LG Heat Pump Dryer - Way Better than I Expected - DLHC5502 Teardown & Review 

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THIS is how you review an appliance! Thanks for showing us "the goods" and your opinion. Excellent work.

I found an older GE heat pump dryer for $50. The couple said it was taking longer to dry and the clothes were still damp. They were going back to conventional dryer. I found a sock below the filter housing and I cleaned the dust and dirt off of the coils. I can dry a medium load in about an hour and fifteen minutes. When running it consumes about 760 watts.

I just want to applaud you for all the effort required and the amount of detail you went to on not just this, but all of your videos. This is excellent work!

You are the Albert Einstein of appliances.

Happy to see more heat pump dryers coming to market. Thanks for the amazing videos and tear downs.

Really appreciate your reviews and your candid kindness.

It’s so good to hear positive things about an LG dryer. We still have our very first dryer that we bought way back in 2005! It an LG Tromm with the auto sense feature. It’s still works very well, and we have twice had technician out to work on a washer and they were amazed. It is a gas unit, we are a family of 7, and I have only had to replace the igniter, the metal sensor piece, and a drum wheel. The drum does have a small indent from running too long with the bad wheel, and the belt definitely looks worn, but we have been beyond impressed with its longevity. My wife says that it’s not allowed to ever die. 😂

Still running our LG units bought over 10 years ago. Have been really impressed with their quality. If/when our current units fail this will be on my short list.

Man, thanks for digging into this. I love your content.

Found my way here researching various heat pump dryer options and this has to be the most thoughtful, insightful commentary I've seen. Excellent work, very much appreciated.

I just bought this and a matching washing machine based in no small part on your review. Thank you. So far I am impressed. If it proves to be reliable, I'm going to love it.

The detailed review and tear-down is much appreciated!

My old dryer died and I wanted to replace with a heat pump dryer so I purchased this unit a week ago. I knew it was new to the market and there were no reviews out yet, but being a week in so far, I have been pretty happy with it. as you stated, I've noticed the time estimate displayed on the screen tends to be slightly exaggerated and the clothes are dry generally before the time runs out. It has powered through loads of clothes, towels, sheets, blankets, and everything I've thrown at it so far with no issues. Clothes always come out super dry and warm and do not feel the slightest bit of "damp" or moist. The dryer is super quiet and the app connectivity is also nice. If you can stomach the price for the unit, and don't really want to go the two-in-one route, I would highly recommend this unit.

I have been waiting weeks for this video, how exciting...and I am just a random person that enjoys your videos. Thanks for making appliances interesting.

Thank you for the great video! I think I am sold on this one for the "clothes come out dry" alone!

Using acidic liquids is a bad idea on condenser coils and will cause galvanic corrosion with dissimilar metals (copper/aluminum coils) in this case. This is a known issue in the HVAC industry in corrosive environments. Looks like LG used a coating on the front condenser coil to mitigate this but it will not protect the coil from acids 100%.

I've been waiting so long!! I could not wait and already have mine and LOVE it!!

10 year warranty on the motor and the complete sealed system, LG openly stating 12-year expected average lifespan, some incredibly smart self-maintenance technology, and some very well thought out and serviceable design choices? This is awesome! I may wait to see if they put this design into an all-in-one, but if my dryer kicks the bucket before then, this just got bumped to the top of my list! Thank you so much for taking the time to do this review, test and teardown!

Wanted this dryer, but there's so little info out about it that I was on the fence. Thanks to this in-depth review, I'm all in!! Thanks for sharing!

I would be sooooo happy if you chapterized your videos! Thank you so much for doing these. I think you have the only reviews of value for ventless/heat pump dryers!

Thanks for sharing this Ben🥰

Great video! This dryer just made it to the top of my list for when my electric tumble dryer finally gives in. It's had a hell of a run, 30+ years and still chugging. But eventually that'll end, and I'm expecting it. This comment will probably seal the deal, lol.

Amazing teardown and video! Thank you!

This was a great overview, and i look forward to hearing more about this when it has more cycles on it! This thing looks really compelling, im no expert, but fully disassembled it really didn't look like a crazy complicated mess! It appears well designed and legitimately serviceable, and that's the best we can ask for. Hopefully we see more and more designs like this, and better reliability too.

