It can be hard to sort the winners from the wet blankets when it comes to finding the best clothes dryer for your home.
Dry hard: Our experts have tested clothes dryers for years in our dedicated lab.
And if you pick poorly, you'll cop bigger power bills because dryers are energy-hungry appliances.
Here at CHOICE, we don't want anyone to be left high and dry by average products, so our experts meticulously test the most popular clothes dryers on the market in our labs.
We evaluate key indicators including drying time and energy efficiency, and we analyse and compare features, running costs, noise levels and more – basically, everything you need to know to choose the best clothes dryer for your needs.
We don't want you to end up with a dud buy, so here are the products that scored lowest in our lab tests. Consider becoming a CHOICE member to see the best performers.
This Bosch costs almost 75c to dry one load of clothes.
Bosch WQG24200AU (heat pump)
- CHOICE Expert Rating: 57%
- Price: $1499
- Load capacity: 9kg
Just under $1500 is actually pretty cheap for a heat pump dryer, but in this case it's a false economy: you might pay less upfront, but you'll pay twice as much in running costs for this Bosch compared to other heat pump dryers.
But this doesn't mean you need to spend big to pick up a good heat pump dryer. Three of the top scoring dryers in our review cost just a little more than this one, and you can probably find them on sale for around the same price or less.
Just under $1500 is actually pretty cheap for a heat pump dryer, but in this case it's a false economy
While at first glance, this machine appears to be pretty energy efficient, it needs to run for much longer than other models to do the job – a huge 232 minutes – which means it ends up using more power per load than other heat pump dryers.
Instead of buying this dud, you could take out a CHOICE membership, buy a top scoring dryer and come out ahead financially in the long run.
Whichever way you look at it, the numbers just don't add up for this Bosch.
Read the full Bosch WQG24200AU review.
All the features in the world couldn't save this Fisher & Paykel from a low score.
Fisher & Paykel DE7060G2 (vented)
- CHOICE Expert Rating: 66%
- Price: $659
- Load capacity: 7kg
This Fisher & Paykel boasts plenty of handy features including child lock control, automatic dry sensor, anti-crease program and delayed start.
Unfortunately, those bells and whistles are undone by this vented unit's actual drying performance and power consumption. It has the longest cycle time of all the vented dryers in our review (137 minutes), so it'll cost you more to run.
Despite its fancy features, it earned the second-last place ranking in our lab test.
It may be cheap, but we suggest you spend your money elsewhere
It may be cheap, but so are some of the highest scoring vented dryers in our review. We suggest you spend your money elsewhere.
Read our full Fisher & Paykel DE7060G2 clothes dryer review.
The HDV70E1: Haier by name, lower by score.
Haier HDV70E1 (vented)
- CHOICE Expert Rating: 67%
- Load capacity: 7kg
- Price: $799
Uncannily, this model and the Fisher & Paykel above have almost identical features – and performed equally average in our tests.
Both received the same middling score in our energy-efficiency test, but the Haier scored one percentage point higher for drying time. A margin this tiny isn't exactly worth the extra $140 you'll pay for the Haier.
Both the Fisher & Paykel and the Haier cost more per load than all the other vented dryers in our review
And then there's the running costs: both the Fisher & Paykel and the Haier cost more per load than all the other vented dryers in our review.
Vented dryers are notorious for costing a lot to run, but there's no reason to buy one with running costs Haier (sorry) than all the others.
Read our full Haier HDV70E1 clothes dryer review.
Dryer beware: This Haier condenser underwhelmed our expert testers.
Haier HDC80E1 (condenser)
- CHOICE Expert Rating: 67%
- Price: $999
- Load capacity: 8kg
This Haier is a condenser dryer, which means it collects moisture from the hot exhaust into a reservoir or drain, rather than pumping it into the air (so there's less dampness and chance of mould in your laundry).
Our tests found this model doesn't live up to its price tag
Condensers are more complicated machines and are usually more expensive. Sadly, our tests found this model doesn't live up to its price tag.
The Haier did score better in our drying-time test, but it lost marks for energy efficiency. It was also notably noisy when operating.
Read our full Haier HDC 80E1 clothes dryer review.
This Beko will dry your clothes slowly, and for twice the cost per load as other models.
Beko BDPB904HW (heat pump)
- CHOICE Expert Rating: 67%
- Price: $1599
- Load capacity: 9kg
Another overpriced disappointment, this Beko has one of the longest cycle times of all the heat pump dryers in our review, second only to the Bosch mentioned above.
Some of the top scoring heat pump dryers we tested get the job done in around 110 minutes while this one takes an agonising 208 minutes to dry a load of washing – and costs twice as much per load to boot.
This Beko takes an agonising 208 minutes to dry a load of washing
It may fall at the cheaper end of the price range for heat pump dryers, but with running costs this high you have to wonder whether it's really worth it.
And when several top scoring models cost around the same at the till but far less over time to run, there are far better options than this.
Read the full Beko BDPB904HW review.
Stock images: Getty, unless otherwise stated.
