Tumble dryer reviews: Reliability

95%The score achieved by the most reliable brand this year

We survey thousands of Which? members ever years about any problems they've had with their home appliances so we can find out which brands are the most reliable. Here we reveal which are the most reliable tumble dryer brands that should give you unrivalled service.

There are two brands that achieved the highest score in this year's survey, with reliability scores of 95% - the table below reveals which they are. Brands including Miele, Bosch, White Knight, Beko, Siemens, Hotpoint and Indesit are all featured.

Reliable tumble dryer brands

For an at-a-glance guide to the best and worst tumble dryer brands according to our reliability survey, Which? members can log in to unlock the score table below. If you're not already a member, you can sign up to try out full access for one month, for just £1. Once you've discovered the best brand for you, go straight to our our in-depth tumble dryer reviews area to find the best model.

Tumble dryers Which? reliability index
BrandScoreRating
AEG/AEG ElectroluxSubscriber only contentSubscriber only content
BekoSubscriber only contentSubscriber only content
BoschSubscriber only contentSubscriber only content
HooverSubscriber only contentSubscriber only content
HotpointSubscriber only contentSubscriber only content
IndesitSubscriber only contentSubscriber only content
John LewisSubscriber only contentSubscriber only content
MieleSubscriber only contentSubscriber only content
SiemensSubscriber only contentSubscriber only content
WhirlpoolSubscriber only contentSubscriber only content
White KnightSubscriber only contentSubscriber only content
Zanussi /Zanussi ElectroluxSubscriber only contentSubscriber only content

Common tumble dryer problems

Which? members have told us about the reliability record of their tumble dryers. We’ve heard from more than 3,000 of you and difficulties experienced have included sensor problems, noisy dryers and dodgy doors. The most common problems are:

  • Drying 5%
  • Filter blocked 3%
  • Door 3%
White goods appliances can normally can only qualify as a Best Buy if its brand has scored at least three stars in the table above or has a free five-year warranty. But as tumble dryers are generally reliable, we also allow models to be Best Buys if we don’t yet have a reliability rating - unless we know this brand has a poor track record for similar appliances.
Bosch tumble dryer Look for tumble dryers from a brand with with three or more stars for reliability

Tumble dryer reviews you can trust

Which? goes further than anyone else to test tumble dryers - that's why we've tumble dried over 1,500kg of clothes in the last year just to separate the good dryers form the bad. We also know that tumble dryers can cost a lot to run - up to £131 a year, but the most energy efficient can be as low as £37.

So to reveal the true cost of your tumble dryer, we've calculated the annual running cost for every dryer we've tested. That way you know how much you're going to spend in total on your dryer - and not just the price tag in the shops.

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