Looking for a new tumble dryer this Black Friday? If you are, you’ll see plenty of ‘bargains’ with many dryers selling for less than £200.
But evidence from Which? tests shows that if you choose a cheap tumble dryer simply based on price, you could end up regretting your decision.
Head over to our top five cheap tumble dryers to find a bargain Best Buy, or keep reading to find out about the best dryers for your budget and which machines to avoid this Black Friday.
Get a round-up of all the best Black Friday deals or browse our Black Friday insider’s guide.
Among the cheapest tumble dryers we’ve lab tested, you’ll find six good enough to be Best Buys.
The six cheaper Which? Best Buys are all vented tumble dryers or condenser tumble dryers and they’ll typically dry clothes quickly, but will use a lot of energy.
If you’re looking for an energy-saving heat-pump tumble dryer this Black Friday, prices start at around £350 but you’ll need to spend more than £450 to get a good one. However you will save on your energy bills in the long run.
‘I have £250 to spend on a tumble dryer this Black Friday’
We’ve found six tumble dryers good enough to be Best Buys for less than £250 from the 32 dryers listed at this price on our site. To find out which six value-for-money Best Buy machines we recommend, head over to our Best Buy tumble dryer reviews.
If you go for a budget vented machine, this will either be a vented dryer or a condenser. You might find yourself with a manual timer rather than a sensor-controlled machine. And generally, drum sizes don’t tend to be massive if you buy an affordable machine, with Candy and Hoover models bucking the trend.
Another risk you run with a cheap dryer is that drying might be quick, but typically these machines don’t tend to dry accurately. This means the clothes in the drum might not be fully dried when the buzzer sounds.
And at this price, the machines on offer will usually be energy-hungry and this means they could end up using around three times as much energy as a more expensive, but energy-efficient, heat-pump machine would to dry the same load.
Brands typically selling a collection of models at the affordable end of the price range include Beko, Candy, Hotpoint, Hoover and Indesit.
Don’t buy a dud – check out our Don’t Buy tumble dryers.
‘I can spend up to £350 on a tumble dryer this Black Friday’
If you are happy to spend £350, the dryers available to you will still be mainly vented and condenser models, but usually roomier inside and higher-tech machines.
But you will find a clutch of energy-saving heat-pump dryers from more affordable brands including Beko, Hotpoint, Indesit and Sharp at this price, including the Sharp KD-HHH8S7GW2-EN (£350).
We’d recommend looking for a machine with a large drum and an A++ energy label at the very least if you’re going for a heat-pump dryer.
At this price, dryers with digital displays showing the remaining drying time are becoming the norm and every machine you see will be sensor-controlled, meaning it sets the drying time based on the dampness of the clothes in the drum.
Surprisingly, Best Buys are thin on the ground at this price based on some seriously variable drying performance seen in our tests. But look closely and you’ll find two excellent Best Buy condenser dryers for less than £350 among our tumble dryer reviews.
Head over to our Best Buy tumble dryer reviews to find the best tumble dryer for you this Black Friday.
‘I can stretch to £500 for an excellent tumble dryer this Black Friday’
If you can go as high as £500 you’ll be able to take your pick of Best Buys, whether you’re looking for an energy-saving heat-pump tumble dryer or a typically quick-to-dry conventional condenser dryer.
This Black Friday, there are six Best Buy tumble dryers on our site between £350 and £500. Brands typically appearing at this price include AEG, Bosch, Haier, John Lewis, Smeg and Zanussi.
Go for a heat-pump dryer and you will be able to save in the region of £60 a year in energy costs in comparison to a vented or condenser dryer.
Large drums with interior lights are common when you hit £500, every machine will be sensor driven to control drying times and most will have digital displays and delay timers. Our advice is to only use a dryer when you’re at home and awake, so this is one feature to make sparing use of.
Find an energy-saving dryer for your home this Black Friday with our top five energy-efficient tumble dryers for 2020.
Is it worth paying more than £500 for a tumble dryer this Black Friday?’
You’ll be able to find good tumble dryers at almost any price above £200. But venture above the £500 mark and you’ll be spoilt for choice with Best Buys aplenty from all the premium brands.
But don’t think spending a lot means you’ll always end up with an outstanding dryer – not every pricey machine on our site is a Best Buy, with some of the most expensive machines not being worth the huge investment.
Features to be aware of at this price include smart connectivity, which allows you to control your dryer and monitor its progress from your smartphone. Brands to look for include Bosch, LG, Miele, Samsung and Siemens.
Read our Best Buy tumble dryer reviews this Black Friday to find the best £500+ tumble dryer for you.
Tumble dryers: Price vs quality this Black Friday
The test score you see on our site next to each tumble dryer review this Black Friday doesn’t take into account price and there are great dryers to be found at all prices.
If you pay more you’re likely to have a better chance of finding the best dryer for you, but dive into our reviews and you’ll be able to find very affordable Best Buy vented and condenser tumble dryers. And worryingly, at higher prices you don’t always find great tumble dryers.
But if energy saving matters most to you, you’ll need to pay £350+ for an energy-saving heat-pump tumble dryer with most costing more than £500.
In return for the significant financial investment you’ll get a dryer that saves energy like its very existence depended on it. In money terms this could save you £50-£60 a year, which will soon make up for the higher purchase price.
If speed matters most, then condenser and vented machines will typically get your washing dry quickest, but this comes at quite a cost financially and in terms of the amount of extra energy these less-efficient machines burn to get the job done.
For more advice on buying a tumble dryer this Black Friday, read our how to buy the best tumble dryer guide.
source https://www.which.co.uk/news/2020/11/black-friday-2020-how-much-do-you-need-to-pay-for-a-good-tumble-dryer/