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.
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Condensing (heat pump drying). The most advanced and most expensive type of condensing dryer. See above for more information on conde
...nsing 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.Capacity
The maximum amount of laundry that can be loaded into the dryer; in other words, the largest weight of laundry that the machine can efficiently process in one cycle.
Capacity is usually indicated by the weight of the dry laundry. Thanks to this, when preparing the laundry for washing, you can immediately assess whether it will fit in the dryer at a time or, on the contrary, you can get by with
a small drying. However, even the most modest modern dryers (and even
slim ones up to 50 cm) in most cases hold
7 kg — this is comparable to loading the drum of a medium-capacity washing machine. And in the most
capacious models, this figure can reach 10 – 11 kg. It is quite enough for domestic and even professional use (for example, in laundromats or laundries of hotels, etc.). However, the typical figures are
drying for 8 kg and
models for 9 kg of laundry. Bigger capacity is relevant for industrial equipment and is not found in consumer-level models.
Also, when choosing, note that in the specs the maximum capacity is usually indicated for linen made of cotton fabric. For other, more voluminous materials, the capacity can be noticeably less — for example, the weight limit for wool products is usually 4-5 times less than for cotton.
Drum volume
The internal volume of the dryer drum.
A
larger drum can accommodate more laundry, but there is no rigid dependence here: models with the same volume may differ in maximum load. It is because to process a large mass of laundry, one need not only a capacious drum but also an engine of appropriate power. At the same time, in a larger drum, the same mass of laundry will dry more efficiently than in a small one, because laundry will be more freely distributed over the drum, crumpled less, and warm air will better penetrate the folds of the fabric. As a result, for the same drum volume, a model with a smaller load will be more efficient and performant than a model with a larger load. On the other hand, a volumetric drum takes up more space and the dimensions of the dryer are largely determined by the dimensions of the drum.
Drum lighting
Lighting system for the internal volume of the device. It usually turns on automatically when the dryer door is opened - thus reducing the likelihood that some items (especially small and dark ones) will be forgotten in the drum.
Drying class
Drying class describes the overall drying efficiency that the machine provides. It is denoted by a Latin letter, where A is the best efficiency, and further in decreasing order (
drying class B is inferior to
class A, but exceeds
class C). Naturally, higher efficiency machines cost more (ceteris paribus).
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.
