Not the worst. Not the best

“Not the worst. Not the best”

Written on: 03/07/2012 by Kn1te

The club for integrated tumble dryers is very select. There are only a handful of products to choose from. I was on the fence about which one I should go for. In the end I went for the BTD1. After reading loads of reviews I was, I have to say a little nervous about buying one. They ranged from “this is the best thing I’ve ever spent money on” to “total dross. Noisy and cheap”. After using it more or less every day for a few months I would say it’s a bit of both. If you’re in the market for a mid-ranged dryer that will dry your stuff well and not cost the price of new Bentley. They you can’t go far wrong. Starting with the overall build. Essentially is of a good sturdy build. There are aspects of it that could do with a re-design, but I suspect the budget would be to blame for some short comings. The adjustable legs look, not poor exactly, just not as heavy duty as I would expect. I can categorically say they are fine however. As I said before, mine gets used every day and they haven’t budged at all. The door is the other weak point. Other reviews point out that it is flimsy and badly constructed. The door has a clear plastic middle a with a white plastic surround. I can see peoples issue with this. It is very light and doesn’t feel like it would stand up to the job. I haven’t had any issues with mine, and it tends to get slammed very heavily. I have noticed that no one really speaks about it being used with plinths. This will work with a plinth. The vent for the air intake isn’t at ground level. You cut the plinth down slightly to allow the vent to sit above it. The plinth will cover the legs. With our cupboard door shut it isn’t on show. The exhaust vent is on the bottom right hand side of the rear, if you are looking at the back. Moving on, the controls are really idiot proof. Two heat settings, a timer and an on/off button. That’s it. Now, I don’t understand why some people have complained about the noise of this. As far as I can see (or hear) it is extremely quite. Out of our washing machine, dishwasher and dryer (all integrated) it is the quietest one of the lot. Certainly much quieter than any dryer we have had previously. Performance wise, again it’s better than any other dryer we have had. Dries a full 6kg load with towels in 60 minutes. Is that good? Who knows, but it the best I’ve used. I think the key to this is good exhaust venting. Ours goes direct out through the wall at the back, with a solid pipe.
All in all, I’m pleased with the purchase and would recommend it to other families.
The service I got from Appliances Online was very good. Some reviews of the supplier mentioned the hard sell on extra insurance products. I did get a call, but advised that I didn’t want any and they respected that and ended the call. I didn’t use the recycle service.
Hope you find the information useful.