Is a Washer Dryer worth it?

Doozergirl

If possible, I would find somewhere to stack one on top of the other.

Tumble dryers are certainly a godsend with little ones but the capacity of them slows everything down. We have a large capacity WM and TD now and they are just brilliant with a family.

getmore4less

heatpump condensers are cheaper to run.

Condensers can go anywhere you can get power to them.
get one with the water tank at the top if not plumbing in.

Stacking is the way to go if short of floor space(drain hose plumbed in).


Another option is to stick with racks in the second room an get a dehumidifier to speed things up.

keep an eye on hotukdeals there have been some good ones on both washers and dryers in the last month or two.

Andrew_Ryan_89

Thank you for the reply guys, this has been very helpful. Just to add, I have no space for a separate dryer so will almost definitely have to be a washer-dryer. Another question, we have a "integrated" washing machine, just a cabinet door on the front and hangs over the cabinet skirting.

Apart from a possible gap between the machine door and skirting, is there anything I need to be aware off if I was going to buy one that is free standing?

rach_k

By skirting, do you mean the plinth/kickboard between the kitchen units and the floor?

If you do, you need to look at the measurements for the washer-dryer (or any free-standing appliance). Our free-standing washer-dryer, which is a standard size, comes much further forward than the plinths - it lines up with the front of the cupboard doors either side of it and is the same right to the floor. It is as far back in the gap as it can go. I think if you've had an integrated washing machine previously and your units are standard depth, you would need to remove the plinth from the washing machine gap to fit a free-standing one.

Tiddlywinks

Andrew_Ryan_89 wrote: »

Thank you for the reply guys, this has been very helpful. Just to add, I have no space for a separate dryer so will almost definitely have to be a washer-dryer. Another question, we have a "integrated" washing machine, just a cabinet door on the front and hangs over the cabinet skirting.

Apart from a possible gap between the machine door and skirting, is there anything I need to be aware off if I was going to buy one that is free standing?

Is there really nowhere you can put a condensing tumble dryer?

No space in the garage, on a worktop, in a spare room?

andrewmp

DigForVictory wrote: »

I wouldn't, even though I did. Three under 5, washer dryer & our "Captain Hotpoint" was visiting every month to keep it running (thank god for kitchen cover!)
Now I've three hulking great teens a seperate washing machine & drier & they can sort loads, calculate 8 kilos of laundry, load & unload both machines & *even* iron (it's taken 15 years, mind.)

Get the best washing machine you can afford (baby will be Fine in Second Hand Almost Everythings except carseats), and a condenser dryer for when the weather will not cooperate with line drying or a rack in the shower cubicle. (Mine used to like watching laundry gyrate & drying flap...)

I'm the old you. First name terms with the engineers. Longest it's gone without breaking down is three months.

Hedgehog99

GwylimT wrote: »

We have one, you can only dry half a load, but as i'm lazy I leave a whole load in and dry twice, does the job!

Ummm.... you're risking a fire if you do that!

Hedgehog99

I have had two washer-dryers. First was AEG, current is John Lewis. Both just use the usual w/m drainage, so no additional hole in the wall.

Yes, I would have separate washer and dryer if I had the space (because of the "two machines in one / more expensive to repair" aspects), but if only space for one machine, I would always have a washer-dryer.

It's worth looking at the initial price and the cost of extended guarantee. The most expensive machines will have expensive parts, but the cheapest could also be disproportionately expensive to extend the guarantee because of the likely frequency of call-outs even though the parts are cheaper. Whether or not you'd buy the extended warranty (or arrange your own), it's still useful info for estimating likely go-it-alone repair costs.

I live in a small property, so don't want lots of drying laundry causing humidity & condensation.

I always tumble-dry towels (and although, like others have said, you can't wash one load while drying another, you can use the auto-dry programme that dries straight after washing. With clothes, I wash a full load and then sometimes dry some of it in the dryer & air-dry the rest.

In good weather, I line-dry outside, so I hope that prolongs the life of my machine.

If the weather is unreliable and I'm out at work, so couldn't risk leaving washing out, I've been glad of the option to tumble-dry.

You need a good fast spin to get the max amount of water out before drying starts. My current one has a 1600 spin for cottons.

Some friends have complained that their w/d would stick towels to the drum during the spin which would then remain stuck there when it was trying to dry, but I haven't had that problem with the brands I have used.

Go to your local library and read the Which? reports free of charge. Combine that knowledge with what you can afford and the features that are important to you & hopefully you'll get something good.