Washer dryer recommendations?

chelseablue

My Beko washing machine gave up on me last night, it is 4 years old.


I am thinking of replacing it with a washer dryer (in one machine)


If it was just me on my own I'd just get a washing machine, but now there is 2 adults and a 1 year old.


Now that winter is approaching drying all the clothes and bedding he gets through will be a nightmare (we don't have radiators to dry stuff on)


We live in a flat so no outside space to dry.


Does anyone have a washer dryer they like and would recommend?

macman

Bear in mind that you can only dry half a wash load at a time, and that the dryer function will take twice as long as a dedicated tumble drier, so you'll still have piles of damp washing sitting around awaiting drying. I'd only go for a washer/drier if there is absolutely no alternative.
What's wrong with your Beko? Even a budget model should do more than 4 years and should be economically fixable.

DigForVictory

I had a washer dryer. It was not economic, and if I hadn't had hotpoint kitchen cover, I'd have got rid of it at the first fail. As it was, in it's last year of life, it ran because the engineer lived locally, liked my infant sons & the home made biscuits beside the brew.
We saw "Captain Hotpoint" more than the health visitor!
The expanding rack drying frame can stand in the bathtub or shower cube & I've heard tell of drying frames with hoods & an air blower getting splendid results, but can't recall the names - sorry!

Enjoy the little one, even if you barely have the strength most days. Not least that glorious hullo-mummy-goddess smile. Get as many photos as you can, to remind you of the really good moments amidst the they've-got-childline-&-all-I've-got-is-gin ones.

phoenix_w

OK, an alternative viewpoint... Washer dryers are great as long as you ensure your expectations are low.

As mentioned before, the typical dryer load needs to be half the wash load. Don't over fill at your peril - it'll never dry.

As they condense & have a smaller drum than a dryer, you get the worst of both worlds. Condenser dryers are slower than ordinary dryers, the drum size means it's slower than a normal condenser dryer.

Now the good points. They do dry clothes. A full drying load (4kg) on our LG 8kg wash/4kg dry machine takes around 2-3 hours. Not ideal but you get used to the workflow of setting things to dry at bed time.

They don't use a shocking level of electricity. I think the drying load on our machine is 1.2kW which is lower than the load for a washing cycle (1.6kW, I think). I'd imagine the cost would work out the same as using a 3kW tumble dryer.

If you can work around the machine, a washer dryer can work. It'll never be as good as a tumble dryer. If you have the space for a tiny 3kg tumble dryer and don't mind hanging a hose out of the window, then that's always the best option (I used to turn ours into a table when not in use). However a washer dryer works for us.. :-)

[Deleted User]

I was contemplating a washer dryer but after advice on here I plumped for a Miele washing machine with a 10 year warranty and put our condenser dryer in the bathroom. The washing machine is so good that the clothes are not too damp after a wash that they don't take much drying anyway.
If you can't find space for a separate dryer then a washer dryer will have to do and get used to doing half loads.

rach_k

I have a Hotpoint washer-dryer that I'm pretty happy with. The max load for the washing is 9kg and it's 6kg for drying, so by the time I've washed a full load and then taken out bits that can't be tumble dried it's about right. If I want to set it to wash and dry without stopping, I just do a 6kg load from the start - I don't feel 6kg is stupidly small as some washing machines only have that capacity anyway.

It does take longer to dry things than a standard dryer. For me, it takes about 4.5 hours to wash and dry a load of mixed fabrics (1.5 hours wash, 3 hours drying after taking out delicates) so three loads all washed and dried is about as much as I can do in one day. If you're needing to do more than 21 loads a week, you might need separates! If you go for a machine with a high spin speed that should help reduce drying time a little. I did notice a slight difference when I went from 1600 rpm to 1400. Using wool dryer balls seems to take about half an hour off the drying time too (3.5 hours down to 3 hours for me).

The only thing I really don't like about my Hotpoint machine is that it doesn't appear to do 'low heat' for drying. It has 'cottons', 'synthetics' and 'wool' but they all seem to reach the same heat (at least 75 degrees C), it's just the spin speed that's different, so it's really not suitable for drying fabrics like bamboo.

MisterBaxter

I would say don't get one. I had one and my Mom had one; I didn't keep mine for long (sold it) my Mom's simply didn't last very long. I never felt that it did either the washing or the drying as well as dedicated machines. The washing cycle was longer than my washing machine and even after 2+ hours of drying stuff would still come out damp. A 7Kg load in my dedicated dryer comes out fully dry after about 90mins.

If you have a lot of washing it also brings with it the problem that you have to wait hours between loads whereas separates can be run like a bit of a production line, which is useful if you have children.