Although it is generally possible to count on a mild enough climate to dry clothes in the sun, the use of tumble dryers is also becoming widespread in homes.
These appliances allow you to drastically reduce the time spent doing laundry and always have dry and fragrant clothes and linen – despite pollution and smog that grip our large urban centers.
It is important, even before proceeding with the purchase of a dryer, to check whether our home has adequate spaces for the positioning of the large appliance: let’s see where to put the dryer and how to install it, where it is possible to do so without the help of skilled labor.
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Where to put the dryer? It also depends on how it works!
First of all, it is good to consider the ideal dryer location and the installation practice, depending on the type of appliance to be used.
The dryers on the market today can exploit different technologies for their operation:
- Condensing ones are certainly the most common and the easiest to install. However, it is good that they are placed in a place sheltered from the cold, which would prevent the internal condenser’s correct functioning and eliminate humidity from the laundry. This type of tumble dryer, on the other hand, does not require a great deal of energy or devices for discharging water or air. Instead, the humidity is collected in special removable trays. This group includes most of the so-called heat pump dryers – the most modern technology among those with the highest diffusion – which exploit a continuous circulation of hot air produced by a heat pump.
- The hot air dryers also called ventilated or evaporated, dry the fabrics thanks to an electric heater’s powerful hot air circle. It is clear that the clearest criticality, in this case, is in the high-energy consumption of the appliance. In this case, it will be important to place it near a power outlet with the power required for its operation. It will also be necessary to connect the dryer to the drain, which will allow the evacuation of the air outside, which usually occurs through a hole in the wall. This type of dryer expels the humidity in the clothes in the form of hot air, if not properly addressed, could damage furniture and walls.
Once you have established our appliance’s technical characteristics and the precautions that guarantee its correct operation, you can decide where to place the dryer.
Matter of space
Having a laundry in the house is certainly very convenient but requires some special attention, regardless of the aforementioned technical characteristics.
The dryers are large-sized appliances; they will need a discreet space inside the room to decide. Generally, a dryer occupies 60 centimeters in-depth and in width and is about 80 centimeters high, just like the best-known washing machine. So where to put the dryer, then?
First of all, it is good practice to provide a space on the back, which detaches the instrument from the wall, and another space of at least 70 centimeters on the front, which will open the porthole and ensure its usability.
There are stackable dryers on the market today, and they can be positioned above the washing machine. This feature will save a lot in space, but it is good not to underestimate the aesthetic factor, essentially talking about furniture.
To avoid finding a large column of exposed washing machines in the house, it will be good to set up a dedicated corner, covering a door that hides both appliances. It is possible to have a dryer in the home, even where you don’t have a dedicated room.
We are used to seeing washing machines and dryers in the bathroom, in the anti-toilets, in the cellar, and – more rarely – recessed between the doors of a modular kitchen. We can also install the laundry area outdoors. In this case, it will be good to protect the appliances with covers that insulate them from the external environments’ cold and excessive humidity.
Two important factors: Noise and the need for ventilation
The dryer is a great convenience, but we have seen it requires some special precautions before installation. In this regard, when you opt to purchase an appliance of this type, it is good not to forget that the quieter dryer in operation produces about 60 decibels.
It is a rather noisy ally, which is why it will be essential to have the tumble dryer in an area away from the bedrooms, where you have the preference to use it in the evening. But, on the contrary, it will be good to place it away from the house’s living area if the noise could interfere with domestic life during the day.
Whatever the chosen technology, it will also be preferable to place the dryer in a well-ventilated room with sufficient air exchange.
What is the case of an evaporation appliance is a necessity, is configured as a preferable solution even when you opt for a condensing technology.
The stagnation of damp air could invalidate the correct functioning of our appliance’s condensation mechanism, even more so in the case of a heat pump dryer, the most complex and delicate operating mechanism among those mentioned.
So although it is configured as an aesthetically rewarding solution, the placement of a washing machine and dryer in a windowless closet that hides them from view may not be the ideal solution regarding the correct operation of the appliance in question.
How do you install a dryer?
As can be easily understood from the indications above, installing a condensing dryer, including the heat pump variant, is far simpler than an evaporating dryer.
Once you have decided where to place the dryer, perhaps after making an accurate measurement that will prevent superficial errors during the purchase, the first thing to do is connect to an electrical outlet. A dryer consumes 2 kWh of class A instruments to about 5 kWh for each cycle in an energy class D household appliance.
More important than the proximity to a power outlet will be the energy available from the outlet that we have decided to dedicate to drying the laundry. Therefore, it will be good to check that the socket has a good earth connection for the same reason.
The high consumption of an appliance of this type, although easy to install, often requires the help of a professional electrician. In the case of an evaporative dryer, the professionals to be involved will plausibly be a bricklayer and a good plumber.
It will be necessary to prepare a drain towards the outside, which may involve making a hole in the wall where the drainage duct passes and then connects the dryer to the drain.
In more modern houses, adapting the dryer’s air vent to that – usually existing – of the washing machine water is possible. But, unfortunately, this brilliant solution often requires the assembly of some specific components and the support of a plumber.
Once these issues have been resolved, it will be sufficient to ensure that the appliance is firm and immobile and connects the plug for the first drying cycle.
A laundry room in the house
Having complete and efficient laundry – in the house or on the balcony – is possible, provided that certain essential conditions for the correct operation of a complex appliance such as a dryer are respected. You will need, you have seen, a discreet space available, possibly far from the areas of the house that you prefer to keep silent.
It will also be necessary to have the correct ventilation in the room, use for laundry tasks, and sufficient electrical power near the appliance.
Once a space with such characteristics has been identified, it is almost certain that the tumble dryer will repay the attention required, becoming one of the dearest allies in household chores’ choreography.