If you’re considering a ventless dryer, you might be wondering how it’s different from the
vented dryers you’ve always had. You might also be skeptical if it’s going to get your clothes dry.
You may live in an apartment or condo and be tired of taking your laundry out,
or you may want to put laundry on the second floor of your house or in a small closet. All are great
reasons to consider a ventless dryer. But if you haven’t had one before, it’s hard to know if it’s
going to meet your expectations and be worth the money. Let me help make your decision easier.
When I was planning my second-floor laundry closet, I knew I wanted to go with a ventless
dryer. I didn’t have a ton of space, and I didn’t want to add an ugly vent onto the front
of my house. I had had a Bosch vented dryer in my old Brooklyn rental apartment and loved it.
To be fair, I would have loved anything—I was thrilled to quit going to the Laundromat.
But when I started shopping earlier this year, I knew all about the quirks. In this video,
I’m going to share that experience with you. We’ll walk through the pros of ventless dryers, and I’ll
share the top model we recommend. Stick around, and I’ll tell you about a few potential cons too.
Hi, I’m Elyse with Designer Appliances. We’re New Jersey’s leading appliance retailer,
with two showrooms and a website where you can shop and find hundreds of helpful
reviews and shopping guides. Whether you visit us in person or online,
our goal is to take the stress and confusion of the process for you.
Unless you’ve lived in a tiny city apartment like I have, you probably haven’t used a ventless
dryer before. Only 2 percent of American homes have one. They’re not exactly new,
though. Most Europeans use ventless dryers because they’re compact and energy efficient.
I totally get it if you feel unsure about whether they work and how they
measure up to the vented kind you’re used to. So let’s start with the pros.
#1: You can put one pretty much anywhere. Like I mentioned, and like the name says,
you don’t have to vent these dryers to the outside of your house the way you do a traditional dryer.
All you need to get one going is an electrical outlet and about two square
feet of space—a plumbing connection can be optional. I decided to put my washer and
dryer on the opposite side of the wall from a bathroom to tap into the existing pipes.
One note: Some ventless dryers can plug into a standard 120 volt outlet
while others need 240 volts. The latter might mean buying an adapter or calling in an electrician,
so check the specs before you buy. Also,
if you get a steam dryer, make sure your installer hooks it up to water, too.
For maintenance, you don’t have to worry about clogs in the vent
that runs outside, either. Those can be a fire hazard, so you need to do a yearly check. With a
ventless dryer, there isn’t one! You just have to clean out the regular lint trap after each load.
#2: Your clothes, sheets, and towels will last longer.
Here’s something you should know upfront: Towels and clothes don’t come out hot from
a ventless dryer. It doesn’t heat up as much as a vented dryer, which means it’s
gentler on your clothes. You’ll notice that fabric and elastic don’t wear out as fast.
#3: Your electric bill may go down.
Traditional vented dryers take in air from inside your house, heat it up to dry your clothes,
and then release the resulting hot, moist air outside. That takes a lot of energy.
It can also make your HVAC system work a little harder. Ventless dryers are a closed loop—they
reuse the same air to dry your clothes, remove the moisture from it, and send the water out
through your plumbing or into a container you empty. They use less energy all around.
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Now that you know all the pros, let’s get into a few details. As I said earlier,
ventless dryers have a closed loop system that recycles the air. They can do that in
two different ways, so there are two different kinds of ventless dryers: condenser and heat pump.
With both kinds, air goes into the drum and gets heated up. As it mixes with your clothes,
it extracts the water from them. The difference is in how they process that water.
A condenser dryer gets hotter and drains the water away. A heat pump dryer cools the moist air then
drains away the water. It’s a subtle difference, but the net result is that a condenser dryer gets
warmer and thus can dry more clothes more quickly, while a heat pump dryer is more energy efficient.
You’re probably also curious which models we recommend, so let’s not waste any time.
The Miele TXi680WP is our top overall choice. It’s actually the one I picked for my home.
It’s a heat pump dryer, and it has two features that sold me on it.
One is PerfectDry, which ensures your clothes get dry even if you cram a ton of towels in there.
Two is the SteamFinish setting, which helps iron out wrinkles and refreshes
delicate fabrics like silk without a wash. I also loved that the matching washer has
an automatic detergent dispenser, steam, and an industry-leading leak protection system.
If you want to see more of our favorite products, like our best budget and best capacity picks,
check out the article below—you’ll get a detailed review of those and more.
[CTA 2: Are you on Instagram? Follow us @designerappliances to see real-life laundry room
renovations and get ideas to make the most of your living spaces.]
Finally, I want to leave you with a few downsides for any ventless dryer.
This is a big purchase—trust me, I know!—and I want you to be happy with it.
Truth be told, if you have the room and the ability to vent out easily,
we tend to recommend that most people go with a vented dryer. It’s just what Americans are used to
and what most people will be happier with. Here’s why:
For starters, ventless dryers take longer to dry. Like more eco dishwashers, the cycle time
is just longer. If you care more about time efficiency than energy efficiency, go vented.
Most also can’t dry as much at one time as a vented dryer. They have less capacity because
the cooler temperatures just can’t dry as much. The biggest ventless dryer available,
Whirlpool’s WHD862CHC, is a heat pump dryer that can hold 7.2 cu. ft. of laundry—close
to the capacity of an average vented dryer. But you may find that it doesn’t
dry your clothes quite as well or quickly. An average ventless dryer, just over 4 cu. ft.,
can dry a king-size comforter, but don’t expect to throw any sheets in there with it.
Finally, ventless dryers cost more. Over time, this’ll balance out with lower bills,
but it’s still a bigger upfront investment that you might not want to make.
For me, the flexibility to install my dryer where I wanted without too much hassle
and the easier maintenance outweighed any of these cons.
Think a ventless dryer sounds perfect to you, or have other questions? Come see us. If
you’re in New Jersey or New York, our team of experts would be happy to help.
You can visit us online, give us a call, or stop by one of our showrooms to get started.
Not local? Check out our website and subscribe to this channel to get more information and advice.
Which ventless dryer feature impressed or surprised you the most?
What do you still want to know? Tell us in the comments below!
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