Washer/Dryer all-in-one combo?

crash7

crash7

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Daughter is about to move into her own apartment and will need a washer and dryer. I thought about giving her our old set and buying something new and shiny for us. Anyone have opinions on the all-in-one units? I've learned there are vented and ventless? Didn't know that was even a thing. Just curious of pros/cons versus buying a normal washer/dryer set.
 
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Give her the old set and treat yourself to a new one.

They don't dry that good and she'll need to do smaller loads.. In the end she'll be spending more money on the associated utility cost.
 
We have a vented combo unit in TX. It’s awesome. Wife loves it. Daughter has the same but unvented. It works fine but doesn’t dry things like jeans quite as well as ours.

We just sold our Alaska hangar house and bought a different one. This house is plumbed for a stacked washer dryer, so we bought one. It works great, but we do miss not having to put clothes in the dryer.
 
GaryM said:
Agreed. Plus, on laundry day we've usually got the washer and dryer running at the same time as we cycle multiple loads through.
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That seems to be my hang-up on the single units. Unless they miraculously cut down on the single load cycle time to wash and dry, it cuts productivity in half. Then you need two units, which defeats the purpose. We are always running loads through both machines at the same time. Rarely is it ever just one load.
 
(1) If you forget to remove the clothes you just washed for three days, every washer is in-fact a washer-dryer.
(2) The wrinkled look is "in." (At least in the Math, Sciences, and Engineering Departments.)
 
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Is this a question about the stacked w&d or the single w&d that washed and drys in the same tub?

If stacked, they tend to be smaller capacity and more expensive than side by side.

If all in one, after the wash cycle the clothes must be manually adjusted. If not, the clothing that was stuck to the barrel in the spin cycle will be ironed in that position on the dryer cycle.

A top loading side by side pair is superior in my view.
 
Don't buy a combo unit. Almost every one of them has terrible reviews and bad reliability. We had one in an Air BNB that we rented and the machine would not spin up and drain. Since it couldn't get through the wash cycle the electronics prevented it from starting a drying cycle. This left us with a load of soaking wet soapy clothes that we had to take to a laundromat. If space is tight, buy a set that stacks on top of each other instead.
 
These imagined reviews crack me up. Cycle time per load of clothes isn’t longer than using two machines. You need to run two loads separately, but that’s true either way.

Clothes stick to the drum? Nope. Never seen that happen.

Smaller capacity? Not unless you but a smaller capacity unit.

My comments are a pirep after a year of experience with ours. Daughter does a lot of laundry so she bought two all-in-one units. She loves them.

No more smelly clothes from not switching wet clothes when you get busy and forget. No more smelly machine when somebody closes the washer door. That’s worth the switch right there.
 
Stewartb said:
These imagined reviews crack me up. Cycle time per load of clothes isn’t longer than using two machines. You need to run two loads separately, but that’s true either way.
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My point being, with two machines, I can have one load washing and another load drying, both take about an hour. But while one is drying, the next is washing. With a single unit, that one load takes two hours, the next load takes two hours. So now I need to own two expensive machines. Hard pass.
 
AZEL said:
(1) If you forget to remove the clothes you just washed for three days, every washer is in-fact a washer-dryer cultivation vessel for mold.
(2) The wrinkled look is "in." (At least in the Math, Sciences, and Engineering Departments.)
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Fixed..:p:D:cool:
 
Just say no to two in one's. Hang it up to dry. In almost all of Asia no one has a dryer. Europe also has a pretty good record of hanging clothes out.
 
Stewartb said:
Clothes stick to the drum? Nope. Never seen that happen.

Smaller capacity? Not unless you but a smaller capacity
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You must have a newer nicer machine than we have. Our all in one will stick clothes to the drum on every spin. If those aren't knocked off the drum before drying they end up ironed in the wrinkled form on the drum. This happens every single time if you don't knock the clothes off the drum before drying.

I hadn't looked at the current All in one machines; perhaps they are offering large capacity models. Ours is small like the stacked unit we own.
 
Don't buy a combo unit.

Don't buy Samsung.
 
The combo units are really popular in Europe and anywhere needing small footprint. If space is a consideration, great option
 
Initial Fix said:
The combo units are really popular in Europe and anywhere needing small footprint. If space is a consideration, great option
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Combo units actually work in Europe because they run 220/240v. In the US were stuck with 120v
 
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We had a combo unit in an apartment in France a few years ago. It worked fine, but you had to remember to empty the water collection container after a dryer cycle. Given the choice, I would go with separates.
 
My dryer, single unit, is 240V. I really don't know why 20A 240V circuits haven't taken off more here in the US. The wiring could be re-used, we already have nema standards for 240-20, and lots of consumer electronics these days will run on either 120 or 240, 50 or 60 Hz. In most data centers I've seen, 240 or 208 was pretty much normal for everything. Same power with less copper, or more power with same copper.
 
