Vented tumble drier- Worth making a hole in the wall for?

Vented tumble drier- Worth making a hole in the wall for?

Author
Discussion

Hustle_

Original Poster:

25,204 posts

167 months

Thursday
quotequote all
I need a tumble drier. I'd prefer vented because they're quicker and less of a faff. However I don't want to mess with the window to get the pipe out. Location is the house's original kitchen, now a utility room. So options are to have someone core drill a hole in the side of the house or just get a slower, less efficient? condenser type drier.

Am I overthinking this? Almost certainly. Just get a condenser right?

If anyone wants to recommend a drier I have an 8kg washing machine.. No particular features or characteristics required.

ooo000ooo

2,585 posts

201 months

Thursday
quotequote all
Just get a condenser/heat pump drier.

Lotobear

7,145 posts

135 months

Thursday
quotequote all
Just faced this as we moved into a new build in the last few months and the assumption is everyone has a condenser drier now.

I opted to put a duct through the wall as I prefer to keep things simple. You can hire a core cutter fairly cheap (I borrowed from a tame builder friend) just make sure your drill is >800w and has a clutch!

Trustmeimadoctor

13,501 posts

162 months

Thursday
quotequote all
simple but cost more to run than a heat pump dryer

Lotobear

7,145 posts

135 months

Thursday
quotequote all
True but a vented drier is a lot cheaper to buy and has less to go wrong, and when you already have one that's less than a year old dumping it and buying a new drier made no sense for me.

brake fader

422 posts

42 months

Thursday
quotequote all
i have had both and opted to put hole in wall and vent outside much better and dries clothes faster. Condenser was rubbish in my opinion.

ooo000ooo

2,585 posts

201 months

Thursday
quotequote all
Lotobear said:
Just faced this as we moved into a new build in the last few months and the assumption is everyone has a condenser drier now.

I opted to put a duct through the wall as I prefer to keep things simple. You can hire a core cutter fairly cheap (I borrowed from a tame builder friend) just make sure your drill is >800w and has a clutch!
I bought a cheap one on ebay for about £15, i already had an sds drill. Took a while as the walls were 1950's clinker block or poured concrete or something seriously tough.

Wacky Racer

38,979 posts

254 months

Thursday
quotequote all
Vented tumble driers went out with Betamax videos.

Just get a condensing one.

biggrin

Trustmeimadoctor

13,501 posts

162 months

Thursday
quotequote all
Wacky Racer said:
Vented tumble driers went out with Betamax videos.

Just get a *condescending* one.

biggrin

Countdown

42,026 posts

203 months

Thursday
quotequote all
My dad is a dab hand at DIY and did the core drilling for our vented TD at our previous house. As long as you know how to drill a hole it looks pretty straightforward. Just make sure the exit hose doesn't get kinked.

When we moved to our new place there wasn't really a suitable place to put it so I suggested the garage (which is relatively draughty). However this meant condesnsation on the garage walls which Mrs C wasn't happy with. In the end we put a dehumidifier in the garage and that seems to work exceptionally well. (The garage gets nice and warm whilst remaining dry)

Baldchap

8,369 posts

99 months

Thursday
quotequote all
I think a lot of dryers these days are both. Our condenser dryer has the option to vent.

Apparently a lot of people use the water in their iron as it's scented by the detergent.


JoshSm

371 posts

44 months

Thursday
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You don't necessarily need to core drill, the other option is 204mm rectangular duct, a brick vent on the outside and a round to rectangular adapter somewhere on the inside.

It's fairly easy to remove a single brick on the outside then put the duct through the inner, and it's all fairly tidy and non obvious once done. And no big core drill needed.

OutInTheShed

9,352 posts

33 months

Thursday
quotequote all
Hustle_ said:
I need a tumble drier. I'd prefer vented because they're quicker and less of a faff. However I don't want to mess with the window to get the pipe out. Location is the house's original kitchen, now a utility room. So options are to have someone core drill a hole in the side of the house or just get a slower, less efficient? condenser type drier.

Am I overthinking this? Almost certainly. Just get a condenser right?

If anyone wants to recommend a drier I have an 8kg washing machine.. No particular features or characteristics required.
Condensing dryers are more efficient in terms of kWh per load of wet clothes.
Heat pump dryers better still, but slow?

We have a condensing dryer, but still have a hole in the wall, with an extractor fan.

Belle427

9,741 posts

240 months

Yesterday (07:30)
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We run a condenser for pipe exit issues, had a beko for 3 years which was crap but the new hoover one bought a month ago seems much more efficient.
Wasn't too hung up on brand names really as they all generally seem to last around 5 years in my experience.
Has an easy to empty tank on the door but can be permanently piped to waste so you don't have to.
Not sure how many have the pipe to waste option tbh, the beko didn't from memory.

Hol

8,722 posts

207 months

Yesterday (07:36)
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brake fader said:
i have had both and opted to put hole in wall and vent outside much better and dries clothes faster. Condenser was rubbish in my opinion.
My experience also.

Also my son has recently moved into a new build flat which has a non vented dryer and commented straight away that it wasn’t as good, but he’s stuck with it because of the floor plan.

119

9,554 posts

43 months

Yesterday (07:39)
quotequote all
We bought a heat pump dryer and blocked the hole up.

Vented tumble dryers cost a small fortune to run plus you have a massive hole in the wall to let the cold in.

Madness imo!

The Gauge

3,209 posts

20 months

Yesterday (08:17)
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We have a condensing tumble drier but one that also has a pipe/tube for the water to exit if needed. I've fed the pipe into the washing machine waste water outlet so I never have to empty water from the tumble drier cassette. Emptying the cassette is so council biggrin

Rough101

2,295 posts

82 months

Yesterday (08:24)
quotequote all
Heat pump is the way to go, ours is using less than half the juice of the previous condensing unit and doesn’t really take any longer. You can also safely dry delicates as it’s warm, not hot air and dehumidification it works with.

The proof it works is that it doesn’t heat up the freezing utility room like the previous ones did and also doesn’t release any condensation. A vented one just pushes all the heat outside.

PeterTTT

82 posts

133 months

Yesterday (08:42)
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If you really are sold on vented then get a hole in wall.
However, the advice to get heat pump is worth considering.
I was a heat pump dryer sceptic but I got one last year when my vented drier finally gave up.
Takes a little bit longer to dry but loads cheaper to run, kinder to clothes (lower heat) and my one drains into waste pipe so no worry re emptying tanks etc.


B5mike

438 posts

156 months

Yesterday (09:01)
quotequote all
Heat pump dryers are infinitely better - kinder on clothes, much lower energy usage and they don't take much longer if you buy a newer / better model.
As for cutting a hole in the wall of a new house, this would be a negative if I was buying a house that had this done to it - damaging building fabric and insulation.