Can You Put a Condenser Tumble Dryer in Your Bedroom

Let’s say you’ve just bought a new condenser dryer and you’re deciding on a place to install it in your home.

There can be a lot of factors to consider for this and it can seem overwhelming. On top of that, once you’ve settled on a place, it’s very difficult to move the dryer later on.

It’s pretty classic for the dryer to go in the kitchen, next to your washer, but there are other options.

You can only place a condenser dryer in your bedroom if it doesn’t have carpet because putting a dryer on the carpet is a fire hazard.

 

There are safety considerations to take into account, however.

In this guide, we’ll look at what to think about when picking a place for a condenser tumble dryer.

Top Choice – Bosch Serie 4 WTW85231GB 8Kg Heat Pump Tumble Dryer

The Bosch heat pump condenser dryer was an easy choice as one of the best. It’s energy-efficient, has the biggest load capacity on the list and it’s self-cleaning!

Self-cleaning means all the lint automatically gets flushed away making it extra safe in preventing dryer fires. So even if you forget, it’s all good!

And there’s a dryness sensor which detects when your clothes are dry. So when it’s running if your clothes are dry it will stop early saving you electricity and stopping your clothes from getting damaged.

It’s not the most energy-efficient on the list but it is in the top three of energy efficiency and the price gets a lot more as they get more efficient so this is the most cost-effective.

It’s got 14 different settings so you can keep all your clothes the size they’re meant to be and the shape they’re supposed to be. No bras will get eaten or t-shirts get shrunk. (If you put it on the wrong setting though I’m afraid I can’t help…)

Overall, hands down the best condenser dryer for your bedroom, cost-effective, self-cleaning and doesn’t run too loud.

Condenser Tumble Dryers in the Bedroom

 

As I mentioned above, there is no issue really with placing your tumble dryer in a bedroom.

Condenser tumble dryers don’t need to be placed near a window or vent to the outside world as they do not have a hose out the back which needs to be connected to another opening.

This means that you have pretty much free choice of where to place them in your home.

Bedroom Floor Surface

If your bedroom has hardwood floors or some kind of similar surface then you can rest assured that the dryer will be suitable here.

If the bedroom has carpet down, then this is not a suitable place to install a tumble dryer of any kind.

The reason for this is due to the heat produced while dryers run their cycles.

Carpet can really inhibit the ability of the dryer to vent the heat built up during its run out of the back duct.

If this duct is blocked, then the heat will have nowhere to go and continue to build up.

 

Thick carpet can be really good at blocking these ducts and this can become quite dangerous, even posing a risk of fire.

This problem can be made worse by the fact that some dryers have this vent located on the bottom of the back side, making it easier for carpets to block it.

If your bedroom has carpet in it, a dryer in there is pretty much a no-go.

Moisture in the Air

 

As their name implies, condenser dryers are designed so that damp air is NOT expelled out the back.

This is different from vented tumble dryers, which puff out a lot of damp air during use. This is the reason they have a hose attached to the back which is then also connected to a vent which blows this steam outside your home.

Condenser dryers work by heating the clothes in the drum at much higher temperatures than other dryers.

This extracts the moisture from the laundry, which is then pulled into another colder chamber which condenses the moisture out, leaving a reservoir of water.

This means that, ideally, all the moisture is left as water in the chamber inside the dryer.

All dryers will inevitably exhaust air that has some moisture in it though. Some cheaper models will have this problem more than others.

In this case, the damp air can cause dampness and mould on the walls around the dryer, especially if the ventilation in the general area is poor.

If you don’t want a mouldy bedroom, then having the dryer in there should be avoided.

This can be mitigated if the dryer is placed near a window which lets the air escape outside, rather than sitting in the room.

Temperature

As well as the level of ventilation in the room that you want the condenser dryer in, you need to consider the ambient temperature.

Condenser dryers work through condensation, which means they can be quite sensitive to temperature.

If the ambient temperature is too low, then this makes condensation “too easy”. This means that condensation can start to happen in different places in the dryer.

If this starts to happen inside the drum, then all that happens is the laundry just stays wet, which will make the drying cycle take longer.

On the other hand, a higher ambient temperature will make condensation more difficult.

This can mean that the dryer will take more energy to cool down the moist air to condense it, as well as expelling more damp air out of the exhaust duct.

So if none of these considerations apply to your situation, you should be able to place your tumble dryer in your bedroom or spare room without any trouble.

While I mentioned that condenser tumble dryers can be placed pretty much anywhere, there are some places that are pretty much off-limits.

Places to Avoid Installing a Condenser Tumble Dryer

 

The big advantage of condenser tumble dryers over other types of dryers is the fact that they can be placed almost anywhere, but there are still places to avoid.

Confined Spaces

 

It can be tempting to install a condenser dryer in a cupboard where it will be out of the way and be a lot quieter while it’s running.

This is not ideal, however, as a cupboard will often run into many of the issues listed above.

For one, the ventilation won’t be adequate, meaning a build-up of moisture inside the cupboard is almost inevitable. This will cause lasting damage to the walls and flooring in there, as well as any mould posing a potential health risk.

It is possible to mitigate these issues with cupboard spaces by running the dryer with the cupboard door open. This can be impractical if the reason you put it there in the first place was to reduce noise though.

Confined spaces like this are also harder to keep at a constant temperature.

Outdoor Buildings

 

For similar reasons to the previous areas, outhouses like sheds or garages can cause problems if you have your dryer in there.

Ambient temperature is much harder to regulate here unless you have a fancier heated outhouse.

In Winter, it can generally be too cold for the dryers to operate properly, causing the problems with condensation mentioned earlier.

Condenser Tumble Dryer vs Heat Pump Tumble Dryer

Summary

 

So, as you can see, it is possible to install and operate a condenser tumble dryer effectively in a bedroom or spare bedroom, as long as the temperature and ventilation are suitable.

If there is carpet there and you’re set on having the dryer in this room, you can buy some fire and water-resistant sheets to put down, which will protect your carpet from moisture damage and prevent the carpet from blocking the dryer exhaust.

Related Reading

Can You Put a Condenser Tumble Dryer on the Carpet
Can You Put a Condenser Tumble Dryer in a Cupboard
8 Best Condenser Tumble Dryers UK 2023 – An Expert Buyers Guide