A dryer stops the weather owning your laundry schedule, and the type decides the power bill: vented dryers are cheap to buy and dear to run, heat pumps the reverse. The three below carry the biggest owner records at the retailer across that whole trade.
1. Best Overall Vented: Fisher & Paykel 7kg Sensor
F&P's 7kg is the vented dryer done properly: sensor drying that stops when clothes are dry rather than when a timer guesses, and 4.6 stars across 791 reviews. It wall-mounts upside down, the great Australian laundry trick.
At around $509 it's the family default. Vented means the moisture goes into the room, so a window or vent kit is part of the deal.
What We Like:
- Sensor auto-stop
- Wall-mounts inverted
- Family 7kg drum
What We Don't Like:
- Room needs venting
2. Best Efficiency: Hisense 8kg Heat Pump
The Hisense heat pump dries at roughly a third of a vented dryer's running cost, gently, at low temperatures, and its 121 owners average 4.8, the top score on the shelf. Over a family's yearly loads the power savings quietly repay the price gap.
Around $900, with heat pump nature attached: cycles run longer and the filters want emptying more religiously.
What We Like:
- Third of the running cost
- Gentle low-temp drying
- Top owner score
What We Don't Like:
- Longer cycles, more filters
3. Best Budget: Solt 4.5kg Vented
The Solt is the retailer's volume budget dryer, $244 with 927 owners at 4.3: a timer dial, a 4.5kg drum, and the rainy-week insurance a small household actually needs.
Timer drying means guessing, and over-drying is the guess most people make; the sensor models above exist for exactly that reason.
What We Like:
- $244 insurance
- Simple timer dial
- Wall-mount bracket option
What We Don't Like:
- Timer-guess drying
How to pick a dryer
Heat pump maths favour heavy users. At a load a day the heat pump repays its premium in two to three years and keeps paying; at a load a week the cheap vented unit wins the decade. Honest load counts settle the aisle debate.
Sensor drying protects the clothes. Auto-stop at dryness is why sensor machines' clothes last longer, and over-drying is where timer dryers shrink the school uniforms.
The energy label is unusually loud here. Dryers span two to eight stars, the widest spread in the laundry, and the government label converts straight to dollars: each star is roughly 15 per cent off the running cost. EveryModel lists every current dryer with its star rating and yearly running cost.
RELATED: The Best Washer Dryer Combos and The Best Front Loader Washing Machines
FAQs
Can heat pump dryers wall-mount?
No, they're floor units, heavier and deeper than vented dryers. The inverted wall-mount trick belongs to vented models like the F&P and Solt above.
Why does my dryer take forever?
Overloaded drum or clogged filters, usually; a heat pump also slows in a cold laundry. Half-loads and a lint-filter habit fix most of the complaint.
