Drying type
— Condensing (recuperative) The general principle of
condensation drying is as follows: heated air is passed through the laundry drum, captures moisture, and then enters the refrigerator, cools down, and excess moisture condenses in a special tank. The advantage of all condensing machines over
air vented ones is that they are easy to install. They do not need to be connected to ventilation and can be installed in any room. On the other hand, the user needs to monitor the condensate tank and periodically drain the accumulated water. And such units are somewhat more complicated and more expensive than ventilated ones. However, recuperative dryers are the simplest and most inexpensive among condensing dryers. By the name, the role of a refrigerator in them is played by a recuperator: a heat exchanger that dumps excess heat into the outside air. The heating of the air inside is usually carried out using a heating element. Due to their availability, such machines are very popular, but they have serious drawbacks. Firstly, devices of this type have high electricity consumption. Secondly, the efficiency of their work is relatively low. Moreover, it directly depends on the temperature difference between the air outside and inside the dryer.
—
Condensing (heat pump drying). The most advanced and most expensive type of condensing dryer. See above for more information
...on condensing drying in general. Note that in models of this type, the refrigerator operates due to a heat pump — a compressor that takes excess heat from the condensation chamber and transfers it to the heater. It provides several advantages over traditional recuperative drying. One of the most noticeable is high efficiency and economy: the heat pump allows you to reuse the accumulated thermal energy, and less electricity is spent on its operation than on the constant air heating in recuperative models. In addition, drying is easier and faster, and the work speed is practically independent of outdoor conditions. And such a machine almost does not produce excess heat. The disadvantages of models with a heat pump are traditional — complexity and high cost.
— Air vented. A kind of drying in which excess moisture is blown out of the machine into the outdoor space. Compared to condensing drying, this option allows you to create simpler, cheaper and more compact units. And such models are somewhat easier to use because they do not require monitoring the water level in the condensate tank. On the other hand, installing a ventilated machine is noticeably more difficult. So, in the room where the unit is located, there must be a powerful ventilation system, otherwise, there will always be high humidity and temperature. Such a microclimate is not only harmful to people and furniture but also significantly worsens drying efficiency. If it is impossible to organize general ventilation for the room for one reason or another, one will have to make a separate air duct to remove steam from the dryer. As a result, this type of drying is considered inconvenient and extremely rare.Number of drying programmes
The number of preset drying programmes. Such programmes are often optimized for a specific type of fabric: linen, silk, synthetics, etc. The more drying programmes, the more versatile and easier the dryer is to use. However, a specific set of modes in different models may be different, and even a large variety of programmes does not guarantee that one of them will be suitable. So before buying, it is advisable to specify not only the quantity but the list of claimed programmes.
Energy class
The energy consumption class shows not the actual energy consumption but the efficiency of the dryer. In other words, what part of the electricity consumed goes directly to useful work. For dryers, this parameter is especially important because such devices have high electricity consumption. As a result, models with the same capabilities but different energy efficiency classes differ markedly in terms of operating costs (in terms of electricity bills). However, more economical units themselves are more expensive. nevertheless, this difference quickly pays off.
Initially, classes were marked in Latin letters from
A(the highest class) and further alphabetically. In the course of technology development, more economical levels of consumption than the original class A appeared — they are labelled as A+,
A++, A+++, etc. Actually, the highest efficiency class in modern dryers is exactly
A +++ ; level A —
A+ can be called good,
B — average, C — acceptable.
Door shape
The shape and design of the door used in the dryer.
— Round. The round door is made of opaque material. In general, round openings and covers for them are simpler and cheaper to manufacture than rectangular ones, which is why they are much more common. With similar dimensions, they have a smaller area. However, the round loading hatch is made quite large and does not cause problems if it is necessary to place a large object such as a duvet cover or sheet in the dryer. Opaque doors are as simple and cheap as possible but not very convenient. They do not allow you to see the contents of the machine when the door is closed. And this is important for many users (see below for more details).
— Round with glass. A round-shaped door with an insert made of transparent material — usually plexiglass or other similar plastic (ordinary glass is less reliable and is not used in dryers). The general features of the round door are described above, and the transparent insert allows you to see the contents of the drum without opening the lid — including observing the drying process itself. Such an observation provides more general comfort and reassurance than any practical benefit; however, even these moments are important when using household appliances. In addition, there are quite practical situations in which transparent inserts can come in handy — for example, when you need to make sure that unnecessary things do not get into the drum and it would be inconvenient...to interrupt the programme and open the hatch. Such doors are somewhat more expensive than opaque ones, but the advantages described are often decisive. As a result, this option is the most popular in modern dryers.
— Rectangular. Rectangular opaque door. A door of this shape gives the user more space to load laundry than a round one; theoretically, this can be useful for numerous items, especially large ones. At the same time, this advantage is not decisive, rectangular doors are somewhat more expensive, and an opaque door is also not very convenient, at least from a psychological point of view (and often from a practical one). Because of this, this option is extremely rare.
— Rectangular with glass. Rectangular door with a transparent insert made of plexiglass or other similar material. Doors with glass are somewhat more user-friendly than opaque ones (see "Round with glass" above for more on this), so this option is more common than opaque rectangular doors. However, this form is still more expensive than the round one and is used much less frequently.