Ed Haywood said:
Why can't they plug into the 240v dryer outlet?
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Because the combo units offered in the US are 120. I don't know man. Probably because so many people (me) have gas dryers and don't have 240.

I hear the claim they're more efficient on 120 but I don't buy it. Efficient usually means things are left damp. As voltage increases amperage decreases. So not buying that excuse. Running a new 240 wouldn't be hard. Being from the Chicago area we're required to run conduit. So adding an extra wire would be easy peasy.
 
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Racerx said:
Because the combo units offered in the US are 120. I don't know man. Probably because so many people (me) have gas dryers and don't have 240.

I hear the claim they're more efficient on 120 but I don't buy it. Efficient usually means things are left damp. As voltage increases amperage decreases. So not buying that excuse. Running a new 240 wouldn't be hard. Being from the Chicago area we're required to run conduit. So adding an extra wire would be easy peasy.
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Weird. I had to read up on that. I guess the combos use ventless heat pumps, which don't get an advantage from the higher voltage.
 
A friend put one in recently. Washer and ventless dryer in one box. Said it's nice not having to move the clothes from the washer to the dryer. But he said the whole process takes about twice as long. Not sure if that's the ventless dryer part or the washer-dryer integration. If you don't have that much laundry, that's probably not a big deal.
 
Just like any multitool, none of the functions are performed particularly well. I have the GE unit, and if it wasn't for extreme space constraint, would have never bought it. On top of being neither good at washing nor drying, within the first year we called for warranty repair twice. It still frequently gets stuck in "load sensing" mode (between washing and drying cycles), and stays there indefinitely. For this reason we never turn it on and leave the house.
 
I appreciate all the responses. If we do end up giving the kids our old washer and dryer, we’ll just shop for simple replacements. We shouldn’t have any space constraints.

Thanks!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
I've used them when renting apartments in Europe. They really suck. We researched these for our lakehouse and decided to just go with a stacking set.
 
I think my daughter had a combo unit for a while. She was in a single-wide for about 6-9 months on a construction job. The place was wired for 240v and ducted. She didn’t want to buy or rent full size appliances just to have to leave them behind when she moved, so she got a mini- combo unit and a 240-120 converter.

Small capacity, and slow drying times meant she basically was doing a load almost every day. And she still needed a laundromat for heavy items like work jackets, overalls, and blankets and comforters.

When she moved she sold it to a coworker for a couple bucks.
 
midwestpa24 said:
That seems to be my hang-up on the single units. Unless they miraculously cut down on the single load cycle time to wash and dry, it cuts productivity in half. Then you need two units, which defeats the purpose. We are always running loads through both machines at the same time. Rarely is it ever just one load.
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I had kind of the same thought.
except
since the laundry rooms are nearly always set up for separate units, why not get two machines?... That way, you can cycle two loads either concurrently or whatever works for your needs. I reckon those things probably have a much smaller capacity than a standard machine, so the added capacity of a second unit might be needed anyway!

I've never had one, but if I did ever get one, I'd be sure to have a vented one.

I do like the idea of a combo unit in one regard.... never again would you forget to move the wet clothes to the dryer and have them sour sitting in there overnight!
 
Racerx said:
Combo units actually work in Europe because they run 220/240v. In the US were stuck with 120v
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Heh. The one we haf for 3 years when we lived in Italy washed great, never stuck anything to the drums, and dried to a damp state, never dry. Now, this was a ventless model, and I expect that’s why.

Our experience is 15 years old (and it was Italy, of course); I expect things have improved overall.

I do find for most people laundry appliance preference is as religious as dishwasher loading.
 
I have a stackable in my condo in Colorado and it performs just as well as a side by side. IMO if you have a vent and 240, go old school.
 
pfarber said:
In almost all of Asia no one has a dryer.
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I don't know how common they are across the entire population of Japan, but all-in-one washer/dryers are pretty common in 3/4-star hotels and most of my professional colleagues there have them, too, so it seems that having a drying function is not uncommon there.
 
I’ve had the top of the line Splendide units, vented, in two buses going back to 2005 in one and 2007 in the other. They were better than nothing and took a long time to dry towels. I would recommend two separate units if space is available.
 
crash7 said:
Daughter is about to move into her own apartment and will need a washer and dryer. I thought about giving her our old set and buying something new and shiny for us. Anyone have opinions on the all-in-one units? I've learned there are vented and ventless? Didn't know that was even a thing. Just curious of pros/cons versus buying a normal washer/dryer set.
Click to expand...
I had one of the Maytag units discussed in this thread for 28 years - and it still worked when I sold it: https://automaticwasher.org/threads/early-90s-maytag-stack.39716/
Awesome machine. Something similar may still be available (read the thread).

Dave
 
When another daughter wanted a washer/dryer set for her apartment, I sent her over to a local appliance center instead of a big box store. They had several brands in different price points, along with some used units in good condition. She got a pretty good deal.
 
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