What is the Hotpoint ActiveCare NT M11 82XB?
Almost bursting with its 15-strong programme selection, the Hotpoint ActiveCare NT M11 82XB is an 8kg capacity, Heat Pump tumble dryer with an A++ energy rating. It’s a perfect match for the Hotpoint NM11 washer, offering four drying levels, an Anti-Allergen programme and ActiveCare to best care for your clothes.
Drying results to the desired level proved super-accurate and energy use – particularly on the Cottons Eco program – was supremely low. With a wealth of programmes and options, easy-to-use controls and low running costs throughout, only slightly tricky lower filter access stops this Hotpoint getting all five stars.
Hotpoint ActiveCare NT M11 82XB – What is it like to use?
The matching partner to Hotpoint’s 10kg NM11 washing machine (review coming soon), the Hotpoint ActiveCare HP NT M11 82XB is an 8kg tumble dryer with an appealing-on-the-purse A++ energy rating thanks to Heat Pump technology. The capacious drum will handle over half a full load from the matching washer, as that 8kg is a “wet” load rating, which works out to around 6kg dry.
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There’s plenty of room for that much washing, as the porthole door has a large opening and the drum is cavernous. The door is right-hand hinged, opposite to the washer, making transferring loads from one to other when they are side-by-side easy. Well, as long as you have the washer on the left and dryer on the right anyway.
The door trim has the same matching textured chrome finish as the washer. That doesn’t appeal to our eye, but your cosmetic mileage may vary.
Up top, the design theme is a perfect match. The soap drawer of the washer is replicated as a removable water container here. The slightly odd, polo-shaped programme knob is identical, and the display is the same unusual orange. It’s big, crisp and easy to read with a raft of good-sized options buttons placed around its perimeter.
A host of indicator lights indicate what stage of the cycle the drying is at and when the fluff filters and water tank need attention.
The programme knob is nicely textured and feels robust and positive as each programme is selected. And – wow – there are some programmes to select: 15 of them, including a dedicated dryer cycle for Cuddly Toys!
The switch panel to the right of the fascia contains main power and start/pause, along with Hotpoint’s ActiveCare button. In the tumble dryer, the ActiveCare feature adjusts temperatures and drum speed to best protect your clothes from dryer damage. There are four levels of drying available, slotting in a Hanger Dry between the more usual Iron Dry and Cupboard Dry.
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Fluff is captured in two filters. The filter inside the door lifts out easily and splits, allowing you to peel out the lint between drying sessions. The lower filter in front of the condenser isn’t as easily accessed. It’s concealed behind a large and rather flimsy door with an equally lightweight and ridiculously awkward to use clip. On our sample, the whole door didn’t fit particularly flush to the machine and we had to use a butter knife to open the clip.
Once inside the main filter assembly is robust, with a lift-up locking handle and pull-out cassette. This then splits for easy emptying. Putting it all back together is the reverse operation, but the cosmetic door was just as awkward to close and secure as it was open.
Hotpoint ActiveCare NT M11 82XB – How noisy is it?
The noise rating on energy labels for tumble dryers remains something of a mystery here at the Trusted Reviews test centre. While the noise levels stated for vacuum cleaners, fridge freezers, dishwashers and even washing machines are usually close to what we actually measure in the lab, tumble dryer figures are invariably way out. Thankfully, usually for the better.
If the energy label is to be believed then this Hotpoint would be rocking along at 65dB. That’s about the volume of normal speech. Thankfully, the ActiveCare isn’t likely to be joining in with your kitchen conversations as we measured no more than 55-56dB in use.
That’s far more peaceful, and the sound is an inoffensive humming burble in the background. One assumes the energy label’s test load of washing includes noisier items to dry such as jeans with metal buttons, a garment with metal zips or a couple of house bricks. Either way, in reality, this Hotpoint isn’t noisy at all.
Hotpoint ActiveCare NT M11 82XB – What programmes does it have?
The Hotpoint has a strong list of programmes, with a whopping 15 cycles from which to choose. That’s a huge range for a tumble dryer, and the cynical reviewers that we are do wonder if the number was chosen purely so that the programme selector graphics perfectly matched the partnering ActiveCare washing machine. Whatever the reason, you’re properly spoilt for choice here.
Top line cycles are the Mixed, Eco Cotton and Synthetics programmes. Eco Cotton is the most efficient in terms of energy consumption, achieving the A++ energy rating. This cycle is going to take around 3 hours for an 8kg load and more than 2 hours for a 4kg load.
The Wool and Silk programmes handle one or two items of these delicate materials, and there’s a Daily programme for quicker drying of up to 2kg of mixed washing.
