Haier HDHP80AN1 (8kg)

Dryer stopped working. Haier were no help. " order a technician" without providing likely pricing. Regretting replacing my 20 yo f&p vented dryer. With no help from haier I disassembled the unit and found the condenser totally blocked with lint. Why is this not made accessible to clean? Planned obsolescence? Older models have this accessible by a hatch. Obviously they know this a required maintenance. Show details

A great machine, efficient and good value – Overall a really good appliance. Does what it says. It is very easy to use. I love the drying rack and all the drying cycles. It comes with an internal light which is great to check inside once the machine finishes. I had issues plumbing it and so I use the tank which is of great capacity and very easy to empty. So it works if you have no plumbing as well. It is easy to clean in between cycles and it’s stylish. Show details

This is a great dryer, suitable for a large family – Our dryer couldn't have arrived at a better time - just in time for storm season where the summer rains can be unpredictable and getting clothes dry on the line a challenge with the stop-start rains. It's a very simple yet sleek looking machine and the inside is large. It's very simple to use and the appeal of the energy saving was a benefit.… Read more

Overall I'm happy with the dryer and I would recommend it. It does what it sets out to do and I wouldn't say that it takes any longer or shorter than our previous dryer which was an old LG.

PROS: - Internally it's a large machine, holding up to 8kgs of clothes so this is great for our family. It can be used to dry large items such as blankets. - Energy efficiency: In comparison to our last energy bill our energy usage appears to be the same, however I would suggest we're using the dryer more at present than this time last year. - Drying rack for delicate items. Very handy for kids wet school shoes. - My towels come out much softer than they have ever done in the past. - It has been very gentle on clothes, including delicates. - The lint basket is very effective, collecting more dirt and dog hair than I ever expected would be possible given that the clothes have all just been washed. (Our washing machine is less than 12 months old). For people with allergies this could be a real game changer. The lint filter is large, easy to access and easy to clean. - it's relatively quiet

CONS: - Unknown drying times: The dryer doesn't often tell you how long the drying process is going to take, and this can make it difficult for planning. For example, I'm not one to leave the dryer on when I'm not in the house. - Wall mounting not recommended due to it's weight. - Longest auto dry took 4 hours and there seems to be little difference across features. I'd suggest the number of different settings is probably more than necessary and certainly more than what I need to use.

This is a smart machine but as we don't have WIFI we weren't able to test the function. If I could give it 4.5 stars I would because I think it does a very good job. Not being able to wall mount it, or have an idea how much longer the cycles have to go is a bit of a pain. Price seems high for a dryer - approx $1100.00, but comparatively it is quite competitive in terms of other heat pump dryers on the market. I love that it fits so much inside and that my towels come out really soft afterwards.

Easy to operate, dries well with a minimum of fuss – I have had the Haier HDHP80AN1 clothes dryer for a week and a half and I have used it five times, with a couple of loads of mixed clothes, a couple of loads of towels, and one load of bed sheets and pillow cases. It seems solid and well-built, is easy to operate and maintain, and dries clothes, towels and bedding well. NOT WALL MOUNTABLE The… Read more

first thing that’s useful to know, and isn’t obvious from the sales brochures, is that it is NOT wall-mountable. It must sit on its feet on a flat, level surface (not carpet). You can adjust the feet if the surface on which it sits isn’t entirely level, but I have not tested that feature as it was already sitting level when I installed it.

LARGE AND HEAVY The second thing that’s useful to know is that it is a large and heavy appliance. The Quick Reference Guide that’s available online shows the dimensions but it does not show the weight. You will need at least two strong people to lift it.

DRIES WELL The main thing that a dryer has to do is to dry clothes, towels and bedding, and it does that well. Towels come out soft and fluffy, and that’s without using any additional fabric softener. It’s especially nice when comparing it to the sandpaper effect from hanging towels in the sun and wind. The tumbling motion reverses at various intervals, which makes entanglement of items in the dryer less likely.

CONTROLS The user controls are mostly intuitive. The first time I used the dryer I didn’t consult the instruction manual, but I later read the manual. It’s worth a read to get the most out of the controls. There are various preset drying cycles: Cotton, Synthetic, Delicate, Towels, Allergy, Bedding, Bulky, Durable. But it can also be run manually to a preset time determined by you. Additional features include Anti-Crease, Sanitise, Speed Up, and Eco.

NO HOT AND MOIST EXHAUST All dryers that I’ve previously owned have filled the laundry with hot, humid air, requiring very good exhaust fans or opening of windows and doors. This dryer does not fill the room with hot and moist air. Instead the water that is removed from the clothes is extracted into an internal tank, which needs to be emptied after each use. However, if the dryer is installed near a sink, you can bypass the internal tank and use the supplied hose to drain directly into the sink. This was very easy to set up. The typical amount of water drained in each cycle is around a litre.

