Spec Me: Washer Dryer

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Valo

Valo

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My girlfriend is shortly going to be moving into her own home and needs to purchase a new Washer Dryer, I said I'd give her a hand to narrow the field down as she's got a lot on her plate at the moment.
I'm looking for any recommendations or manufactures I should be avoiding. I know when I was looking for my home about 8yrs ago now LG was recommended by a fair few people on here and both my machines have been great (washing machine and tumble dryer), don't know if that's still the case now.

She's ideally looking for:

8 Kg+ Drum (her and two kids)
Freestanding
Energy efficient as possible
Up to £1000 max budget, ideally less.

Any advice?
 
Mysterae_ said:
Combined washer dryers are a compromise on both functionalities.

Buy separates, even if you have to stack them on top of each other.
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I'll mention that to her and she may just go for a washer, she only has under worktop space for one in her new kitchen. Unfortunately separate machines aren't an option.
 
Brands I would consider are LG, Bosch and Samsung, in that order. These brands are superior in terms of engineering quality in my opinion, and offer reasonable value for money. I would also definitely go bigger than 8kg, probably at least 9.5kg, as an 8kg load is not that big really.
 
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Get the largest drum you can would be my advice, I have a Hotpoint one (don't buy a Hotpoint) and the small drum compromises how well it dries so I end up having to run it for ages and stop it now and again to loosen everything out otherwise clothes come out knotted and creased. It came with my flat so I'm not in the mood to replace it just yet but when I do it'll probably be an LG or Samsung.
 
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TheVoice said:
Get the largest drum you can would be my advice, I have a Hotpoint one (don't buy a Hotpoint) and the small drum compromises how well it dries so I end up having to run it for ages and stop it now and again to loosen everything out otherwise clothes come out knotted and creased. It came with my flat so I'm not in the mood to replace it just yet but when I do it'll probably be an LG or Samsung.
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I'd say get the drum size that suites the amount of washing you do, otherwise your wasting water, energy and compromising the wash efficiency.
No good a single person getting a 10kg washer.
 
robj20 said:
I'd say get the drum size that suites the amount of washing you do, otherwise your wasting water, energy and compromising the wash efficiency.
No good a single person getting a 10kg washer.
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But we're talking about washer-dryers and you lose at least 2-3KG in drying capacity on most models, so getting a larger drum means it'll actually dry properly. Mine is a 7+5 which is enough for washing but as I've described, means its a bit naff for drying. I'd expect a decent Samsung or LG to be better anyway, but even so it's something to be aware of.
 
If you do go for a large washer dryer, check the depth, my Samsung washer dryer is about 10cm deeper than my worktop so sticks out a bit.
 
Dr House said:
After my 3k worth of Miele washer and dryer (2 machines) were stole I bought this for £629

Washer Dryers | Washer Dryer Combo Deals | RELIANT

Save space and time with our unbeatable deals on washer dryers at Reliant. From Samsung washer dryers to LG & Bosch, you'll be spoilt for choice!
www.reliantdirect.co.uk www.reliantdirect.co.uk

Very pleased with it
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Must been a burly thief to steal a Miele ours comes in @ 94 kg
 
We bought an LG Fwv696wse a couple of years ago after our LG washer finally gave up the ghost after 10 years of heavy use (would have been repairable but wanted a dryer too). Very happy with it so far, its relatively* cheap to run, and I'd definitely recommend it.

Before deciding on a heat pump because of efficiency, figure out how much you're actually going to use it to decide if it's worthwhile. They are quite a bit more expensive (iirc when we were looking, the cheapest one was ~£500 more), so if you only use the dryer once a week, it may take many years (if ever) to "break even" in running costs.

* about an extra 3kwh on the days we use the dryer
 
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We have an LG washer currently, and can't wait to get rid of it! It washes clothes fantastically well, and is quiet in operation so can't complain on those fronts, however.....

The chime it makes at completion drives me/us nuts - goes on for far too long and at far too loud a volume, it's notifying us our clothes are washed not that the Luftwaffe are overhead and we must urgently take shelter!

It's a touch panel system only, which works well and is extremely responsive, but it's the responsivity of it which causes the issues. Brush up against it mid cycle with your hip/thigh, or lean over the counter and catch it - hey presto, you've turned the machine off and have to start a cycle all over again! The highly sensitive power button still functions when child lock is engaged which seems bonkers.

We're replacing it with a Hotpoint H8 washer, which we're complementing with the Hotpoint H8 heat pump tumble dryer, both of which should arrive this week

 
I bought a matching Candy washing machine and heat pump dryer set last year.

9kg capacity on both. Both have eco cycles that wash / dry perfectly well and appear to be very energy efficient. Not sure why you'd pay more.

They're not particularly fancy looking - but style wasn't really a factor for the utility room.
 
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For your research, if you want a full list of brands that manufacture washer dryers, with links to the manufacturer site, there's one here. In general I would say the South Korean and German manufacturers are ahead.
 
as said, probably best to spend half the money on a discrete heat pump dryer ...
upcoming unit electricity cost ~50p won't make using a 3KW combined washer/dryer pleasant (once a day with children), so at least £10/week, £500/year.

7 years into a Siemens washer from JL.
 
I don't agree that the expensive brands are worth it. But that might be because there are only 2 of us.

We have a hoover washer and a hoover condenser drier (separate).
The washer washes clothes. The drier dries clothes.


Not really sure what the better brands do? But I'm not really fussed as long as the clothes are clean.

Also. Never had a washing machine/tumble die. Had an old Indesit for years. Bought it for 30. Sold it for 30. Would never pay more. For longer warranty with something like this. But if you have a big family the wear must go up. But for us? Not worth it.


I would recommend the maximum capacity.
I think the washer is 11 and tumble is 10. But it's the washer that's important. Anything big and you start to appreciate the cavernous void!
 
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PermaChanged said:
We have an LG washer currently, and can't wait to get rid of it! It washes clothes fantastically well, and is quiet in operation so can't complain on those fronts, however.....

The chime it makes at completion drives me/us nuts - goes on for far too long and at far too loud a volume, it's notifying us our clothes are washed not that the Luftwaffe are overhead and we must urgently take shelter!

It's a touch panel system only, which works well and is extremely responsive, but it's the responsivity of it which causes the issues. Brush up against it mid cycle with your hip/thigh, or lean over the counter and catch it - hey presto, you've turned the machine off and have to start a cycle all over again! The highly sensitive power button still functions when child lock is engaged which seems bonkers.

We're replacing it with a Hotpoint H8 washer, which we're complementing with the Hotpoint H8 heat pump tumble dryer, both of which should arrive this week

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I'm not a fan of touch buttons on stuff like this either. Had same thing, but buttons aren't as sensitive. Lucky it wasn't a disaster. As with ours you can increase temp. Mid cycle. Could easily pop a delicates wash on 90!
 
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