Washer dryer

Jimbeam3678

Jimbeam3678

Jimbeam3678

Soldato
Joined
8 Dec 2002
Posts
21,886
Location
North Yorkshire
Do you have separate washing machines and dyers? We’ve only ever had combi ones due to space.

We’re going to be in a position where we have space is it worth while having separates? If so are heat pump dryers are worth it?
 
Apart from being able to wash & dry at the same time what’s the other benefits? Looking at reviews it’s not 100% clear to me at least
 
Combination is the worst of both worlds due to compromises made to do both jobs. I went home for my fathers birthday in July and the maisonette I was staying in had a washer/dryer and the damn thing scared the crap out of me. It was by far the noisiest and hottest washing machine or dryer that I have ever seen. The heat coming out of it was ridiculous, I was afraid that it was going to torch itself. A half load took over five hours to wash and dry!! I didn't have a tumble dryer for many years due to running costs but after some advice on here and reading up on heat pump ones we bought a direct drive heatpump sensor dryer a couple of years ago and it's brilliant. It's very economical, kind to clothes and with the sensor always finishes the program before the cycle would normally end. That coupled with a direct drive 1400rpm spin washing machine that only uses 0.256kWh per eco load means that our weekly washing and drying costs very little. We are lucky that our washing machine is installed in a cupboard so it's out of the way and all I did was build a strong shelf above it to sit the tumble dryer on.
 
The only thing I'd say about heat pump dryers, is that the fins of the heat exchanger can get blocked and are a total nightmare to clean. If it gets too bad, you're basically looking at stripping the machine down to access the heat exchanger, removing it and trying your best to unblock it with a pressure washer - either that, or just buy a new machine.

So basically it's better if you can put a foam filter in front of heat exchanger, to reduce the amount of fine dust getting in it. Clean the filter as required and that should buy you a few more years.

 
Last edited:
Rvrgrrggrrrrri

:edit: lol accidentally got my phone wet and it posted some nonsense. Beats my usual nonsense at least :p thought I'd leave it for funsies

I need a heat pump in my life. Sick of the condenser we have absolutely boiling the **** out of our stuff. It's insane.
 
Last edited:
That's a good point, but you can also mitigate that when picking one. Ours has a lint filter in the usual place and then in front of the condenser it has another fine filter with a foam / mesh filter. Friend of mine semi recently bought a Samsung one that our (6+ year old) Beko has.

If I was buying one today, I'd ensure it has this multiple filter setup
 
That is for the filter info chaps. Saved me some pain no doubt in the future. I don't suppose there's a standardised sort of name for this feature, something something filter technology?
 
GeX said:
That's a good point, but you can also mitigate that when picking one. Ours has a lint filter in the usual place and then in front of the condenser it has another fine filter with a foam / mesh filter. Friend of mine semi recently bought a Samsung one that our (6+ year old) Beko has.

If I was buying one today, I'd ensure it has this multiple filter setup
Click to expand...
I'll be totally honest, I don't have a tumble dryer at all, mostly because I don't want one and also because I lack the space for one. So what I posted above has basically come from YouTube videos. So it's good to learn that some manufacturers are trying to address to the problem of the heat exchanger blocking up.
 
It's worse than that.. seems like these filters were pretty standard years ago but have been cost optimised out. I realised I mashed my words a bit before but my point was that our (I just checked, 8 year old) Beko dryer that cost £329 has a filter where as the much more expensive, modern Samsung one my friend bought does not.
 
My Candy heatpump dryer has three filters, a fine and a finer as you open the door and then a big foam one infront of the heat exchanger. It's quite surprising how much get's picked up by the foam one, mainly cat hair that has somehow gotten past the first two. I clean the two fine filters after every use and the foam filter monthly.
 
Definitely go separate. As for heat pump - as others have posted, I believe they are better for your clothes due to lower temperatures, but don't get one thinking you'll save money. While it's true the running costs are lower, the higher upfront price basically wipes that out. I worked it out when I was looking for one, and IIRC it was about 8 years before the break even point - with the quality of today's appliances, you'll be lucky to reach that point! :p
 
Definitely separates. I had a washer dryer and it was next to useless. Unless you can't physically fit 2 separate units then there is no comparison.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom