Tips for Choosing and Caring for a Clothes Dryer

If you live in a rainy area, or have a young family and have to do multiple loads of washing daily, the chances are that your clothes dryer is one of the most important machines in your home. As a result, it’s essential to choose the right product for your household’s needs.

You must also care for the appliance over the years, so you get the most value for money from it. Doing this will help to ensure it continues to perform well every time you need it. Follow a few simple steps to set yourself up for warm, dry clothes today and beyond.

Your Family’s Needs

The first thing to consider when you buy a new clothes dryer is your family’s specific needs. The size of the dryer you choose comes down to how many people are in your family, how often you wash and therefore need to dry clothes, and also if you have access to an outdoor clothesline or indoor drying rack.

If you have a large family, it pays to choose an oversize dryer that is at least 29 inches wide and has a drum size of seven cubic feet or more. This sized appliance will dry your large loads nice and quickly and is also suitable if you regularly wash bulky, oversized items. On the other hand, if it’s just you, or yourself and a partner or housemate, you can probably do with a smaller appliance, such as a 24- or 25-inch model.

Available Space

The space you have free in which to position your dryer will also make a difference to which product you buy. If you have very little room in your house, you may need to opt for a single washer-dryer unit that both washes and dries your possessions. If you have plenty of space and a full laundry, you can select a freestanding machine that can be moved around as needed.

Another option, if you don’t have a dedicated laundry room, is to integrate your dryer into your kitchen or bathroom. There are integrated products designed to be installed within kitchen or bathroom units and hidden behind matching cupboard doors, for instance. These tend to be around the same height and width as traditional freestanding products.

There are also semi-integrated tumble dryers. With these machines, the drum gets hidden behind a door, but the control panel remains visible. When working out how much space you have to work with inside your home, keep in mind that you need enough clearance to open the dryer’s door. Plus, dryers also need some breathing space, so ensure there’s a couple of inches of space around your machine for air to circulate adequately.

Type of Dryer

The next decision is the type of dryer you want. Vented models pump air out from the drum to the outside via a flexible hose. They, therefore, must be positioned next to a window or wall with a permanent vent. Condenser models can be placed anywhere in a home that’s well ventilated as they don’t connect to any exhaust hoses. They instead condense internal steam and turn it into water that’s collected in a removable reservoir that needs emptying every so often.

The more expensive products, and also the newer ones and most user-friendly, are heat-pump dryers. These use modern technology to dry laundry via hot air that extracts water from the contents you place inside for drying. This water then evaporates in a tank.

Machine Features

Today’s clothes dryers also tend to come with a variety of features that you’ll need to consider when choosing your appliance. For example, think about your desire for the following:

– Energy efficiency

– Sensor technology and multiple programs

– Shoe-rack accessories

– Child locks

– Time-remaining displays and delayed-start features

– Reversible doors for more flexible positioning in your home

– Warning LEDs

– Reverse drums to aid drying and reduce creasing

How to Care for Your Dryer

Once you own your dryer, it’s essential to look after it properly. Install the machine correctly, so it’s level, and if you ever have any issues with it, call in a dryer repair person ASAP to examine the unit and make necessary repairs. On a day-to-day basis, always remove the lint regularly, such as after each time you use the machine.

Don’t store things on top of the appliance or let items go inside it that shouldn’t be there (e.g., coins or pens that might damage the drum). Also, keep the machine clean and don’t overload it as doing so will make it work harder than it should.

A clothes dryer is an excellent device to have on hand, especially when you have to do multiple loads of washing weekly. Follow the above suggestions to set yourself up in this area for the coming years.

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