LG RH9V50WH (tumble dryer 9 kg heat pump): our review

The laundry basket rarely fills politely. Bath towels arrive alongside school clothes, and suddenly the drying rack is blocking the route to the couch. The RH9V50WH offers 9 kg of cotton capacity at full load, a generous allowance for bigger loads. If your washer has a matching cotton capacity, that gives you room to move its cotton load across without setting part aside. Synthetics need a much smaller load.

Room to breathe matters. We like the prospect of clearing a substantial cotton load when the household needs fresh towels and the weather offers no help. That capacity is a reason to consider this dryer, but it is not permission to pack every fabric together. Separate laundry by its care instructions, and keep anything whose label rules out tumble drying away from the drum.

A width of 60 cm and height of 85 cm give you useful starting points for planning a laundry corner. Those measurements describe the cabinet across and upward; they do not establish the clearance needed to load it comfortably. You need room to carry a basket through the doorway and bend down to unload the drum. A machine that fits the outline still needs working space around it.

Heat pump drying needs no outdoor exhaust duct, which helps in an apartment without an existing vent route. Follow the installation instructions for ventilation and clearances. This technology generally uses less electricity than conventional condenser drying, although cycles tend to take longer. The living room can retire from laundry duty, but the dryer still needs a properly planned home. Leave the measuring tape out until the installation space is settled.

Where will you hear it? The published sound level of 64 dB sits around the average for dryers. That makes placement worth thinking through if your laundry area opens directly onto the room where you watch TV or someone sleeps. Average sound output is not a promise that the appliance will fade into the background.

The delay end feature gives you a scheduling option when household routines pull in different directions. A Quick program is also included, although its name should not become a promise about when a particular load will be ready. For workout clothes needed the next morning, allow room in your schedule rather than counting backward from an assumed finishing time. Laundry has a remarkable talent for becoming urgent just as everyone wants to go to bed.

The self-cleaning condenser is the convenience feature that stands out here. It reduces condenser upkeep, a welcome prospect when the family calendar already looks crowded. It does not remove the rest of dryer care: appliance manuals call for clearing the lint filter after every cycle. Make that part of unloading, before the basket carries you elsewhere.

What holds us back is the D energy rating on the A to G scale. For a reader trying to keep electricity use under control, that weakens the appeal of an otherwise practical heat pump dryer. Placement may settle the choice instead: the Whirlpool CWD86MWBRFR is better suited to a location near bedrooms. Choose according to the room and your priorities, rather than letting the generous load allowance make the entire decision.