If you don’t have the space or time to dry your clothes outside, a tumble dryer is the way to go.
Tumble dryers range in price from around £150 to well over £500. A good budget if you’re looking for something affordable yet reliable is £200-£300.
Read on for our top picks of the best tumble dryers for less than £300.
Best Tumble Dryers Under £300
1. Electra TDC8101B
Type: Condenser
Capacity: 8 kg
Energy efficiency rating: B
Electra’s 8 kg condenser tumble dryer is perfect for medium-sized households. The fact this is a condenser model makes it easy to install just about anywhere in your home, and this is an affordable option too.
It offers 15 drying programmes including an Extra Dry and a Quick Dry function.
There’s also a delay timer which can be programmed to start the dryer after 3, 6 or 9 hours.
The interior drum light makes finding odd socks easy.
Overall, the tumble dryer from Electra is a simple machine that does the basics really well. It might not have the same bells and whistles as some of the more expensive models available on the market, but it is still the perfect addition to any home.
This condenser tumble dryer presents great value for money, and it is fairly quiet during use too.
However, some people do find that because the reverse action doesn’t run very often, large loads of clothing will come out tangled.
2. Beko DTLCE70051W
Type: Condenser
Capacity: 7 kg
Energy efficiency rating: B
This 7 kg Beko washing machine is perfect for medium sized households. This simple condenser tumble dryer is easy to use whilst still offering great performance and being an affordable price.
It offers 15 drying programmes including a Quick Dry function and a Cupboard Dry programme that leaves clothes dry enough to put straight away.
This dryer is easy to use, and has a convenient light in the drum that makes it easy to find missed laundry.
Features such as the mixed dry programme will save you time when compared to running separate loads for your synthetics and cotton, and the machine is pretty easy to use too.
The handy anti-crease function keeps moving your laundry after the programme has finished, helping to prevent creases from forming.
Overall, this tumble dryer from Beko is a cheap and cheerful choice that ticks all the basic boxes and should last a long time.
3. Indesit I1D80W
Type: Vented
Capacity: 8 kg
Energy efficiency rating: C
This vented tumble dryer from Indesit is the perfect size for a medium sized household.
The tumble dryer is easy to use thanks to the simple single dial control. If you need to tumble dry delicate laundry, you can do so with this dryer thanks to the low temperature setting.
However, this tumble dryer does not offer as much flexibility as some of the others on the list as it only has three standard drying programmes (Cotton, Synthetics and Delicates).
4. Hotpoint H1D80WUK
Type: Vented
Capacity: 8 kg
Energy efficiency rating: C
This vented tumble dryer from Hotpoint is a simple appliance designed to make light work of everyday laundry.
With features such as scheduling and timed drying programmes, you can benefit from having precise control over your laundry.
This tumble dryer from Hotpoint is a good, entry level, budget-friendly tumble dryer. This is a simple machine with no modern extra features and offers fairly good quality for the price.
However, some people do find that it struggles to dry heavier fabrics such as towels, and it isn’t as quiet as some of the others on this list either.
5. electriQ EIQFSTD7
Type: Vented
Capacity: 7 kg
Energy efficiency rating: C
The electriQ tumble dryer is an incredibly affordable vented tumble dryer with a range of features that you won’t always find on a budget model, including anti-crease modes, and dedicated settings for both synthetics and cottons.
This is an affordable choice that ticks all of the basic boxes and has the added benefit of extra features such as an anti-crease mode and dedicated synthetics and cotton cycles.
The tumble dryer is available in gloss black and white finishes, both of which are sleek, modern and will look right at home in your kitchen.
Choosing a Tumble Dryer
Tumble dryers come in two types: condenser dryers and vented dryers.
Condenser dryers collect the moisture extracted from clothes into a container, which needs to be emptied regularly.
Vented dryers extract moisture by way of your plumbing, which means they are more complicated and expensive to install.
Here are a few important things to look for in a good tumble dryer
- Sensors: Many tumble dryers these days have sensors that detect when your laundry is dry and then switch the machine of. This saves energy and also helps protect your clothes.
- Energy efficient: Tumble dryers used to be very inefficient, but things have improved greatly in recent years. Look at the dryer’s energy efficiency rating.
- Good capacity: The capacity of tumble dryers is usually given by the weight of wet clothing they can hold measured in kilograms. A good capacity for a tumble dryer in the £200-£300 price range is 8 kg.
Conclusion
If we had to pick just one tumble dryer under £300 to recommend, it would be the Electra TDC8101B. It’s a condenser dryer with a decent 8 kg capacity and a choice of 15 drying programmes.
There are some useful features such as a delay timer and a light in the drum to help you find stray laundry. It’s a well-designed dryer that offers good performance for the money.
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