Credit:
Reviewed / Beckett Dubay
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Credit:
Reviewed / Beckett Dubay
Reviewed's mission is to help you buy the best stuff and get the most out of what you already own. Our team of product experts thoroughly vet every product we recommend to help you cut through the clutter and find what you need.
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A high-efficiency heat pump ventless dryer that works well and is compact enough to install anywhere. Read More
This highly efficient Energy Star-certified washer-dryer combo comes with a large mold-resistant drum, high-end features, and an excellent warranty. Read More
The GE GFT14ESSMWW is a decent pick. Your laundry will get dry pretty much every time, but its cycles tend to run long -- and get way too hot. Read More
This compact, ventless dryer boasts an above-average performance, specialized cycle settings, and low maximum temperatures. It's just very expensive. Read More
This LG heat pump dryer is built around efficiency and smart features and dries effectively, if slowly. Read More
People don’t generally buy a ventless dryer just for fun—it’s usually a necessity. Maybe there’s no vent hookup in sight. Maybe they’re living in a tiny apartment, condo, or camper, where space is tighter than a carry-on bag. Or maybe they just want a more energy-efficient way to dry their laundry.
The best ventless dryers squeeze into places a standard-size washer-and-dryer could never fit, work without a vent, and use way less energy in the process. That said, they won’t dry your laundry as fast as a full-size dryer, and they tend to cost more thanks to the extra engineering behind their vent-free design.
If you want full laundry capabilities in a ventless situation, you can look for a washer-dryer combo unit(our favorite is on this list), but if you’ve already got the washer covered, we’ve tested some of the best compact ventless dryers to help you buy the right one.
Extremely energy efficient
Great warranty
Smart features
Heavy dryer loads may require additional drying time
This GE ventless dryer is an exceptional value for its performance and build quality.
Gets laundry completely dry
Cycles take a long time to finish
Temperatures get way too hot
This Miele ventless dryer is a standout amongst the competition, and well worth the extra spend.
Efficient
Useful smart features
Drain hose not included
A ventless dryer is right for a household where a dryer vent isn’t feasible, or for anyone who can trade patience for energy efficiency and sustainability. The best ventless dryers can fully dry clothes, often using heat-pump technology. However, expectations should be properly set since most ventless dryers are smaller, slower, and less capable of a complete dry than a traditional vented dryer.
Condenser vs. Heat Pump: Condenser dryers use hot air to condense moisture into water, which is typically collected in a reservoir, while heat-pump dryers, which are more efficient, use a refrigerant system to extract moisture at lower temperatures, reusing hot air and saving energy.
Operating temperature: Ventless dryers typically have a lower operating temperature than vented dryers, reducing fabric damage and shrinkage, making them ideal for delicate items.
Quiet Operation: Ventless dryers are generally quieter than vented dryers, making them ideal for apartments or homes where laundry is near living areas.
Moisture Collection: Ventless dryers produce condensed water from the drying process. Collected water can either go into a drain hose or removable tank (which you'll need to empty if not plumbed). Always check to see if the unit, and its destination, allows for direct drainage for simpler operation.
Maintenance: Ventless dryers require regular filter and condenser cleaning (especially heat pump models) to maintain performance. Some models now include features like self-cleaning condensers or alerts for maintenance.
A ventless dryer does not need to be hooked up to a vent like a traditional vented dryer.
These dryers often exhaust their humid air into a receptacle where it condenses. This can be an internal reservoir drawer, bucket, or into a nearby drain.
Ventless dryers are also known as condenser tumble dryers. These units solve some real problems by working in a way that’s quite different from a conventional dryer. This technology eliminates the need for running a dryer duct, which is helpful if you live in a building that simply doesn’t give you the option to have a vented dryer.
Ventless dryers and ventless washer-dryer combo units are also far more energy-efficient than a conventional vented electric dryer. This is true both for the dryer and for your home’s HVAC system, which has to replace the air a typical dryer sucks out of the room. Ventless systems condense the moisture out of your clothes into a tray or tank that you can empty, or drain into your standpipe or a nearby sink.
All this results in a more efficient dryer that can be installed in more places.
Though ventless dryers are more efficient in terms of energy usage per cycle, they tend to take longer to dry your clothes. Where a conventional hot air dryer typically takes about an hour to dry clothes, a ventless dryer can take anywhere from two to four times as long. The exterior of ventless dryers can also get warm enough to raise the temperature of a room, so keep that in mind if you live in a small space.
A compact ventless dryer typically measures around 24 inches.
Most of the ventless models we’ve tested were compact—a standard width of 24 inches. It is very common to see compact dryers that are ventless, since these features complement each other and support the same use case.
There’s usually two reasons you’re buying a compact, ventless dryer: You want to save energy, or it’s the only dryer that will fit your available cubic feet. Most of the things people say they want in a dryer—high capacity, fast drying, clothes that come out fully dry—just aren’t here. The ventless design doesn’t allow it to check all those boxes like a vented tumble dryer can.
Smaller than the standard size dryer that Americans are used to, a compact dryer can fit about half the amount of clothes as a traditional dryer. (They’re quite popular in European homes.) And they’re great options for people living in apartments, condos, and even tiny houses because they can fit almost anywhere, including bathrooms or kitchens.
The two major types of ventless dryer are condenser dryers and heat pump dryers.
