A heat pump tumble dryer repair starts with one thing being understood: these machines are meant to run cooler and for longer than a vented or condenser dryer. They recycle the same air through a heat exchanger at low temperature instead of pushing hot air out of a hose, so a two or three hour programme is normal and drum air that feels only mildly warm is normal too. What is not normal is a cycle time that creeps upwards month after month, and that is almost always the machine telling you its airflow has silted up. Most owners know about the fluff filter in the door. Fewer know there is a second, finer filter or foam pad in the housing beneath it, and fewer still know the heat exchanger behind the kick panel at the bottom of the machine has a mesh face of its own that needs the fluff rinsing out of it. Add a condensate tank and pump that stop lifting water properly, a drain kit plumbed in with a kink, and moisture sensor bars filmed over by hard water and fabric conditioner, and you have the faults we attend most often. On the visit we work through every filter stage, flush the exchanger, test the pump and float switch, clean the sensor bars back to bare metal and watch the machine behave through a live cycle rather than guessing from the display. Diagnosis is part of the £80 call-out. Any part needed is quoted before it is fitted, and the part we replace carries a 3-month guarantee.
£80
call-out charge per visit
Labour is included for most repairs. More extensive or complex jobs may require additional labour, which we always quote and agree with you before starting. Parts are charged separately and always quoted before we fit them.
We are not registered for VAT. The price we quote is the price you pay.
Usually: Silted airflow: the secondary filter or foam pad never cleaned, and a heat exchanger matrix packed with fine fluff, so the machine cannot shed the moisture it pulls out.
On the visit: We strip every filter stage, draw out and flush the exchanger where the model allows, then run a damp test load to confirm the cycle time has come back down.
Usually: Moisture sensor bars filmed over with limescale and fabric conditioner residue, so the load reads as dry within minutes of the cycle starting.
On the visit: We clean the bars back to bare metal and watch the sensing through a wet test load before deciding whether the sensor lead or the board needs testing at all.
Usually: A condensate pump that has stopped lifting, a float switch stuck up in the sump, or a level sensor fooled by fluff washed down out of the exchanger.
On the visit: We run the pump under power, free and test the float, clear the sump, and confirm the tank fills and empties normally across a full programme before we leave.
Usually: Usually the tank seal or spout, a sump backing up because it is blocked, or a drain kit fitted with a kink or an uphill run so condensate cannot get away.
On the visit: We trace where the water is actually leaving the machine, flush the sump and drain route, and refit or replace the seal or hose so the condensate goes where it should.
Usually: The heat pump is not producing a temperature difference at all: a failed start relay or compressor, a faulty thermistor, or a board no longer switching the circuit on.
On the visit: We compare the air temperature entering and leaving the drum and meter the thermistors, and if it is the heat pump itself we say so plainly, because that is one of the more expensive repairs on this type of machine.
Usually: The second filter stage and the exchanger mesh never get touched, so the airflow sensor still reads a restriction, or the sensing tube itself is choked with fluff.
On the visit: We clean every stage, clear the sensing tube, and only reset the reminder once airflow measures right, so the warning does not simply reappear on the next load.
Usually: Fluff packed around the fan and its housing, a failing fan bearing, or the condensate pump running dry in a sump that is not draining.
On the visit: We drop the kick panel, clear the fan and housing, and turn the drum by hand with the belt off so a bottom-end noise is not mistaken for a drum bearing.
3-month guarantee on the part we replace. Any part we replace is guaranteed for 3 months from the date it is fitted. This covers the replaced part only — it is not a warranty on the whole appliance.
Because it is built to. Rather than heating fresh air and blowing it out through a vent hose, it recycles the same air through a heat exchanger at a much lower temperature, which is gentler on clothes and cheaper to run but noticeably slower. Drum air that feels only mildly warm is normal on these machines. What is not normal is a cycle that gets longer month by month, and that creeping cycle time is the symptom owners ignore for far too long.
Three on most models, and that is the single biggest reason they fail early. There is the fluff filter in the door, a second finer filter or foam pad in the housing underneath it, and the mesh face of the heat exchanger itself behind a panel at the bottom of the machine. The door filter gets cleaned every load; the other two often have not been touched since the day the dryer was delivered, which is exactly what chokes the airflow and stretches the programme.
The call-out is £80 per visit and it covers the labour on most heat pump dryer work, including stripping and cleaning all three filter stages, flushing the heat exchanger, testing the condensate pump and float switch, and cleaning the moisture sensor bars. More extensive jobs may need additional labour, which we quote and agree with you before starting. Parts are charged on top and always quoted before fitting, and the part we replace carries a 3-month guarantee rather than cover on the whole machine.
Often not. These dryers judge dryness through two metal bars inside the drum, and the hard water across West London and Harrow leaves a limescale and conditioner film over them that makes a wet load read as dry, so the machine stops early. Cleaning the bars back to bare metal cures a good number of them. If the load is still damp with clean bars, the fault is usually airflow through the exchanger rather than the sensing, and we test both before condemning any part.
Most models can, using the drain kit made for that machine, and it saves tipping the container out after every load. It is also a fault we attend regularly: a hose kinked behind the machine, a run that climbs uphill, or a blocked spigot will push condensate back into the sump and put water on your floor. If yours has been plumbed in, we check the whole route as part of the visit rather than assuming the pump has failed.