I presently have our Bosch vented tumble dryer in an attached garage, vented through a single brick wall to outside.
I was thinking of replacing it with a heat pump tumble dryer. Maybe Miele but open to suggestions
My question is about whether a heat pump tumble dryer will work in an unheated garage.
Temperatures never appear to go below freezing, but it does get cold in there in the winter.
Anyone know what sort of temperature heat pump tumble dryers work down to?
Internet searches don’t appear to give specific temperatures but say things like “avoid using in a shed or garage”
I have a Miele dryer and separate washing machine in an internal but unheated garage.
I do have a digital thermostat and hygrometer in there to keep an eye on environmental conditions. Even now with it at or below 0c outside, the garage tends to drop no lower than about 16c ambient.
It’s also plumbed in to the sink waste water outlet, the sink is between the two machines in fact.
I’ve got a TWR860WP, I think they made some minor upgrades to it very recently. I think if the environment you used it in got very cold, below say 10c or close to freezing, the condenser pump wouldn’t be able to function and would likely fail or be damaged if used. I don’t think any condensing dryer prevents you from using it if it is too cold, it’s left to the owner/user discretion and guidance from the user guide.
I’d suggest get a small digital thermometer and monitor the temperature for a few days, now is probably the best time to do so as it’s coldest, assuming you’re in the UK that is!
We bought a Miele heat pump condensing tumble dryer about a year ago and it worked fine for six months but then got very noisy. I called them out and they replaced the drum, but that didn’t make it quieter. If anything it was worse. So I called them out again and the service technician listened to it, took it apart and checked some things, then rang his regional manager and recommended that it was replaced with a new one (same model) as it was beyond economic repair.
The manager agreed and two or three days later, the old one was taken away and a new one put in its place. This one is quiet. Anyway I thought that was quite good service.
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Thanks for that info
I have a min/max thermometer in the greenhouse I can put into the garage.
I am sure the temperature would get well below 10 Deg C on a cold winters day.
We have a sink and some water pipes in the garage and they have not frozen in the 10 years we have lived there so I am fairly certain the temperature has never gone below zero.
Yes I do live in the UK
Mid Cheshire to be exact.
I happened to have that simple digital thermo/hygrometer and put it in the garage mainly out of curiosity than anything else. It is helpful though to monitor temperature in general, and in my case, it wasn’t till I had the dryer installed and started reading the manual I had a worry it would get damaged beyond repair if it was too cold and it was switched on without checking temperature first.
The main problem is going to be if it’s so cold the condensed water from the clothes can’t move freely around the dryer in which case the pump would fail and likely not work again or the pipework would rupture or fail, that seems to be the premise of the user guide in my case.
Referencing my device manual it quotes:
“Do not install the tumble dryer in a room where there is a risk of frost occurring. At temperatures around freezing point the tumble dryer may not be able to operate properly. There is a risk of damage if the condensed water is allowed to freeze in the pump and hoses.”
So unless you anticipate that the environment your dryer will operate in will be subject to temperatures likely to freeze water, you should be fine. I’ve never had a case where my garage had an ambient temperature much below 15c even now at this coldest time of year.
Just put a thermometer in my garage.
I bet we do not get another cold spell now I have done that !!!
Your garage must be very well insulated to maintain 15c.
Mine has one long side and the back wall attached to the bungalow with the other long side as a single brick wall and an uninsulated double metal roller door at the front
I have just ordered a new insulated sectional double door which is due late January.
I will then add insulation to the roof which now has a thin sheet of cement asbestos type material into an open uninsulated loft on half the garage and a flat roof on the other half.
I think that if the only problem with a heat pump dryer is the risk of freezing then I should be OK
Just worried that general advice suggests temperatures above 10c are required for it to work.
Typical comments are like this one
“Heat pump tumble dryers usually need an ambient temperature of at least 10°C to work well, so the garage will probably be too cold. Manufacturers don’t recommend using a heat pump tumble dryer in the garage.”
Worth checking your average temps first anyway, our garage is part of the house basically and apart from the roller door to the front drive is all insulated.
It also has the heating system in there which probably helps lift the average temps a little.
Good luck sorting it anyway, better than damp clothes hanging about the house!
We have a Samsung heat pump machine in the garage. We bought it in the summer but it’s been fine recently. It cost about £650. We have had no end of trouble with our massively expensive Miele washer dryer and I feel their quality isn’t what it was, so didn’t want to spend over £1,000 on a Miele heat pump machine. The Samsung is a dark colour so looks fine in the garage. Whether it works when temperatures really drop is something we will find out.
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Please let me know in the next cold spell.
What did the temperatures feel like a few days ago when it dropped below freezing outside. We had snow for 24 hours where we are.
An alternative idea…
The tumble dryer can be stacked on top of the washing machine. Miele do a washer-dryer stacking kit with integrated drawer which is very handy.
So if the garage location is too cold, perhaps put the drying indoors over the washer.
My Miele heat pump dryer works really well, the only issue i have is it tends to tie my duvet cover into a knot very quickly so need to open the door and loosen it up a couple of times before it’s finished 
…but apart from that it’s a good dryer 
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I assumed it was on its side and that was why the door is hanging open!
Mine does. It’s a Miele. Has worked faultlessly for the last 18 months. After replacing the previous Miele that had worked for the previous 10 years or so.
Although it’s a heat pump model I plumbed it in to an outside drain as I didn’t wanted to empty the internal box every week or so.
Had a top of the range Miele Condenser some years ago, it was great until it got noisy due to bearing issues or something.
Still have it but suspect it’s full of masonry/plaster dust after the builders took poor care of it and dented it as well.
A cheap Beko condenser from Currys for around £200 works just as well and has done for over 5 years.
I’ve really fancied a heat pump dryer but not a major priority currently - they are much cheaper than they were 5 years ago and despite energy saving I’d suggest you really need to look at that vs extended drying time for many models.
I’ve started to realise the negative effects of tumble drying - yes the good ones give lovely soft clothes but at the expense of shrinkage, I believe heat pump models reduce that. Currently using a ‘clothes horse’ for many items as we fire up the log burners as it adds extra humidity to the air which is lost.
Bosch tumble dryer, stacked on a “matching” Bosch washing machine. Has “automatic AI” dryness detection - yeah, OK, and whatever……… but does the job well enough for t shirts, socks, jeans and underwear, but I am directed to not put in woollens, bras and “specials”.
The TD was a condenser type with a removeable waste tank (which we used at start), or it could be plumbed in to the WM waste pipe (as it is now).
I recall that the TD actually cost more than the WM (both were the top of the range models from the then current range). Never understood why, perhaps it was the AI dryness detector 
Go ‘green’, hang your washing up outside…no tumble dryer in our house…
I tried that this morning went from Green to Wet then Very Wet.
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On wet days we use an alternative traditional method…
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Bought one of these for £50 in Dunelm Mill a few weeks ago - much more stable than the higher tiered wire ones which always seem about to topple over. Folds flat easily.
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Try putting a set of tennis balls in with it. The tennis balls do a good job of keeping sheets and other large items from clumping.
Can’t say I ever expected to post something like this on the Naim forum!
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The Miele washing machine is also in the garage. however apart from not freezing the water pipes there are no warnings about using it at low temperatures