A condenser dryer doesn't exhaust air like a vented model. Instead, it uses a dual loop airflow system. The first loop draws some ambient air into the dryer, heats it up, and pushes it through the drum to evaporate water. Then the air goes through a second loop where the hot, wet air is cooled down, allowing its moisture content to precipitate out. The evaporated water is then either sent out a drainage hose or collected in a reservoir to be emptied later.
A heat pump dryer does not have a heating element like the condenser dryer. It instead works more like an air conditioner, but in reverse, gradually extracting cold and moisture from the air as it recycles and reuses the air.
In general, heat pump dryers are significantly more energy efficient as they lack a heating element, but they also tend to have a more expensive up-front cost.
Yes, ventless dryers are safe. You just need to make sure they're set up properly, meaning that their drainage hose is leading to a drain or sink, or that you know exactly when and how to empty the water collection reservoir.
You’ll also want to put it in a room with good ventilation. If you run a ventless dryer in a room with no air circulation, that room is going to get hot and humid very quickly. Repeating this process without properly allowing the room to dry out could cause mildew to form, or peel wallpaper.
Ventless dryers are built to dry clothes in small spaces that aren’t equipped to vent out all the hot air that standard, built-in dryers produce. These rigorously engineered appliances are also often extremely efficient. There’s a tradeoff though: Time. Whether they use condensers or heat pumps, ventless dryers take much longer than standard dryers. Many will take two to three times as long as a standard dryer.
Time isn’t the only downside to ventless dryers. Most ventless dryers don’t leave clothing as crisply dry as regular dryers will. Instead, clothing often comes out slightly damp.
While ventless dryers have real benefits, remember that if you invest, you’ll usually have to resign yourself to longer cycles that yield laundry that’s mostly, but not entirely, dry.
It might not have a vent, but that doesn't mean you won't need to clean lint from your compact ventless dryer.
Most of the best ventless dryers have a classic lint trap. This traps lint using a screen. Some ventless clothes dryers will require you to periodically clean lint from around the condenser, or from other areas within the machine, including the water reservoir.
Whether condenser or heat pump models, ventless dryers condense water to dry clothing. This method uses a similar technology to an air conditioner or refrigerator. Once the water exits the clothing, it must then go somewhere else.
Depending on the dryer in question, this water will either be funneled away from the unit with a drainage hose, or you’ll personally need to remove the reservoir and empty it of water.
Some of the best ventless dryers repurpose this collected water and can use it to steam clothing or to clean interior components of the dryer.
Most dryers have capacities ranging from 7.3 to 7.5 cubic feet, enough to deal with the laundry that can fit in most washing machines.
Every ventless dryer that comes into Reviewed’s labs gets put through the same testing protocol, which addresses both its performance and the user-friendliness of its design.
Drying performance: How much water does each major dryer cycle actually remove from your clothes, and how quickly can it achieve that level of dryness?
Maximum temperature: We record the maximum temperature in each dryer cycle. Some like it hot, but if dryer temperatures get too hot, it could damage your clothes.
The best dryers completely dry your clothes at a temperature that is hot (140°F–150°F), but not too hot (lest your clothes be scorched or damaged), and have short cycle times.
Beyond these performance tests, we also assess the usability of each dryer, based on our experience, both during testing and during more casual use.
Our main goal is to discern: How easy is it to actually use this dryer? This involves cumulatively assessing the control panel, the door, the vent, and any smart features.
Additionally, we use our experience testing and evaluating dryers to review ventless dryers that we haven't yet had the opportunity to test in the lab. In these cases, we pore over market product reviews and specs, researching available units to find the best ventless dryers.
Mark Brezinski works on the Home Team, reviewing refrigerators, minifridges, dishwashers, washing machines, dryers, air conditioners, air purifiers, and fans.
Jonathan Chan currently serves as the Lab Manager at Reviewed. If you clean with it, it's likely that Jon oversees its testing. Since joining the Reviewed in 2012, Jon has helped launch the company's efforts in reviewing laptops, vacuums, and outdoor gear. He thinks he's a pretty big deal. In the pursuit of data, he's plunged his hands into freezing cold water, consented to be literally dragged through the mud, and watched paint dry. Jon demands you have a nice day.
Leigh Harrington has 25 years experience as a writer and editor for myriad print and digital publications.
At USA TODAY and Reviewed, Harrington oversees large appliances, including refrigerators, dishwashers, ranges, and laundry, and manages Reviewed's overall home content, including areas of focus like home improvement, cleaning, gardening, cooking, and parenting. She focuses on developing and editing consumer ed content, product reviews and buying guides, but she also writes, too.
Harrington is also an experienced travel writer, and has authored books including Fodor's Boston, 100 Things to Do in Boston Before You Die, and Colorful Boston, an adult coloring book. www.leighharrington.com
Gabriel Morgan
Staff Writer, Home
Gabriel Morgan is a staff writer on Reviewed's home team, where he covers consumer education topics such as earthquake preparedness, radon in the home, and concerns about health and wellness in product design. He also writes product reviews and how-to articles on appliances, smart home technology, and goods for the home.
Our team is here to help you buy the best stuff and love what you own. Our writers, editors, and experts obsess over the products we cover to make sure you're confident and satisfied. Have a different opinion about something we recommend? Email us and we'll compare notes.
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