The Pre-Iron and Refresh programmes are very similar in that they tumble a small, dry load in 15-20 minutes with the view to refreshing stale washing before wear, or softening it up for easier ironing. The Anti-Allergy programme is approved by The British Allergy Foundation for removing and eliminating allergens, although the instruction manual is quite vague on how this actually works.
Splitting out Duvet from Bed & Bath cycles is really getting into fine detail of loads, and there are specific programmes for Jeans and Shirts. You can also set to dry for a specified time, if you don’t want to use the Hotpoint’s sensor drying function.
By far our favourite mode, and one that will win nods of approval from families all over the country, is the dedicated Cuddly Toys programme. This aims to preserve the appearance of soft toys by using low temperatures and a gentle mechanical action to keep them looking their best. Unfortunately, the dog wasn’t letting go of his toy for testing purposes at the time of writing.
On top of that lot, you get four drying levels: Iron Dry, Hanger Dry, Cupboard Dry and Extra Dry. This is a full sensor machine so the duration and energy consumption will vary depending on how heavy and how wet the load is to begin.
Start Delay, Key Lock, a Crease Care option that keeps the clothes moving after the end of the cycle, and an ability to mute the rather squeaky beep, round up the options.
Hotpoint ActiveCare 8KG HP NT M11 82XB – How well does it dry?
With its glass door, you can see your washing tumbling in action as it dries, and the drum rotates pretty rapidly on the main programmes. The action is relatively quiet, though. That’s just as well because, like all A+ and better Heat Pump tumble dryers, this Hotpoint isn’t quick. A full 8kg wet load on the Eco Cotton programme took the best part of 4 hours to dry.
But if you’re not in a hurry for your washing, the Hotpoint’s drying results and low energy use are outstanding. Several repeat tests on between 6kg and 8kg of wet cotton clothing, following a 1400 spin in a washing machine, set to Cupboard Dry delivered a full load of near perfectly “cupboard” dry washing with no damp spots. The clothes felt dry to the touch, but not baked so long they became heavily creased.
Most impressive was the low energy use on this cycle. An average 4kg load of dry washing (about 6kg wet) used consistently under 1kWh of juice to hit this level of dryness. As a comparison, that’s about a half to a third of the power typically used by an old-school vented tumbler or many standard condenser models of this size.
It’s also impressive among other Heat Pump models and comfortably lives up to its A++ billing. Only A+++ machines will cost less to run… but not by much.
Thanks to the sensor drying technology, full loads were even more frugal per kilogram of washing. 8kg of wet washing was dried to a very good standard for around 1.6kWh of electricity. The Mixed and Synthetic programs are quicker and not quite so economical per kilogram of washing. However, for their 4kg maximum load of wet washing, they come in at around 1 to 1.1kWh.
Testing several different programmes, the only time the Hotpoint delivered anything but perfect results across its drying levels was with a heavyweight mixed load. Mixing light shirts and heavy towels on Cupboard Dry, the shirts hit the mark, but the towels were still a little damp and nearer “iron dry”.
We didn’t really find a need for the mid Hanger Dry setting; we were likely to either want to iron the clothes or hang them in a cupboard. Hotpoint recommends this programme for delicate garments ready to be hanged. Maybe we just don’t have the right lingerie, because cycling shorts didn’t seem to fit the bill. Otherwise, the Hotpoint is generally a star performer across the board.
Hotpoint ActiveCare 8KG HP NT M11 82XB – How much will it cost to run?
With electricity costing roughly 15p per kWh, our 6kg wet washing loads on the Eco Cotton programme were perfectly cupboard dry for around 13-15p. The 4kg loads of mixed and delicates would cost 16-17p per load. A packed to the gunwales 8kg of wet cotton washing can be iron dry for around 21-23p. These are great figures all around.
Use this machine 150 times per year at 100 full loads (8kg wet washing) and 50 small loads (4kg wet), all on the Eco Cotton programme, it would use around 190kWh per year. At 15p per kWh that would set you back around £28.50 from our results. Given the large 8kg capacity, that would see you drying a metric tonne of wet washing over the course of the year for less than £30.
Why buy the Hotpoint ActiveCare 8KG HP NT M11 82XB?
Perfectly matching the ActiveCare MN11 1045 WC A UK washer in cosmetic design and lengthy nomenclature, Hotpoint’s ActiveCare NT M11 82XB UK Heat Pump dryer is a big capacity, well-featured machine with a wealth of programmes and options that will deserve a place on our Best tumble dryer list.
Drying results are great across the board, and while drying times are lengthy on the Eco Cotton programme, it uses very little electricity to get your washing dry. The lower filter door is poorly designed and tricky to open, but that’s the only niggle against a fine performing, energy efficient and well-featured tumble dryer for the money.
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