Why no one should mourn the condenser dryer

James Rowe: Say goodbye to your condenser tumble dryer when it breaks, as heat pump models will become the norm. And our laundry expert thinks that's great news for consumers – like you and me.

Hello, I'm James Rowe and welcome to Which? Shorts, your free weekly insight into Which? magazine, as well as our money, tech, travel, and gardening titles, too. Today, I'm bringing you a piece that our laundry expert, Becki Jakeman, wrote for the June issue of Which? magazine all about tumble dryers.

The government has announced a new set of regulations that aims to make household tumble dryers as efficient as possible in order to save us all money on our energy bills. The news has received a mixed reaction, but Becki thinks this is good news. And here, she explains why. Here is Becki's piece, adapted for the podcast, this week read by Becki herself.

Becki Jakeman: We can expect a ban on the sale of inefficient condenser and vented tumble dryers in the UK as soon as time allows under new rules. The updated eco-design legislation, proposed by the Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, would allow the government to set minimum efficiency standards in a bid to lower residential energy use.

But there's been outcry from other parties. The Tories have accused Labour of Soviet-level controls while Reform UK claimed the move will push bills even higher in the short term. But as a laundry expert, I think it's time to raise standards, and the change won't push up your bills.

We've championed heat pump models for years as our lab tests show they're by far the best choice. They work by recycling the warm air for better efficiency, whereas condensers don't reuse that hot air, so they use much more energy when running.

The average heat pump tumble dryer will add around £54 to your yearly energy bills, while a condenser model costs about £138 a year to run. If you'd like me to show my working, that's based on drying three full loads on the cotton and cupboard dry settings per week, in line with the July energy price cap of 26.11 pence per kilowatt hour.

And you don't need to spend a fortune on a good one, either. We've tested Best Buys for under £400 and great value alternatives that cost even less.

Plus, there's no outright ban, so you won't have to replace your current model until it breaks. And you're not even likely to notice a big difference in available models when buying a new one. Our research shows that manufacturing of energy-hungry traditional dryers has been in decline for some time now. In the past year, we tested just four condenser models compared with more than 70 heat pumps, and no vented dryers at all.

The legislation will also mandate that new models have an eco-programme, effective moisture collection, and they'll use little to no power while in standby mode. And manufacturers will also have to make spare parts available for at least 10 years to increase a product's lifespan.

Phasing out inefficient dryers is a win for households. Raising efficiency standards drives innovation and cuts energy bills. The slightly higher upfront costs of such dryers are quickly offset by lower running costs, and well-targeted standards can help drive these prices down even further.

Want to know which ones we recommend? Click the link in the show notes to find out.

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