Washer and dryer in one machines, how well do they work?

[pudding]

I'm thinking about getting one for a small space but not sure how well they work.
Does anyone have any knowledge of them?

[BrightFIRE]

I've had stackables in several apartments. They work fine. The only downside is the size of the drum. You pretty much feel like you're constantly doing laundry.

A thing I have only seen in 1 AirBnB in Europe was a single washer/dryer unit (not stackable) - after the water drained out, it dried the clothes in the same space. That was cool and seemed to work well, but the cycle was something ludicrous like 4-8 hours.

[Kris]

I've had stackables in several apartments. They work fine. The only downside is the size of the drum. You pretty much feel like you're constantly doing laundry.

A thing I have only seen in 1 AirBnB in Europe was a single washer/dryer unit (not stackable) - after the water drained out, it dried the clothes in the same space. That was cool and seemed to work well, but the cycle was something ludicrous like 4-8 hours.

I love those things. And they’re smaller, too. I wish they were easier to get in the US.

[jeff191]

If you are referring to the washer/dryer combos, I'm not a huge fan. I've only used them while travelling and had hotels and AirBnBs with them in Europe and Asia. They are great for small spaces, but as someone has already said, the cycle times are very long. The shortest I recall is ~3 hours or so. My main issue with them is that they don't truly get the clothes dry. The ones I've used did not have a vent for the dryer so the clothes get really hot but there is nowhere for the moisture to go - the items basically come out steaming and not truly dry. Also, the loads they fit are very small.

[swinginbeef]

newer ventless dryers and the washer/dryer units have a condenser in them and a reservoir to collect the water. They heat air, tumble clothes, cool/condense the hot wet air to remove the water into the reservoir and then reheat it to continue the drying process. They do an ok job of drying. But still long dry times. But you can do a small load every day while you're at work and they're dry and ready to be folded when you get home. Just have to constantly stay on top of it.

[SAR]

I had a combo unit. I can't recall the brand, but it was Italian. I really liked the idea of putting in a load to wash and dry.

It worked for about 3-4 years from memory, and then the electronics literally burst into flames.

These things are rare in the U.S., and finding someone to do repairs is likely to be difficult, if not impossible.

[cloudsail]

Used them in Airbnbs in Asia. I think they're fine, clothes were dry except for maybe jeans were slightly damp. As others have mentioned, the cycle is very long, so not sure about the electricity usage. I know that my relatives in Taipei don't use the drying function and always hang their clothes to dry. This could just be habit though, as my in-laws line dried their laundry even in North America when they had regular washers and dryers.

[Sibley]

My sister had one. She hung dry a lot of things because it was faster.

[robartsd]

I've only once seen one - at a real estate open house. I asked about it and learned that the couple that owned the home liked it up until the point that they had a kid that was competent at making messes; then the cycle time became an issue. If you've sufficiently embraced Mustachianism, the efficiency is great and with planning the extra cycle time is not a problem. MMM prefers to hang dry his clothes for greater efficiency. Our house currently does not have working hookups for a conventional dryer, so we hang dry clothes; but I have to admit that this type of machine would be very convenient once in a while to dry a load that takes a long time to hang dry.

[use2betrix]

We had one in our RV. It was super small. Could wash maybe 1-2 pairs of pants and a shirt. It eventually broke after a few years.

I’m not sure if they make much larger residential ones, but the small ones suck. In fact - my wife typically went to a laundromat to do our clothes because it was so much faster, despite the added cost.

I would only consider it if I lived somewhere that I was incredibly tight on space.

[rantk81]

I had one of those combo units at my last condo.  (Not the stack-able with separate washer/dryer... I had the thing where the washer AND dryer tumbler thing were combined.)  It washed fine. It never dried for shit.  I would take out my clothes, lay them on my bed, with the ceiling fan on.  Would not recommend for handling the majority of your laundry, unless you didn't have a lot of clothes to wash (e.g. living solo) and/or had access to a separate dryer somewhere else in your building.


Edit: In order to reduce the possibility of "problems" down the road -- with it breaking or leaking -- I sold mine for $100 to someone else in the building, immediately before I converted that condo into a rental...  It was a great decision.

[traveler]

Wirecutter has an article on them. They do not recommended them, as apparently they break easy.

https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-washer-dryer-combo/

[FireHiker]

We've used them at an airbnb in Europe. It worked okay, but the drying cycle takes FOREVER and didn't really dry things all that well. It was better than having no dryer since it took less time for the clothes to hang dry, but the drying was definitely subpar.