Excellent video and excellent review. I use an older, smaller heat pump dryer myself and the lint management is my biggest struggle - not enough to be annoying, but a prominent issue. Coil cleaning is something I wish it could do, and I know I'll need to address it eventually. My only gripe with the video is when you mix up and jumble the units "kW" and "kWh". A thing does not consume "kilowatts" over a period of time - it consumes an average or instantaneous number of of "kilowatts" and a cumulative number of "kilowatt hours" :) And there's no such unit as "kW*h" (or its dirty sibling in media horrors, "kW/h"). It's just kWh, kilowatt-hours. Using fewer kWh per load is a big advantage, and it's a reason I love mine! And, given the small amount of kW it uses while running, I'm also surprised they gave it a 240v supply requirement (as does mine, which uses around 600 watts). It could easily run on a 120v outlet :)

Awesome review. In a couple years I think I'll def get this or maybe LG's new version if they replace it. I currently have an old Bosch ventless dryer (bought from Habit Restore here in Wi) and really do like it. My only two issues is the reg monthly cleaning I need to do, to prevent lint buildup in the pump and the baby drainpipe that it uses and the fact the clothes are not "to touch dry" like a tumble dryer. (which LG has seemed to solve). Plus the fact it can do a comforter is awesome! I've been slowly updating old appliances in the house and when we re-do our main floor washer/dryer closet I'll def be getting this or a Queen (pending your battle review of course) matching setup. (I just upgraded our top loader Amana washer to a Samsung front loader (used again, but much more recent then the Bosch lol) and was considering getting a Samsung dryer but now I'll be happy to wait :)

Great review and tear down; gives me a bit more confidence in these systems. I'm currently in the middle of replacing the rollers on my 13yo LG tumbler, so I've hopefully got a few years left.

Watching this and the new heat pump water heaters that can use a 120 Volt wall socket. I use a Speed Queen washer with great water extraction so the LG is looking good and have the hookup already.

Fantastic teardown video! Looks like a good design. Also looks well-made… Can the new king beat the queen?

This is perhaps the only dryer where I'd be interested in some cycle videos where we can see and hear the dryer run. Id be interested to see how much it reverses during cycles, and the overall noise profile of the unit given its drastically different design. This is an extremely interesting unit to me and I plan to own one in the future thanks to this overall good review!

Something you forgot to bring up about energy savings and vent-less dryers---you're not pushing conditioned inside air (heated or cooled) outside, and pulling unconditioned outside air (too cold or too hot) in through gaps and cracks and by back-drafting the fireplace. throwing away conditioned air could double the cost of running a typical vented heating-element dryer. Meaning a heat pump vent-less isn't half the energy cost of the older design, it's one-quarter the energy cost.

Great Video. Thank you for sharing

Thank you so much for posting this!!! Based on this teardown, we will absolutely be picking this unit up. I'm building a house that approaches passive house standards, so it's air-tight. I wasn't looking forward to having a makeup air system for the laundry room and wasting conditioned air. Most other heatpump dryers are super low capacity and my wife hated them. She probably still won't love the 2 hour dry time... maybe I'll plan for two lol. Thank you!

Wow thanks for making this video! Please follow up on LG's response to cleaning cycle additives and how hard water deposits may build up on the coil. Additionally, I would like to see how well ductless dryers handle pet hair.

It's like putting a dehumidifier and a drying rack in a small room with extra steps. I used to live in an apartment with this setup for the shared laundry room.

Thank you for making this video. LG appears to have made a very good unit. I would buy it at about 1000 even. 😊

Thanks for a very informative video. You did a great job and it is appreciated. I will be sharing the link. Prior to viewing this, I had only considered heat pump technology in the course of future home furnace replacement. One feature that makes me even more interested is the ductless tech - this home has a long exhaust duct that runs for about 10 feet under the house in the crawl space (nearly impossible to clean out if needed). Current drying is done with a nat gas LG dryer that I have self repaired - replaced the rollers and is nearly 20 years old. the matching LG washer had a door latch replaced (again self repaired). however, now that the front loading washer has what sounds like failing drum bearings - that are not easily replaced, DIY - the plan may be to replace the matched pair with the heat pump tech and close off the dryer vent. A tribute to LG quality in these appliance in our usage. room temp is usually around 70 F except in summer 74-78 and dry California weather making this a reasonable alternative. The appliances are inside the home near the bedroom area - not in the typical locations like a garage or a basement. the home has Tesla solar panels and a power wall that do not power the home entirely but do provide outage protection and reduced expensive electricity cost. this dryer would replace the nat gas current dryer. water heating is via a continuous gas unit as are the two furnaces and cooking appliances. Using 220 V drying is a concern when the weather is bad and solar is not producing very much. your work has refined what questions i need to answer - One question is the availability of a nat gas version. PS the cost difference of 300-400 dollars initially will be recouped over the expected life of the appliance. Excellent thought provoking video!

I see even compressor coils crave Brawndo! The wonder drink!

Great content Ben!

This is such cool tech!!!

WOW well done young man. Thank you.

Finally someone engineered a proper dehumidifier/dryer instead of just a heat pump dryer:) This unit is not strictly drying with heat, but it is:))

I have the GE and overall have been happy besides the obvious lint going past the filter issue and it not being the best for bulky bedding. One thing I do like over the LG is the standard outlet vs the 240.

