... I'd owned a White Knight Compact dryer for a year or two, it served me well. The only problem with "Compact" dryers though is they don't dry larger items very well: sheets, bedding and the like. Fed up with having these items hanging around, I decided to trade in my compact dryer and buy ... Read review
Advantages: 6KG Load, dries well, reversible door. Disadvantages: The noise
...necessity. I'd owned a White Knight Compact dryer for a year or two, it served me well. The only problem with "Compact" dryers though is they don't dry larger items very well: sheets, bedding and the like. Fed up with having these items hanging around, I decided to trade in my compact dryer and buy a "Full size" dryer.
There are many to choose from these days, prices start as little as £119 for a basic "Uni-directional" ... ...
Having had a White Knight dryer before and being pleased with its performance, I thought it safe to go with that make again. Flicking through my trusty Argos Additions catalogue, I saw the model I wanted and placed an order for it. The model I chose was the White Knight 447V Reverse Tumble Dryer costing £139.00.
I choose this model as it has a good many features for it's price. These include - Reverse Tumble Action drying, ... more
Living in a flat, and with the British weather the way it is, a Tumble Dryer is a necessity. I'd owned a White Knight Compact dryer for a year or two, it served me well. The only problem with "Compact" dryers though is they don't dry larger items very well: sheets, bedding and the like. Fed up with having these items hanging around, I decided to trade in my compact dryer and buy a "Full size" dryer.
There are many to choose from these days, prices start as little as £119 for a basic "Uni-directional" model, up to many hundreds of pounds for more sophisticated models with delay starts and condensing units. My basic priorities were a large load size and "Reverse Tumble Action". "Uni-directional" machines only tumble in one direction, "Reverse Tumble Action" machines tumble in both directions, like a washing machine! Reverse Tumble Action dryers are said to dry clothes quicker and minimise creasing.
Having had a White Knight dryer before and being pleased with its performance, I thought it safe to go with that make again. Flicking through my trusty Argos Additions catalogue, I saw the model I wanted and placed an order for it. The model I chose was the White Knight 447V Reverse Tumble Dryer costing £139.00.
I choose this model as it has a good many features for it's price. These include - Reverse Tumble Action drying, a very large 6kg (13LB) load, a 120 minute timer with final 12 minute cool cycle to alleviate creasing, a reversible door, front easy access fluff filter and an extendible rear venting hose. It also boasts "Senosordry", this means that should your clothes become dry before the allotted time is finished, the dryer will turn off the thermostat but will still continue to tumble the clothes until the time has ended. The "Energy Efficiency" rating is: C. You also get a free box of Bounce!
My dryer arrived Thursday and I excitedly unpackaged my new toy. It was larger than I had expected, roughly the same size as an Automatic Washing Machine. I has two buttons and the timer control on the front, the two buttons are to change the heat setting from a high heat for cottons and robust materials to a low heat for delicates.
I needed the door opening to open from left-right. When you purchase the dryer, and common with most other dryers, the door opens from "right-left". I didn't even need to read the instructions on how to change the door round, it is that simple. There are two screws holding the door hinge to the dryer, you simply unscrew these and the door comes off. Next you remove the little white door catch from the dryer itself, it is held in place with one screw, again this is very easy to do. Once removed, you will notice a slot on the reverse side (where the hinge was) that you place it into and tighten the screw. You then just screw the door back onto the dryer on the opposite side, sounds a little confusing I know, it really is simple though.
At the rear of the dryer is the "Vent Hose". This is attached to the dryer which I found strange, normally they unclip. It is approximately 1 metre in length, I had to join my old tumble dryer vent hose onto it for it to reach my window.
I pushed the dryer into it's new home (it is on castors so is very easy to move) and plugged it in. The drum is massive, twice the size of my compact dryer's drum. You can easily fit a full load of washing in it. I had washed a load earlier that day so I had something to test in it. In went the washing and I set the timer to 60 mins. Now, one of the reasons I choose another White Knight dryer is because my compact machine was SO quiet. Living in a flat, you have to consider things like noise. I wasn't quite expecting the noise this dryer made when I switched it on! I would put it on par with the noise of a washing machine, kinda a "swooshing" sound as it turned. I stood and watched for 5 mins or so, expecting to see the drum reverse, nothing, another 5 mins passed, there was a click and the drum stopped. Another click and the drum reversed, when it did reverse, the dryer made a sort of "grinding" noise, it continued in reverse mode for "5" seconds then stopped! Yet another click and it started to tumble in the opposite direction for 10 minutes until repeating the procedure of "click, stop, click, grind, click, stop, start"! Mmmmmmm, not exactly "quiet" then.
The dryer does dry clothes well, and quickly. Even a "Double bed set" can be dried all at once and it doesn't roll into a ball and crease up. It is just the noise it makes that let it down. The front fluff filter isn't as easy to clean as I expected either. You have to grasp it at a certain angle to pull it out, it is almost like it's too big for the porthole itself. Once you have jiggled it about and got it out, you have to pull it open, it is like a cassette case. It is stiff to pull open and when it is open, there are little plastic spikes at the top that are quite sharp! You then have to fight with it to get it back into it's space.
If you have a Utility room and the noise isn't important then this dryer may be the one for you. Performance wise it is very good. Noise and cleaning wise though it is poor. I can't put up with the noise it makes actually and am swopping it for a Hoover Six model instead.
