Before discussing the differences between a heat pump dryer and a condensing dryer, you need to know these terms are fairly new. Manufacturers are starting to use them to describe the differences between ventless drying technologies to help consumers be able to distinguish between the two current technologies used in these types of dryers. Whether you are looking at a new stackable washer and dryer, combination washer and dryer, or side-by-side models, understanding the differences will help you select the model that works best for your home.
A heat pump dryer is one of the new terms being used to describe ventless dryers. Heat pump dryers tend to use what is known as air-to-air condensation drying technologies. The heat pump is designed to recycle and reheat the air within the dryer rather than blowing the heated air outside. By recycling the heated air within the dryer itself, it cuts down on energy usage and is more energy-efficient.
Another term being used to describe ventless dryers is condensing dryer. This term is rather popular in the United Kingdom and other places in Europe, where ventless technologies have been around longer than they have been in the United States. A condensing dryer uses water condensation drying technologies to dry clothes.
Water condensation drying also uses heated air, but, rather than using cool air to remove the moisture from the warm air, it uses cool water. The colder water cools the heated air and causes the moisture within the air to turn into water. The water is then pumped out of the dryer, down the same discharge drain used for the washer.
It is worth mentioning that a heat pump dryer also extracts moisture and converts it into water, which is pumped out the dryer and down the discharge drain. The only differences between the two technologies is how they dry the clothes by either using air-to-air condensation or cool water condensation. Both types of dryers are much more energy efficient than conventional vented dryers, and they do help reduce energy bills.
Why Is Ventless Drying Technologies Better than Vented Drying?
Vented drying is inefficient because those types of dryers require drawing air in from the room, which your furnace or air conditioner has to replace, heating it and blowing it outdoors. Rather than extracting the moisture by converting it into water, a vented dryer has to heat air to higher temperatures to remove the moisture from the clothes. Since it is discarding all of this heated air right out the dryer vent, it has to reheat room-temperature air throughout the drying cycle. As such, it results in consuming more electricity to fully dry the clothes.
One thing to keep in mind when shopping for a new ventless dryer is that some resellers do interchange the terms heat pump drying and water condensation drying to describe dryer models. The best thing to do is to ask questions about how the dryer actually dries the clothes. To learn more about heat pump and condensation dryer models, or for further questions about how these technologies work, please feel free to contact FJS Distributors at 800-875-1533 to speak to a representative today about LG Washer Dryers and other brands.
