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arethuza

"Adding a dryer is very costly"

Condenser dryers are pretty easy to install - all you need is an electrical outlet.

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Very cool that these exists. I had no idea. But I'm just your typical stupid American.

However, it looks like they're about 3x the cost of a vented dryer.

And smaller capacity than vented ones.

> Ventless dryers also take longer to get your clothes dry. A vented dryer might finish a Normal load in about 45-50 minutes, but a condenser or heat pump dryer could run for an hour and a half. Want to dry a bulky blanket or comforter? You could be waiting more than three hours.

http://laundry.reviewed.com/features/everything-you-need-to-...

I've never waited 3 hours for our dryer to dry anything - in fact even a heavy blanket doesn't take more than an hour.

Do you live in a humid climate? I wonder if that impedes on the dry time at all (having to dry out the air before drying out the clothes drying in the air).

Scotland - I wouldn't say "humid" - just miserably damp. :-|

Maybe it's the 240V mains supply?

We send 240V to our dryers here, too.

Yes, but it's a "special" circuit that has to be wired specifically for that purpose.

That really shouldn't matter, though. 240V input is 240V input.

This thread is about placing clothes dryers in living quarters that weren't built for such equipment. In your own house, out in the countryside, you're welcome to wire the neutral leg of a normal 120V circuit to the other side of a double breaker to create a magical 14-gauge 240V clothes dryer circuit. You'd be well advised to keep a fire extinguisher handy, however. If you try to sell or rent that space (or if your house is located in an incorporated town or city), you'll be breaking some of the more reasonable laws we have in this country.

Our discussion was about possible reasonings behind the supposed wait times introduced by a condenser dryer in said article. One hypothesized it was because of a more efficient heating element, which used more power. Also common wall voltage not in the US. I simply let them know that wall voltage for dryers is the same in the US as it is for them.

I also had no idea what you meant by "special" circuit.

There are plenty of appliances that require more than 120V, and operate safely at these voltages.

A licensed electrician can be hired to perform the work to add a 240 volt circuit in a legal fashion, no need to be alarmist.

That there is little incentive for landlords to spend money maintaining their property under various rent-control schemes is the real cause for issue.

I should have specified "traditional dryer." New tech is pretty interesting, I didn't know they existed, but then again I don't pay much attention to dryers other than my own and my own needs ventilation to the outside and a special plug. Price would certainly be an issue in a lower cost rental unit.

Also RE: "much less appealing," should have specified "much less appealing to a prospective tenant than a washer/dryer combo thus wouldn't command higher rent thus isn't worth a landlord's time and money even if space is available right next to the sink for a cheap install." Line drying is much more common in other parts of the world.

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