It is available in a range of colours, Argos stock it in: White, Green and Silver, the coloured models are more expensive though. All in all, it is a good tumble dryer, sadly though, it's not the one for me.
...of me.
The White Knight 447WV Reverse lacks the character of the old Electra.
I mean, I hardly know it’s on, whereas the Electra could shatter an eardrum at twenty paces.
And it never moves. This is so boring. I can leave it and go to the pub. If I turned my back on the Electra, it was out the door and bouncing down the garden path.
And the WK hasn’t blown any fuses yet.
I can’t get used to it.
It’s like not having a tumble drier at all.
The ... ...including a front to extendible rear venting kit, and a stacking kit (not if you want more than one, but to put it on top of your washing machine).
Dimensions – 85cmH x 59.5cmW x 53cmD.
Load – Cotton – 6kg
Minimum creasing – 2kg
“Delicates” – 2kg
Load (personal experience) – whatever comes out of the washing machine.
Heat settings – high and low.
Timer range – up to 140 minutes.
Price – Thurso (sale) - £139.99
Thurso (normal) - £189.99
...
Aspen 11.04.2003
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of White Knight 447
Advantages: Cheap to buy, economical to run, large load capacity Disadvantages: Doesn't iron your clothes for you
...electrical retailers, I chose the White Knight 447WV Reverse. Why did I pick it? Cause it was a) the cheapest they had and b) it boasted a 6kg load capability. I think I was a salesperson's dream customer that day...I didn't have to be given the sales pitch, I just slapped my cash on the counter and said "one of those over there..and delivery today please" :-D So, all things considered...possibly a stroke of luck that I seem to have made a good, ... ...50cm (19 1/2 inches). Mine's white and I don't think it's available in any other colours...that's still the drier I'm talking about (minds out of the gutter please, this is the serious bit of the op!). As I already mentioned it takes a 6kg load. To make that easier for you all to visualise...it can take a single bed quilt and still have room, albeit only a little, to spare. This drier ONLY vents at the rear, but the hose is retractable (now that ...
rachels_ratty 24.10.2002
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of White Knight 447
Advantages: Easy to use, value for money Disadvantages: needs venting, very noisy
...admit that I chose the White Knight 447 because it was the cheapest dryer with a 6k load on the market. I have to say that I've been pleasantly surprised!
Being a 6k drying load dryer it is quite bulky - 85H, 60W, and 53D (in centimetres) - but no more so than other dryers with the same capacity. It has a 140 minute timer with the last 10 minutes of drying time being cool, and two heat settings - warm and hot. Be warned though that the hot setting ... ...which results in creased clothes. Being a vented dryer a vent hose is supplied but if you wish to use a condenser box - like I do - it is liable to split. My hose is held together in places by duck tape, so perhaps it could have been made a little longer.
I've had my dryer for nearly 2 years and it's still going strong. It's low maintenance - you just need to de-fluff the filter before every load, it's reliable, it's very easy to use, and best of ...
Holiam 23.05.2006 (25.05.2006)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of White Knight 447
Advantages: ecomical , sensor dry technology Disadvantages: no front hose outlet if you need it there
i bought this to replace my old creda model that i had had for years..The thing that attracted me to this was not only the fact it was more efficient on the energy but it looked fresh and clean and had the added feature of reverse tumbleaction which will make the clothes less tangled..
It also has a great feature called sensor dry which in simple language basically means if your clothes dry before the drying cycle has finished the machine will stop ... ...the moisture in the drum..It has 2 Heat settings and final cool tumble to reduce creasing. Comes with reversible door and can hold a weight of 6kg which is ample if you have a large family to cater for..
The dryer is vented and comes with the vent kit supplied..
I wouldnt be with out my tumble dryer, this is one piece of equipment i definitely couldnt be with out..I paid £128 and this was worth every penny so far .. ...
havanna 26.11.2006
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of White Knight 447
Advantages: Resonably cheap machine Disadvantages: Problems with the reset button
...down. It was a White Knight and had given 10 years with out a problem. Brought machine home and ran it for fifteen minutes prior to using as I was instructed. The first time I used the machine the heating unit cut out midway through the cycle, pressed the reset button and the machine worked again for another 45mins before cutting out again. This continued to happen with every load to be dried and the button had to be reset every time. This is not ... ...second machine. I contacted White Knight by email but have had no response. Sadly I exchanged the machine for another make. The machine cost £136.99 and could take a huge 6kg load. If the problem with the machine gets sorted out then I would have no problems about buying it. It is very easy to use, the filter is easy to get at and is easy to clean and it was very quiet to run. The addition of wheels on the bottom of the machine made it very easy ...
Staslt 23.10.2002
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of White Knight 447
Performance
Ease of use
Durability
Noise
Value for money
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Advantages: Running costs, speed of drying Disadvantages: Noise, gas supply needed.
noise. I installed mine in a garage simply because I didnt have space in the kitchen. I know someone who has a BG447 in a kitchen and it drowns out the nearby tv, so forget it if you want a silent dryer.
The machine has simple controls. A rotating dial is used as a countdown style timer. There is a high/low heat setting. Thats it! Not complicated at all. I leave mine set to high all the time.
Safety wise they are good. They have controls which turn off the gas to the dryer if the flame fails to light or is blown out. Once the clothes are dry, then the burner will not light as there are thermostats in the outlet pipe.
There is a removeable fluff filter which is best cleaned before every use. Since they are a gas appliance, ideally they should be serviced every year. ...
