Product review (4 stars): Rating upgraded; off-gassing still a concern
The reviewer 'c' with the "love/hate relationship" review has it dead on...the off-gassing is bad! VERY bad!!

A lot of synthetic textiles and materials tend to "off-gas" or emit what are called volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The off-gassing period is the amount of time it takes for those gases to fully dissipate and it varies depending on the material composition.

VOC gases can range from mild to toxic. Prolonged exposure, particularly in an enclosed space, can make people quite sick.

My guess is these dryers come off the assembly line and go straight into packaging and inventory storage. So whatever materials are present in their construction (likely a rubber, plastic, or other polymer-based component) that require a sufficient off-gassing period are getting sealed inside the unit which is in turn closed up in its box, so the VOCs are getting trapped until the unsuspecting consumer opens up their newly-purchased appliance.

I ran a 30 minute test cycle with a damp dish cloth to make sure everything was working properly. The dryer itself did operate normally, but at the end the VOC fumes were wafting through my apartment and the dish cloth absolutely reeked of the odor.

What I'm doing now...and what I would recommend to any future buyer...is placing the unit outside on my screened-in lanai (I'm on the 3rd floor of my building, so it's highly improbable it will be snatched) with the dryer door open and I will leave it out there at least 36-48 hours before bringing it back in and assessing the VOC situation again. The dish rag is out there too to air out--I mean seriously...yikes!

If you have a screened in patio, or a garage, or even a spare room with a window you can leave open, I would highly recommend after unpacking your new dryer that you just set it out there for a couple of days with its door open and let it fully air out before using it.

For now, I'm rating it 3 stars, because it did arrive quickly, was securely packaged, and is in pristine condition, but the VOC situation is serious and very irresponsible on the part of Haier. Shame on them!

If the VOCs are indeed gone after a couple of days and the dryer is then suitable for use, I will revise the rating appropriately.

For the record, I also purchased the Haier HLP21N portable washing machine and it did NOT present any similar issues with VOCs, so I don't know what is in the dryers that is causing the problem, but Haier really needs to address the issue as it truly is one of consumer safety.

--UPDATE (60 hours later)--

After more than two full days of sitting out in the open air, there remains the same VOC odor about the machine. I even ran it hot for a couple of hours during that time in an attempt to wear-in whatever component is the culprit and hopefully "burn off" some of the source of the fumes.

I have now brought the dryer back inside in the hope that perhaps repeated use will eventually solve the off-gassing problem over time.

Just like 'c' suggested, I am running the loads on timed cycles and pulling them before it can enter the final cool-down period just in case the cooling cycle--for whatever reason--exacerbates the problem.

So far, things seem ok in that the clothes don't seem to be getting permeated with the VOC odor as the dish towel did on the initial test run.

As for the amount of time to dry a *normal* load ("normal" as in relative to the size of the machine), my experience is consistent with that of the reviewers reporting about 2 hours, which for me is inconsequential.

I've decided to leave the product rating at 3 stars-- yes, the dryer operates as it should and as is to be expected for its size and power level. However, the issue with the VOC off-gassing odor is just too inconvenient and disappointing to overlook. I wanted to be able to use it right out of the box problem-free like I was able to with the Haier washing machine.

That didn't happen, so I am somewhat dissatisfied in that respect.

Now, that being said, I would still rather deal with all of this rather than have to go to the laundromat or even use my apartment complex laundry facility (which really says something about public and semi-public laundries).

Still recommended for purchase if, like me, you live in a rental apartment with undesirable on-site laundry facilities and no hook-ups.

***UPDATE (10 days later)***

There is still the presence of the VOC fumes emanating from the dryer unit, though not nearly to the degree as when it came out of the box.

This was also after leaving the unit sitting with its door shut for a week. So now, and for the next few weeks, I will be leaving the door ajar so any residual VOC fumes don't have the chance to build up inside the drum. There's no interior light like you would find in a standard dryer, so leaving the door ajar won't cause the unit to unnecessarily consume any electricity.

I have never owned a new dryer before, so I wasn't aware of this, but some additional online research revealed that chemical odors are a common issue with any new dryer--anything from the factory coating of oil on the moving parts to the rubber gasket which seals the dryer door. And this is with any brand of dryer, not just Haier.

In light of this, I have upgraded my review rating from 3 to 4 stars. Again, the dryer came well-packaged and arrived in pristine condition. And so far it has been working (mechanically) exactly as it should.

On the most recent batch of loads, I was able to successfully counteract the chemical odor in the clothes by using these new Arm & Hammer dryer cloths which are like triple-thick dryer sheets and they are HEAVILY scented (like lavender and vanilla). A couple of those in each load and there was no trace of the VOC odor in the clothing that I could detect.

Even as a guy, I prefer the girly lavender scent to the otherwise skunk-ish chemical smell.

Since "new" products like that rarely last unless they see unprecedented sales, if those dryer cloths do disappear from the shelves in the near future, there is also the option of scented dryer balls (can be bought or made at home with scented oils and yarn).

In short, the VOC issue is quite a nuisance, but not a deal-breaker. There are ways to combat it until it eventually disappears altogether with repeated use of the dryer.

Just to reiterate what I and many other reviewers on here have already said, if you live somewhere with no hook-ups and want to avoid publicly shared facilities at all costs, it's well worth getting this dryer along with a portable washer. Some people complain about the drying time--apparently wanting it to work the same as a 220V dryer--but I would think anyone in this situation would be willing to accept the longer drying time and doing it in smaller loads over competing with neighbors for overly-used machines that had god-knows-what in them before you put your clothes in...or sitting in some ghetto-hole-of-a laundromat when you could be sitting at home watching a movie while your clothes dry.