We purchased an Electrolux washer/dryer pair about 6 months ago, when only the GE Combo Heat Pump Washer/Dryer was on the market, I wasn't interested in the GE system at the time due to the cost, longer cycle times and the clothes still coming out damp. However, if we were in the market for a new washer/dryer pair today, I think I'd purchase the LG pair, cost is only a few hundred dollars more than we spent, but the quality looks way better with the direct drive system, than what Electrolux has, and not having a vent, that's a big maintenance item that it would be nice not having to worry about. Previously we had an LG washer/dryer pair that was still working after 14 years when we sold them, I considered LG again at the time we purchased the Electrolux, but thought the Electrolux boot gasket on the washer was better and easy to replace when it came time.

Really appreciate the time and effort you make in producing these videos - thank you! Quick question, my existing dryer using a 3-prong 125/250v 30 AMP cord. The manual for this unit has wiring instructions for both a 4-prong (current code) and the older 3-prong cord/outlet which I have. Is there any negative to using this dryer with my existing outlet and the older 3-prong cord instead of the 4? I understand the code reasons why it was changed to 4; however, I'd like to avoid changing out my current outlet as I'd need to run a new wire to my panel. Thanks in advance!

Our Bosch dryer is on its way out. It has lasted through 2 washing machines- we are on our 3rd. We had a bosch washer then we replaced it with a Kenmore when it stopped working (the door lock was a mess and we hated it) and now we have a top-load whirlpool. To be fair to the dryer, the exhaust is routed all the way across our house- 30ish feet of pipe. We think one of the sensors is bad so we have to use time dry or it will run and run.

Appreciate your reviews as always. And keep that ol' tumble dryer off the boat! ;)

I wonder how this will do with dog hair...looks great and I'm seriously interested. Really appreciate the video!

My Kenmore 80 series stopped producing heat. Looking forward to this review !

great video--thank you.

I was a appliances service technician for 20 years and dryers gas or electric has been my favorite appliances to repair relatively easy to troubleshoot and fix until now even to disassemble this units you have to be very careful to don't damage any of the sealed system parts specially in the washer and dryer combo with basically not much space to work.

I'm tempted to grab this LG and pair it with an Electrolux washer. I wish that new Electrolux Laundry Tower had a HP dryer!

I think that style compressor is used in their dual inverter. Window units mainly the larger ones

another great washer from LG

Thanks for the review. I would need to look back through history to see if there was ever a time when the government decided to ban a product and forced everyone owning that product to throw it away and replace it, but I can't recall that ever being true, so your tumble dryer is perfectly safe and no boating accidents required.

I have the LG wash tower with the heat pump dryer. The only problem that I have experienced is the time. I don’t mind that as much, since most of the time we are not doing loads that need to be done immediately.

Thanks Ben, great review. Now that I'm considering the LG heat pump dryer I started looking at it's specifications and I discovered another LG heat pump dryer. Both seem to have the same specifications. But one is black and the others come in three colors. Can you tell me anything about the LG DLHC6702. Both the DLHC6702 and the DLHC5502 are Energy Star Certified. Is one just newer than the other or is it an improved model?

Excellent video!! Thank you so much! This finally looks like a winner for a dryer. My problem is a washer.... mine finally died after about 35 years and many fixes. On my 3rd new one now (having to keep returning) and they just all suck! The water level they all use now is insane low and sometimes clothes come out with fabric softener splotches all over and even some on bottom of drum. This is with all 3 new machines. Unreal how shity everything is made now and that it's even legal to sell that way.

Would really like to see a review of the heatpump washtower WKHC252HBA

Ben, do you have any recommendations on safe coil attachments for a vacuum?

Thank you for a super thorough review. Does LG have a kill switch for the day after warranty runs out? I ask this because this unit can connect to WiFi and then to headquarter.

Good job Maestro…

Thanks!

excellent thank you

Looks like they really thought this out. Have 220 anyway with our present machine so that's not an issue. And no belts! I've changed a few...but worse, on our Kenmore the idler-pulley arm broke, but instead of a $12 bolt in replacement, it was welded to the motor. So it was a multi-hundred dollar fix. This is a machine I would seriously consider.

being able to flip the unit on it's back to be able to remove a cover to access the condenser coils would have been awesome

thanks for the great video - are there any extensions you would recommend for the drain hose? i have not been able to find the part number or diameter anywhere

Hi ben your videos is great update new technology review but pls review latest 2024 model damsung bispoke al combo washer dryer review

2000 likes on 60 000+ views? What's, up with that? Thanks for a great review!

would u get a heat pump dyer over a natural gas dryer?

Looks great. I’m still using our Maytag tumble dryer that was new in 1985. Still works fine. First service was this year to replace the belt. After 39 years! This idea that you’re damn lucky to get 12 years out of a major appliance is appalling. Also have a 35 year old GE fridge that’s never needed service and a 23 year old SubZero that I expect to outlive me.

