Appliance for Drying Laundry

The appliance of any one of the preceding claims, wherein said heat pump comprises a variable-output compressor (210) for the heat pump process fluid, and wherein the control unit is adapted to cause the appliance to perform at least one laundry treatment cycle in at least:

• a first laundry drying mode, wherein the Joule-effect drying air heater is kept de-energized and the compressor is driven to a first compressor mode having a compressor power consumption course and/or a compressor rotational speed course and/or a frequency course of the supply current/voltage of the compressor motor, and
• a second laundry drying mode, wherein the Joule-effect drying air heater is kept energized for at least an initial portion of the laundry treatment cycle and the compressor is driven to a second compressor mode after the Joule-effect drying air heater has been de-energized, wherein the second compressor mode comprises a compressor power consumption course and/or a compressor rotational speed course and/or a frequency course of the supply current/voltage of the compressor motor,
• wherein, for at least a portion of the laundry treatment cycle after the electric heater has been de-energized, the compressor power consumption and/or the compressor rotational speed and/or the frequency of the supply current/voltage of the compressor of the second compressor mode is/are higher than the one/s of the first compressor mode.

A method of drying laundry in a laundry drying appliance (100) comprising a cabinet (110), a laundry treatment chamber (105) inside the cabinet, a drying air recirculation path (245) for causing recirculation of the drying air into/out from the laundry treatment chamber, the drying air recirculation path being at least partly external to the laundry treatment chamber, a drying air moisture condensing and heating system (215,220,225) located in the drying air recirculation path for dehydrating the drying air leaving the laundry treatment chamber and heating the dehydrated drying air before it re-enters into the laundry treatment chamber, wherein said drying air moisture condensing and heating system comprises a first heat exchanger (215) and a second heat exchanger (220) of a heat pump (215,220,225,210), and further comprising drying air propeller (250) inside the drying air recirculation path and a Joule-effect drying air heater (255), downstream the second heat exchanger, energizable for contributing to the heating of the drying air,

• the method comprising:
• selecting a laundry drying cycle to be executed according to a user selection made through a drying cycle selector (305) of a user interface (121) of the appliance;
• enabling the user to impart to the appliance an energization command to energize the Joule-effect drying air heater through a command input means (315) of the user interface;
• starting the execution of the laundry drying cycle upon receiving from the user a start command (310) inputted by the user through a start input means (310) of the user interface;
• after said starting the execution of the laundry drying cycle, energizing said Joule-effect drying air heater if, before receiving said start command, the energization command to energize the Joule-effect drying air heater has been imparted by the user.

An appliance for drying laundry (100) comprising a cabinet (110), a laundry treatment chamber (105) inside the cabinet, a drying air recirculation path (245) for causing recirculation of the drying air into/out from the laundry treatment chamber, the drying air recirculation path being at least partly external to the laundry treatment chamber, a drying air moisture condensing and heating system (215,220,225) located in the drying air recirculation path for dehydrating the drying air leaving the laundry treatment chamber and heating the dehydrated drying air before it re-enters into the laundry treatment chamber, wherein said drying air moisture condensing and heating system comprises a first heat exchanger (215) and a second heat exchanger (220) of a heat pump (215,220,225,210), wherein each of said first and second heat exchanger is comprised of a plurality of heat-exchange fins in packed arrangement crossed by a piping for the circulation of the heat pump process fluid,

• characterized in that
• said first and second heat exchangers are assembled to form a single body by means of at least one joining member (1325,1330) mounted to the first and second heat exchangers on at least one side thereof and provided with holes for the passage of the piping, wherein in the resulting single body the first and second heat exchangers are aligned one to the other and the respective packs of heat-exchange fins are spaced apart by a gap along a direction of flow of the heat pump process fluid.