Heat pump dryer: around 400 euros to cut your ironing

A 400-euro dryer: what to buy and what to really expect

The question that opens every purchase is always the same: does the laundry come out ironed? The short answer is no. The useful answer is that, used properly, a dryer eliminates a good part of the ironing, and that's the argument that really drives the purchase. A starting budget of around 400 euros is enough for a heat pump condenser dryer with an A+ rating, or even A++ if you catch a sale.

The first point of consensus is technical: if you can, a vented dryer uses less energy, but it requires running a hose to the outside. A heat pump model is the most common option when there's no duct: it condenses the water into a tank or sends it down the drain. Watch out for the heat. A condenser dryer without a heat pump blows out hot air; with a heat pump, cool air. In a small kitchen, you notice it in summer.

Does it leave clothes wrinkle-free, or will you still have to iron?

Here the nuance matters. Shirts don't come out as if they'd been ironed, and if you put them in crumpled up, the drying sets the creases. What does work is spinning hard in the washing machine, not over-drying, and folding the clothes while still warm, smoothing them out by hand. Some claim this removes 90% of the ironing. Others go further: they toss in three or four garments for a few minutes, until they're hot but damp, and hang them up stretched out.

The running cost calculation is the key economic factor. An A++ model used during off-peak hours barely shows on the bill, according to owners' experience. A cheaper A+ model, like the Beko DPU 7360X, was bought for 363 euros with shipping. A Balay A++ came out at 540 euros including delivery and installation. And a Bosch was found for 350 euros at an online Andorran store when a big-box retailer was charging 599.

The drying rack problem and northern humidity

Geography decides. In humid coastal areas, laundry can take days to dry in winter, and the drying rack ends up permanently in the living room. There, a dryer stops being a luxury. In the south, with sunshine and well-oriented apartments, many see no point in one. The budget alternative is a fan plus a portable drying rack, but it has a serious flaw: it releases the moisture into the air of your home.

The Turkish brand Beko comes up as the best value-for-money option right now: it's not a house brand, it has been selling abroad for years and, according to one forum user, made the first heat pump dryers. The reasonable doubt is durability, because it has only been selling under its own name in Spain for a short time.

The sticking point: nobody has measured how much the electricity bill rises with real-world use, and opinions on build quality and wrinkles remain just that, opinions.