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Beko DRCS76B Condenser Tumble Dryer
by Callee
Having three young daughters and a husband in the house means one thing, dirty clothes and plenty of them. It has always been a chore of mine washing, drying then ironing only to find those same nicely laundered clothes lying on the floor next to the washing basket the very next day.
When my last dryer broke I knew I would ... need another good quality one and this Beko condenser sensor dryer looked ideal for me.
Product description
The condenser dryer is a glossy black with a large square door on the front, at the top right you have your control panel and the top left is the water tank. Inside the door there is a lint filter (commonly known in our house as the fluff tray) and at the bottom you have your condenser and water tank cover.
The height of the dryer is 85.0cm, width 59.5cm, depth 54cm, weight 38kg and you can load a whopping 7kg of wet clothes in there although I don't think I have ever put that amount as it would take so long to dry, not to mention the cost of electricity.
There is an auxiliary function,warning indicators, time delay and a progress of programme light which lets you know what stage of drying you are at.
You can also set it so the alarm goes off when it has finished drying.
You are supposed to clean the lint filter after every use but I get a few loads of drying done before I do this as the fluff goes everywhere. You also have to empty the water tank after each load but there is a light that will let you know when the water tank is full or if your filter needs cleaning.
When the dryer arrives it comes with an instruction booklet advising you of approximate drying times depending on load although I generally use the same setting every time. It has different settings including freshen up, delicates, rapid dry, shirts, jeans, ready to iron, ready to wear, cupboard dry and extra dry. It also has synthetics or cottons or alternatively you can choose a timed setting of 60 minutes, 40 minutes, 20 minutes and 10 minutes.
I generally use my washing line but due to the very unpredictable weather here in the north west of England this isn't always possible so this dryer was a necessity for me. I find that a normal load does take quite some time to dry and I had to have a repair carried out within the first year of purchase as the drum itself began 'banging' and 'squeaking'. I must say the repairman did a great job and replaced the drum but then a couple of weeks later (just when the guarantee ran out) I noticed black marks appearing on my clothes. This has now put me off and I tend to turn all clothes inside out to dry as I worry it may happen again.
Overall I do like the look and design of this condenser dryer and it does the job it is needed for but I think when I need another I personally wouldn't choose this again.
I purchased mine from Very at a cost of £299.00.
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Miele T284 Novotronic
by Doglovers
I don't know why, but we don't have much luck with appliances and over the years I have had a variety of tumble driers , most of which have packed up just when they are out of the guarantee period or have lasted less than 2 years.
So when our last one packed in I did a lot of research and decided to invest in a Miele T 284 ... Novotronic as it came up as a Which best buy and reading around the reviews of Miele sounded like a brand that could be relied upon.
Miele say that all Miele appliances will give exceptional performance and are tested for up to 20 years of average use.
The Product
This is a freestanding vented model that can dry a maximum load of 6kg . We had a bit of an issue with the venting as the hose position on this dryer was in a different place to our previous model . That meant we had or should I say my husband had to knock another hole in the wall so the hose would fit.
We tried putting it through the original hole but that affected the sensor and the clothes would not dry. So something to be aware of and something I had not considered as all our previous models had the hose position in the same place.
I don't know whether the drying sensor would work if you hung the hose out of a window so I would not recommend this unless you can vent the steam through a wall opening as the hose is positioned at the bottom of the machine. Especially as the longest toimed programme is only 30 minutes.
I was a bit concerned about relying on a sensor to determine when the clothes are dry, but this is not an issue with this dryer once you have the hose in the correct position.
This is quite a large dryer and the dimensions are Height 85cm Width 59.5cm and depth 58cm.
It is white and the door is also white so it does not have the usual porthole design. I like this as it looks neater in my opinion. But what I like best about this dryer is the door opening is very large and that means this can easily fit a king size quilt, so I am able to wash and dry mine at home, albeit it is a tight squeeze.
Miele also claim that the finish on the dryer is anti-yellow so should not change colour over time.
This is graded C on the energy efficiency scale of A to G, with A being the most efficient. So not the best but towards the top end.
Drying Programmes
This has various programmes and you simply turn the programmes selector to the required programme. The only other switches are On/Off and Door Open, so this is fairly simple to operate.
During drying a panel of lights will indicate which stage the programme has reached in the sequence. This includes a cooling down stage and an anti-crease function.
I use about three of the programmes which include Normal and Low temperature and a 30 minute timed programme.
In addition you can set this to let you know when the cycle has ended. This is described as a buzzer, but be warned it is an extremely loud and shrill intermittent beep, which never fails to make me jump . It is very irritating so I tend not to use it.
I think the noise level during the drying operation is average , if possible it could be quieter but I have had much noisier dryers.
