
{source}<iframe width=”560″ height=”315″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/uQL8a-Xa_6k?si=YCtYCZ9jvzUYu-Rd” title=”YouTube video player” frameborder=”0″ allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share” referrerpolicy=”strict-origin-when-cross-origin” allowfullscreen></iframe>{/source}
Which strenghens out comments about performance below.
Our thoughts on heat pump dryers are here and an update article is here.
Budget Tumble Dryers
For this we regard “budget” as anything under £300 and it’s important to note that in this price range, most are not exactly exemplary for performance or durability. They’ll do the job, mostly but how well they will is open to debate.
Beko
Beko is the default budget choice for many people, and just as with the washing machines, they’re okay for the most part but don’t expect too much from them as performance is okay, build is okay and durability is okay. Generally just “okay” for the money but, it’s important to understand that phrase, “for the money”.
Blomberg
Blomberg is the same machine, just with a different look as a Beko tumble dryer with a better warranty and usually only available through independent retailers.
Hoover/Candy
Both are essentially the same and a decent choice that you can get in vented, condenser or heat pump, though we can’t speak to the performance of heat pump dryers at this price point.
Hoover and Candy are essentially the same machines with different aesthetics, both a part of the Haier Group.
Mid-Range Tumble Dryers
This encompasses machines from about £300 through to around the £600 or so mark and here you do get into better quality all round.
Bosch
Bosch makes decent machines, decent build, and they perform well. This is a solid mid-range choice, but you will pay a bit more for it and servicing can be restrictive due to Bosch’s policies. But that aside, it’s a good call.
AEG
AEG is an Electrolux brand and, like Bosch, it’s a good choice in the sector with pretty reasonable build quality, decent performance and durability.
Hisense
Decent performance, pretty good build and as these are from the same stable as Gorenje, Asko and so on they are good machines even if Hisense is a Chinese brand name unknown to a lot of people.
Service is more open than most and parts are reasonably priced from what we’ve seen.
Premium Tumble Dryers
These machines will be over £600 and many people can’t understand the need to spend that much without a long warranty or “something” to justify the cost.
We can help with that as, the build on these machines is a cut above everything else, they last way longer and will perform way better than anything that sits below them. If you want the best performance and least hassle, these are what you want.
Asko
As with the washing machines, we’ve not tested recent models, we’d love to as Asko has been out default choice for a premium brand for many years.
Just like the washing machines Asko use stainless steel drums, outstanding durability (it’s not uncommon to see 20-year-old machines), superb performance and extremely easy to use.
Repairers and virtually all owners will often gush about these machines.
There has been very little not to like with Asko but new machines from their new production facilities, we’d really need to check more fully. This is because we’ve seen a number of them at lower than we’d expect prices so, whether they are as good as older machines or not, we don’t know.
Miele
Like Asko and Miele’s washers, you can expect to get superlative performance, build and longevity but we have issues with Miele as readers will know.
Servicing and spare parts are extremely restricted and extremely expensive so, while they might not break often, when they do it will hurt financially and, you won’t have much (if any) choice on who repairs it for you.
All that said, you still get a machine that’s heaps better than anything below it price-wise.
Where This Info Comes From & More
It all comes from the repairers, through conversations and the forums where there are dedicated threads for this stuff. If you want to take part please have a look in the General Trade Forum.
For the public, if you need specific advice or recommendations, please just ask in the forums and the guys there will help if they can,