They say you have to spend money to make money, but sometimes you also need to spend money to save money (as contradictory as that sounds).
You might spend more upfront on an energy-efficient appliance, but it’s usually a worthwhile investment: it’ll save you money in the long run in terms of power bills.
Clothes dryers are serious energy vampires, so buying one that uses less electricity is a no-brainer.
The most energy-efficient models are heat pump dryers. They’ll cost you more to buy, but paying extra for one now means you’ll pay less for power later – think of it as short-term pain for long-term gain.
Paying extra for a heat pump dryer now means you’ll pay less for power later
We’ll explain how much you can expect to pay, what they cost to run, and which ones to avoid.
Plus, exclusively for our members, we’ll reveal the heat pump clothes dryers that are recommended by our experts.
If you’re not yet a member, join CHOICE to get instant access to all our expert, independent reviews.
In our latest review of 25 clothes dryers, heat pump dryers ranged in price from $899 through to $3299 – which is a huge difference!
While spending more won’t always guarantee you a top-tier dryer, the heat pump dryers that are recommended by our experts cost around $1500 and up.
However, a number of more affordable dryers still performed quite well in our testing but didn’t score quite high enough to be recommended by our experts, so if you’re on a budget they’re still worth considering.
Check our detailed reviews to find the cheaper options that will still give you good results.
While a heat pump dryer will cost you more to buy than a more simple vented dryer, they are far and away the cheapest type to run.
If you don’t use a dryer very often, you’re probably better off buying a cheaper vented model, but their running costs are around three times higher.
If you do use a dryer frequently, then a heat pump dryer could cost you less in the long run: despite the higher price tag, the running costs are significantly lower.
A clothes dryer should last you around 10 years. When we calculated average dryer running costs over 10 years, here’s how they stacked up:
Dryer type
Average RRP*
Average 10-year running costs**
Vented
$523
$1930
Condenser
$1432
$1921
Heat pump
$2317
$708
*Based on models tested as of March 2025. **Based on drying one load three times a week.
Remember though that these figures are based on current electricity prices. With so much instability in the world at the moment, it’s hard to know what our power bills will look like in a year’s time, let alone 10 years.
If you have solar and are able to run the dryer during the day, or if you have a solar battery, then performance and price will be more important than the running cost.
Buying an energy-efficient dryer is a good investment now, but in the years to come it could save you even more than our current figures suggest.
For a dryer to be sold in Australia, it has to meet certain criteria, including how much moisture is left in the load once the cycle finishes.
“A dryer must deliver a moisture content level no worse than 6% across the whole load when run at the setting used to earn the energy star shown on the label,” says CHOICE appliance expert Denis Gallagher.
Your clothes may not come out of a heat pump dryer quite as dry as you’d expect.
“Our testers measure and assess all the items in a load and find that some poor performing models may leave some clothes a bit moist but still reach that 6% moisture level overall.”
If you’re used to vented dryers, you’ll probably expect your washing to come out bone dry, so you might be surprised that the clothes still feel a bit damp when you use a heat pump dryer.
“The sweet spot for moisture is around 4.5%,” says Denis.
“That’ll give you the dryness that most people would expect but won’t damage fabric fibres, which is what can happen when you dry to moisture levels of less than 2.5%.”
If the final moisture content is important to you, our detailed reviews include the result for each dryer so you can check before you buy.
In our lab tests, our experts found that these heat pump dryers had some of the longest drying times, with one taking almost four hours to dry a load of washing! By comparison, the highest scorers took less than two hours to do the same job.
These ones also cost almost twice as much to run than the best machines we tested, so they’ll be a drain on your wallet as well as your patience.
Our detailed clothes dryer review includes data on 25 dryers, including 17 heat pump dryers. Our laundry experts assess them for things like energy efficiency, drying time, cost per load and noise.
Join CHOICE to access our detailed clothes dryers testing data. Only CHOICE members have access to all our expert, independent reviews.
Or log in to unlock this article to find the hottest heat pump dryers on the market.
Alice Richard is a Content creator and marketer. Alice writes on a range of topics, from health insurance to heaters and BBQs to bargain-hunting, always with the aim to help consumers find the best products to buy, and which to avoid.
Alice can take vast amounts of data from CHOICE product tests and turn it into content that is easily digestible and fun for readers.
Alice has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Queensland. LinkedIn
Alice Richard is a Content creator and marketer. Alice writes on a range of topics, from health insurance to heaters and BBQs to bargain-hunting, always with the aim to help consumers find the best products to buy, and which to avoid.
Alice can take vast amounts of data from CHOICE product tests and turn it into content that is easily digestible and fun for readers.
Alice has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Queensland. LinkedIn
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