Siemens WT46E387

...loyal, and would buy a Siemens again. It appears to be well constructed, I haven't had to use the stackable feature but I would think this would be a plus if you have a siemens washing machine. The dryer does get some respite on sunnier days and on energy saving drives in this house, but it gets a fair bit of use and is so simple that even my two year old can work out how to use it, which is why it is switched off at the plug when not in actual use. ...
...dryer" wool jumper incident, the dryer has dried our clothes well and with no ill effect that I can notice - I have to admit to being a bit partial to a tumble dried towel. Nothing has ever snagged or got torn - which happened a few times with my previous dryer.
Hopefully the dryer will last past the five year guarantee, but in the meantime I am reassured by knowing that should it go wrong I should be covered. Overall this dryer has ... more

This is a condenser tumble dryer with a 7kg capacity. The dryer came into my life in an hour of need - the week before Christmas, 2006, we had moved into a rented house with a 5 month old baby, a toddler and found out that we had no TV reception and no way of plumbing in the washing machine. My previous not very good vented Hotpoint chose this moment to give out the ghost and my husband, bless him, somehow managed to get this tumble dryer delivered and Sky TV connected, so I guess you could say that, sadly, this dryer was my present that year!

I wasn't involved in the buying decision, other than saying "don't get a Hotpoint", and "I would like a Miele" - however the price of this dryer at £400 (it still seems to be around this price), cheaper than a Miele, and I think the 5 year extended warranty were what swayed him. I think, being a man, he liked the nifty LED display too. We don't have a great track record on longevity where appliances are concerned, however well into its third year this year and we haven't had a single problem with it (fingers crossed), though I doubt my husband could tell you much, if anything about it, but I can and will. I do feel quite guilty using the dryer quite as much as I do - it has an energy consumption class of C, which is not great, but I think comparable to other dryers, I do try to use it sensibly.

Loading and the drum:

Loading is easy as the door opens very wide (to 165 degrees), though it isn't mountable two ways. The manufacturer claims that the drum is snag free and has lots of holes to aid efficient drying - from my use I have noticed that it is a stainless steel good quality drum and yes, it is snag free. Having worked briefly in a washing machine factory in France in the 1990's - for a company who shall remain nameless for libel reasons, I know that the actual design of the drum is important, the wrong "dimples" and the clothes won't turn round efficiently or dry properly. In any case there are no such problems with this drum, the clothes turn round nicely and dry well.

The controls:

The instructions that came with the dryer weren't the clearest - luckily the controls are pretty straight forward. There is one dial for the various settings and two buttons - one for lower heat and one for "less ironing" - clearly I press the latter button every time! It does seem that if I get the clothes out of the dryer and fold them straight away no ironing is required - which helps ease my electricity usage guilt. In practice the two main settings of "easy care" and "cottons and colours" seem to be the same thing, the temeperature my vary slightly; but it is handy that you can choose how dry you want clothes to be from extra dry to iron dry - the sensor seems to work well. My previous dryer (vented) had no such refinement and the clothes were sometimes over dried which is not great for fibres and wear, this hasn't happened with this dryer. There is a delay on the timer of up to 19 hours; again in practice I don't use this as I would rather I were in the house when this is in use, perhaps as I knew someone who came home to find their utility room on fire!
As mentioned earlier the disply is LCD and gives you some idea of remaining drying time which is a nice feature. The time given is often on the pessimistic side - I can find myself having to dry a piece of school uniform rather on the last minute side and then be pleasantly surprised that it is actually dry in time (bad mum bad mum) - so the display in my experience is a guide only for this purpose. The actual button to start and stop is touch sensitive which is a nice er touch!

The water container and lint filter:

As this is a condensor dryer you need to empty the water from a container that pulls out from the front - this pulls out easily and is fine to empty, you empty it when the indicator flashes (the machine will stop). The lint filter pulls out too and you have to pull the lint off - this is fine but I would have to say that I am not sure that the filter catches everything - I seem to have to delve into the depths of this machine to scoop out soggy lint (eeuggh) from time to time. That said despite taking a lot of abuse the machine has always functioned well. It is not a very quiet machine, but not too intrusive - you do have to remember to turn it off and get your clothes out when done or it will rotate the clothes every now and then to keep them crease free.

Is it any good?

I am pleased with the dryer despite being a bit Miele brand loyal, and would buy a Siemens again. It appears to be well constructed, I haven't had to use the stackable feature but I would think this would be a plus if you have a siemens washing machine. The dryer does get some respite on sunnier days and on energy saving drives in this house, but it gets a fair bit of use and is so simple that even my two year old can work out how to use it, which is why it is switched off at the plug when not in actual use. Bar one "I really shouldn't have put it in the dryer" wool jumper incident, the dryer has dried our clothes well and with no ill effect that I can notice - I have to admit to being a bit partial to a tumble dried towel. Nothing has ever snagged or got torn - which happened a few times with my previous dryer.
Hopefully the dryer will last past the five year guarantee, but in the meantime I am reassured by knowing that should it go wrong I should be covered. Overall this dryer has been a good buy if a somewhat unexciting Christmas present!

*in writing this review I pulled the machine out to check the model number and found a stash of odd socks - no idea how they got there - but this has made me suprisingly happy - if I can actually match any socks my joy will know no bounds!*

(also on dooyoo in my name) 

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