This might be a heat pump dryer I could convince my wife to get, given the very dry results. 👍😁

did i see a curled/twisted extraction hose there ? one of the 3 🤔, will that be an issue down the line?

I bought the LG heat pump dryer as part of their washtower. Eliminated the issue with vents, uses a fraction of the electricity since the heat is recycled (exhaust heat to my laundry room is pulled in again), no humidity and awesome drying. One issue is that they drying takes a bit longer - but I do find that it is easier on the clothes. Cost was similar to a high quality, full functioning dryer. Highly recommend.

Thanks for your video, can you please do a teardown on LG dvh10-10W dryer teardown? Thanks

If HEEHRA rebates ever come out this is going to be a major contender.

One big thing that's gonna make me get a ventless dryer when my current dryer dies is that it's not gonna suck a whole bunch of conditioned air out of my house. No ducts to clean every so often as well. I'll probably opt for 1 machine that washes and dries too just to save a little space.

Could you please do a review on the portable LG washer and dryer with heat pump. I have no need for the large version. It would be greatly appreciated. Thank you,Joan

Great review. I will never buy any thing like this but it's great to have the information to support that fact. Too much tech. I run old school devices that I fix for just a few dollars every ten years or so. Fixed income folks cannot begin to afford professional service persons and all this tech WILL need diagnostics and replacement. But if I could afford it, it's pretty darn cool.

You mentioned that it is stackable. Is it stackable with the combo unit? From what I understand, the combo unit has the filter on the top so it might not be. I have a use case where I would like to have both of these and wanted to get an idea about whether these two can be stacked

Most informative video for a heat pump dryer I’ve seen, thank you! Highly considering purchasing the compact LG stackable heat pump dryer (WM1455HWA) and accompanying washer. Do you know if that dryer is more or less built as well as this one? Any experience (good or bad) with that unit?

hey note for you Ben..perhapse using one of these 2 gallon 12v battery "pressure washer" were used by a lot of Florida HVAC techs given mold is a huge issue here and won't damage the coils to clean. perhaps a uncharge breakdown clesan charge like an ice machine?

Review the new Samsung Bespoke washer dryer heat pump please.

Does the combo washer/dryer need the back facing 5 inch clearance same as the dryer only?

Came here hoping it was 110v. Oh well. Thanks for the excellent videos. I'm too scared to buy the 2 in 1 options.

What are those gadgets you have at the water line connection?

I was looking for reasons to not want to touch one but after this I really want a call to fix one and would consider buying one over a vented dryer in a sense...wow im impressed and look forward to a service call to fix one

Looks neat. With the recent LG scandals I'd be nervous to buy one.

You mention the built-in coil wash system, which seems like a nice convenience (assuming it doesn't get clogged over time). However, what is stopping you from just spraying the condenser coils down with water on any of these heat pump units? They're obviously designed to get wet and, as long as you're not using a pressure washer, I think you'd be less likely to damage the fins by spraying them down than by trying to vacuum them out.

Dang just missed it; I witnessed the outro though. Definitely excited to watch the whole video; but couldn't agree more with the "needed" coil cleaner!! My only worry is if it uses tap water 🤔 won't those with hard water suffer.?! Oh & bumping the algorithm 🎉

I don't need a heat pump dryer as my standard one works great... but I still love your videos so I had to watch...

I'll have to keep my eyes on this one. I've been wanting to switch to a heat pump dryer but the "slightly damp" output has held me back.

My question is how will the coil and other things parts insdie going to hold up over time with drye sheets/fabric softener? I've seen a few dryer all gunked up from that stuff! I don't use it, and my 19 years old Maytag Neptune is spotloss inside.

I'm looking for an apartment washer with an agitator but can't find any. Any suggestions 🤔 please 🙏

This is fantastic technology. With the amount of people I live with, a heat pump dryer would take too long to dry though. We have some days that are all-day laundry and waiting already. That said I want one.

Hi Ben, I have been cooking with a 32" electric stovetop or cooktop with metal cook rings. But it is on its last legs. Now I am faced with 36" electric Induction cooktops. With or with knobs Which is the best longer last one to get? Also if it breaks do I need to replace the whole cooktop?

Fabric care would be interesting comparison. A longer but cooler LG cycle or a shorter but (allegedly blisteringly) hot Speed Queen cycle?

I bought one at Lowes today even before I saw your video. After watching your video I was glad I bought it. Expecting it May 9th 24. I am extremely excited. My old dryer was pulling 6K watts and was maxing out my Solar system every time. Can't wait to kick that power hungry machine to the curve. Great video and thank you!

I know it's quite pricey and quite small but i woudl really appreciate a review on the Miele heat pump dryers...