REVERSIBLE DOOR HINGE There is no information in the online Quick Reference Guide or in any of the sales brochures about whether or not the door hinge is reversible from the right side to the left. In fact one retailer, when listing features online, said that the door is not reversible. However, I can assure you that the door most certainly is reversible, and I have actually done it myself, even though I consider that I have no handyman skills. It’s not a straightforward task, though, and the instructions in the supplied manual are not clear. Particularly problematic are that there are small round stickers covering the internal screws on the inside of the door that need to be unscrewed, but there is no instruction about how to remove the stickers, and they were very difficult to remove. The instructions say to re-use the stickers after reversing the internal structure of the door and after re-inserting the screws, but I am sceptical that there will be enough adhesive on the stickers to remain in place after being removed once and then put back in place. Even with it being a bit of a hassle, once it’s done, it’s done, and not something you will have to worry about after that.

POWER CONSUMPTION Power consumption is relatively low for a clothes dryer. Using a domestic power meter on the power point, I measured a maximum of 1764 watts, but it wasn’t at that level constantly. The clothes on the “Cotton” cycle used less than one kilowatt hour. Bed sheets and pillow cases took a little less than an hour and a half to dry and used one kilowatt hour. Towels took a little over an hour and a half to dry and used 1.2 kilowatt hours. With one kilowatt hour currently costing me around 32 cents, the dryer is relatively inexpensive to run. It uses about one and a half watts of power on standby, so unless you need to start the dryer remotely using the downloadable phone app, it would be best to switch it off at the power point. The instruction manual also recommends switching off and unplugging the dryer at the end of the cycle. I do switch it off, but I can’t see the point of unplugging the device unless you’re unduly worried about lightning strike.

NON-TUMBLING DRYING RACK Another excellent feature is that it comes with a removable drying rack. Once installed, you run the dryer in a mode which does not tumble the drum. This can be used for drying anything that might be damaged by tumble drying, such as shoes, hats, jumpers or anything delicate. I admit that in the one and a half weeks that I’ve had the dryer, I haven’t used this feature yet, but I can see it being useful in the future.

LINT FILTER In every dryer I’ve previously owned, the lint filter has been in the rear of the drum. I’ve never had problems reaching the back of the drum, but shorter people with shorter arms could find that a challenge. This Haier dryer has the lint filter just inside the door opening, so it’s very easily reached and easier than most to remove and clean. Since cleaning the filter is something that has to be done after each drying cycle, this is an excellent feature.

WIFI CONNECTION AND REMOTE CONTROL The dryer can be connected to your home wifi if it is not too far away from your router. Setting it up is not particularly straightforward and requires that you set up an account with Haier. I persevered and eventually had an app installed on my Android phone and had the dryer connected to my wifi. Then I discovered that the only thing that the app was capable of was to see the status of the dryer and to switch it on or off remotely. I couldn’t see the point of the app and I felt like I’d wasted my time installing it. However, I’ve since changed my mind. One feature that I like is that once the cycle finishes, the app triggers a notification on my phone to tell me it’s ready. Since the dryer is not very noisy, if I’m in another part of the house, I can’t hear if it’s running, so having my phone tell me that the dryer has finished is nice little luxury.

NOISE LEVELS In my opinion it is only moderately noisy. It’s not super quiet, but it’s certainly quieter than all previous dryers I’ve owned. It’s inaudible to me if the door from the living area to the hallway where the laundry is located is closed. If you’re in a small apartment where the laundry appliances are in the living area, it will be too noisy, but so will most dryers.

ACCESSIBILITY FOR VISION IMPAIRED This dryer is not suitable for blind or vision impaired people, as some of the controls are just touch buttons that are not raised and with no tactile response. The Android/iPhone app currently only shows status and enables you to turn on or off the dryer. I am hoping that the app will be developed to enable you to change settings on the dryer. If the app could be modified so that you could change settings, then vision impaired people who are comfortable using smartphone apps would be able to use the dryer.

PROS Dries well Reverse tumbling motion cyclically Relatively low power consumption No hot and moist exhaust Only moderately noisy App for status and remote on/off Non-tumbling drying rack Easily accessible lint filter Reversible door hinge

CONS Large and heavy Not wall-mountable. Not suitable for anyone who is vision-impaired. More difficult than it should be to set up smartphone app and wifi Instructions for reversing of door hinge not clear Not accessible for blind or vision-impaired people

SUMMARY In summary, the dryer seems to be well-built and fulfils its main purpose - drying clothes, bedding and towels - and does it well with a minimum of fuss. Longevity can’t be tested yet as I've owned the dryer for only a week and a half, but it does come with a two year warranty, which is double the warranty of many appliances. It’s relatively low power consumption and lack of hot and moist exhaust are both welcome features. I recommend it.