This comes with full instructions for all the possible programme combinations , but I use Normal for towels cottons and fabrics that can be dried on a high temperature. Low temperature for things I think might shrink at the higher temperature, so unnatural fibres and T shirts mainly.
I personally don't put woollens in the tumble drier , but there is a programme to do that. I also use the 30 minute programme to finish drying some things that the drier fails to sense are not dry.
Other programmes include one where the load is iron dry , which I guess means slightly damp so better for ironing . As I don't tend to iron straight away, I don't use this combination of programmes. Plus there is a programme that minimises the amount of ironing required.
There isn't much that it doesn't dry properly and I find the sensor really effective. There are a couple of thing such as a large thick bath mat or duvets. Also I don't always sort the washing properly so there may be a mix of fabrics and weights and the odd thing may be still slightly damp.
Mostly this dries perfectly at high and low temperatures .
It will dry 6kg of laundry and there is a guide to let you know what that is. The maximum load varies depending on the drying cycle . After using this for a while you will discover what the best load is as if you overload it does not dry as efficiently. I have no idea what everything weighs so I guess and go on a combination of volume and weight. For example I would not fill up with towels , but would probably put more sheets in as they weigh less.
Performance is excellent on this drier and I have found that because it senses when the washing is dry, my energy consumption is less than with a timed dryer. It seems to dry quicker than any other model I have used.
I also find that as the drum is so large the load does not seem to tangle as much. Odd times large sheets sometimes twist up , but I think that is more about me just bunging them in unevenly.
The drum is very smooth and has suffered no ill effects from the items that fall out of pockets during drying. They include drill bits , paper clips, screws and nuts and bolts, but despite my husbands best efforts the drum is still intact
Cleaning is fairly easy. The fluff filter is in the door and removes easily for taking the fluff out and it is fairly easy to take out ant fluff that is caught in the door either with a brush or a vacuum attachment.
Would I Recommend
This is a great drier it is easy to load and unload and is great for drying larger items. I particularly like that I can dry my duvets as I like to wash them regularly. They are probably slightly too large for this dryer, but if you move the quilt around periodically then it will be almost dry and I finish off by hanging outside or over the banister. That has saved me a fortune in cleaning bills. Sensor drying has also saved on energy as the machine stops as soon as it senses no moisture left. This works perfectly if you load properly and only seems to fail on a couple of things I dry that are really thick fabrics- bathmats and waistband on thick jogging pants. On previous models with time drying it was always a matter of guesswork and the machine would continue even if the clothes were bone dry. So I like that I am only using what is necessary to dry my washing.
The build quality is very good and the machine has not yellowed as promised. What I did notice was the machine did feel like a better quality product than the one it replaced. Not something I would say about other appliances which seem to get flimsier when you replace them.
I use this constantly as I always tumble dry towels as I like them to be soft and fluffy and with our weather it isn't always easy to dry outside particularly as I work full time, so I often find I have to use this even during the Summer.
I have also found that as the drum on this is so large clothes come out less creased and quite a lot need no ironing, so a massive bonus as I hate ironing.
As we don't seem to have much luck with appliances I am really pleased that this is still going strong after approximately 4 years, which is a record for us.
It is an older model but can still be found if you shop online. Which had this as a best buy and it has lived up to that. So I will definitely buy another Miele again.
I believe we paid around £500 for this around 4 to 5 years ago . It is discontinued but can still be purchased from eBay and currently Discount Electronics have this on sale for £465.
5 stars from me.
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Zanussi ZDC37100W
by heuchera
This is a pretty good basic tumble dryer. It's a condenser dryer, hence you can stand the appliance pretty much anywhere you like in the house, as there's no outlet pipe to consider. I would say it's fairly noisy when it's running, and it puts out a fair amount of heat into the room.
There are two basic functions on the ... machine: the dial for the amount of time you want the laundry to dry for, and the heat setting (cottons, synthetics or delicates). For those not used to condenser dryers, the minimum drying time is 30 minutes, and the dial goes up in ten-minute increments after that, to a maximum of 150 minutes. I find a normal-weight batch of clothes takes about 75-80 minutes, and bedding or towels maybe 90 minutes +. It beeps when it's finished drying and cooling, and will continue to beep for a few minutes until you switch the dryer off.
The condenser itself needs washing periodically, and the indicator light should come on to prompt you to do this. The filters also need cleaning after every use, as with any tumble dryer. Just as an aside, the water collected in the water reservoir is actually very good for watering houseplants!
Manufacturer guarantee is only for one year, which suggests this is a basic, lower-end product, but I have found it to be a useful appliance which more than suits my needs. I've had mine for over two years now.
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