Ventless dryers - Pros and Cons

American sized laundry

On back to back days last week I fielded inquires here in the Westfield regarding ventless dryers.  While these dryers are still a very small part of the overall laundry market, response and interest has been growing (and there may come a time down the road where dryers are mandated to be ductless due to energy savings - more about that below!)

Now American (and Canadian) laundry is rather unique compared to the rest of the world.  Our washers and dryers are larger, much larger.  Cycle times are generally shorter.  And, our giant dryers exhaust the heat and moisture generated during the drying process to the outside through a four inch metal vent.  While this setupmight seem "normal" to most of us, North American homes are actually unique in using ducted dryers.

What are the advantages to ducted dryers?

1. 1) Speed!  By ducting the heat and moisture out of the house, clothes can be dried significantly faster.
2. 2) Price!  Ductless dyers are considered to be "specialty application" pieces in the US market.  As in so many other industries, specialty application or size means more $$ out of your pocket.

As I said above, the traditional vented dryer is still very much the norm.  

However, there are times where a ductless dryer makes sense. For example:

1) You live in a high rise and cannot put a four inch hole through your wall

2) You want to place the dryer in an indoor area, away from a wall.

3) You want your home to be as green and energy efficient as possible.

The last part is very true.  I'm going to let this article from Reviewed.com (from USA Today) explain the specifics of this process in a very articulate manner (so articulate in fact that I briefly considered being lazy and just culling from this article.  Just kidding!).

https://reviewed.usatoday.com/laundry/features/everything-you-need-to-know-about-ventless-dryers

Ductless dryers come in three formats:  "Compact", "All-in-one", and what I'll call "Simply ductless."

First, compact, 24" wide, European style laundry.

24" "Euro-style" compact laundry

These smaller units are the norm in Europe, where living space tends to be smaller, and energy awareness is generally more advanced than the USA.  

The washer uses less water and spins out faster (reducing the amount of water the dryer has to extract from the clothing.)  Dryers use either a heat pump or condensation feature, capturing the extracted water into a resevoir that gets emptied fairly regularly (think of your dehumidifier.) 

For those trying to be as energy conscious as possible: note that these ductless dryers can use as little as 50% of the energy used by their ducted equivalents!!

resevoir on Electrolux 24" unit

 The downsides:  Three big ones: Price, capacity, and time.  

1. 1) Price: Plan on paying in the $2000 range for a compact laundry set, compared to the $1200-$1600 for a full size, American style, laundry pair. 
2. 2) Capacity: Volume on these compacts is significantly smaller; generally only 50-60% of full size capacity.  For small households this may not be an issue, for larger families it probably will be!
3. 3) Time:  Be prepared for drying times that are on average about an hour (plus or minus) longer than a typical dryer.  Simply put, exhausting all that built up heat and moisture out of the house speeds the drying process!

Second, the "All-in-ones"

GE Profile"all-in-one" washer 

GE rolled out their all-in-one unit in the middle of last year (click on my blog of  8-23-23 for what - I hope! - is an informative explanation of the pluses and minuses of these units).  LG has since introduced their own model, and other companies are either manufacturing or have plans to manufacturer their own competing models.

How well do these sell?  I asked three of the sales professionals I have the privilege of working with here in our Westfield showroom.  Their answers very from seldom (Rick), to once in a while (Carlos and Pat).  So while these pieces are still very much a niche item, there are scenarios where an All-in-one is the perfect solution to unusual laundry logistics.

Finally, there are normal looking, normal US sized dryers that are built to condense rather than duct out.

These units, and frankly we don't sell a lot of them, usually are purchased by customers who are looking to make their home as efficient as possible, but don't want to sacrifice capacity (as in 24" models), and are willing to accept the longer cycle times and a higher initial price tag - remember however that these machines use a lot less energy!

Now, we do expect both interest and sales of this category to increase in the near future. If your utility company offers rebates on E-star products you might well see rebates on the considerably more efficient condensation and/or heat pump dryers!   Also, there have been occasional rumblings that the D.O.E. may begin mandating that ducted dryers be phased out - that hasn't happened, at least not yet!

If you have any questions on this, feel free to leave me a note, call one of our eleven stores and speak with a sales professional, or even stop in and visit one of our showrooms!  Phones and addresses are just to the left of the blog link on our site's front page.