[RyanAtTanagra]

I remember a long time ago when front-load washers started being a thing again, 'why don't they just make a washer/drier combo that does both?', then was so excited when someone finally did, only to find out they suck.  I still look into them from time to time but they don't seem to have gotten much better.  I've seen complains on the sucking at drying, and also complaints at sucking at washing, in the sense that the washer never seemed to get the clothes fully wet, in order for the drier to have an easier time.

I feel like the technology is here, someone just needs to make a good one.  There's no reason a single machine can't do both adequately well.

[SwordGuy]

We've used the combo unit and it worked ok.   Loads were smaller than separate units.    We still have one in a rental and it's chugging along.

We needed units for another tight space in rental #3 but we had a smidge more space, so we bought separate units and a stacking kit.    Larger load sizes and if one of the units dies and isn't repairable, it can be replaced.  With the combo units you end up tossing a perfectly good 1/2 because of the dead one.

[robartsd]

Wirecutter has an article on them. They do not recommended them, as apparently they break easy.

I can imagine that breakdowns would be more frequent due to the increased complexity.

[pudding]

Thanks for the info. Sounds like they suck at drying your clothes.

[cloudsail]

Thanks for the info. Sounds like they suck at drying your clothes.

That wasn't my experience. Maybe the brand matters? The ones we used in Taipei also handled decent loads, like several days worth of laundry for two adults two kids. And dried them well enough for me to fold and put them away immediately, except for maybe the jeans.

I am considering getting one for our house if we decide to turn it into an Airbnb, as the laundry room is in the basement that would be locked off for storing our stuff.

[PDXTabs]

I have something like the attached in the house I rent and it works great. No complaints.

[expatartist]

I live solo in a hot humid Asian city and have a single unit which does washing and drying. Until recently I was in 150 square feet and the double function was a godsend. Its usefulness depends on your lifestyle.  The dryer function isn't amazing, but can handle a set of queen sized sheets or several full sized bath towels just fine. Many people tend to overload them; if you look at directions, the washing function typically has double the capacity of the drying.

Most of my clothes are not dried so they last longer, I just use the dryer for sheets and towels.

[elliha]

I know someone who had one, she hated the drying function and only used it if she needed to dry 2-3 items and line dried the rest. Washing was fine, like a regular washing machine of any kind. I have never been tempted to buy one but I would love to have both a washer and a dryer but my apartment only has room for one and I have to line dry everything.

[Bee763]

We have a 10kg washer-drier her in the UK and in common with most european front-loaders against US toploaders, the cycles are quite long. 10kg is big enough for a full set of kingsize bed-linen and a couple of towels.  There is a 1-hour wash-and-dry but it doesn't get laundry all the way to dry in that time.  We also tend not to use the combination cycles as the drier capacity is smaller than the washing capacity because it needs space to get the hot air between the items when drying.

Mostly we line-dry but in the winter it is useful to give things a short blast in the drier to speed up hanging to dry on airers around the house.

[soccerluvof4]

We had a stackable for years when we had our cabin a fullsize and with 4 kids that thing was never not running when up there. I have heard but not seen the all in one but sounds like something over time that they would work on to get better like anything else as I could see a big demand for that. Kinda like when the tankless water heaters first came out they were shit and now there actually really good. I mean what a great Idea to have to not even touch your close and do it all on one cycle. Someone will figure it out.

[Parizade]

I have something like the attached in the house I rent and it works great. No complaints.

I bought one of these for my condo and it works great. It's small though, I have to take comforters to the laundromat because they won't fit into the washer.

[Barbaebigode]

We have one of those and they are fairly common here. Everyone I know that has one hang the clothes to dry, using the dryer only for emergencies or for special fabrics. Like others mentioned, the drying function only works for small batches of clothes.

[SmallCheese]

I lived in London last year and had a small washer/dryer combo in our flat. The drum was fairly small but got things clean. We didn't really use the dryer because the cycle was SO long (ran it at night to keep the electricity cost down) and the first time we used it the temp was so hot it melted some embellishments off of my clothes. Hang drying was the way to go. Also, there was no lint trap and no way to clean out all of the gunk it caught which seemed both gross and slightly unsafe. I used spikey dryer balls that could also go in the wash cycle and that helped collect some hair/lint and separate the fabric to ensure good cleaning.

[BNgarden]

We had a Miele for a while; it washed clothes well.  If you fully loaded the wash then it was recommended you remove half the load for better drying.  The small drum space meant the clothes typically came out very wrinkled, compared to larger size, dedicated air flow drying.  It took a very long time to complete a cycle.

For us, the washing volume was fine, but I could see it being very limiting for families, and I would not do larger blankets in ours either.

We did have two control panels burn out but replacements were not an issue, just the call-out fees for service people.