Washer Dryers - any good?

[AlmondFrangipani]

We're limited on space so considering replacing our integral washing machine with a washer dryer but don't know if they are any good. The alternative is to buy a condenser tumble dryer and put it in our spare room.

[Sephy]

We got a washer dryer 3 years ago, having never had a dryer at all before. It was never brilliant, and despite being a bosch, broke within 2.5 years. By the end we needed to put a load in for 3 cycles of the 2 hour drying before it actually was approaching dry.

I've just had my new standalone washer and condenser dryer delivered today, so won't know for a while whether this works better!

[getmeoutofthismadhouse]

Ive never had 1 but ive heard they dont last too long and if 1 goes u end up having to replace it all. My now ex had 1 at his sisters and he said ot would take at least 2 hours to dry a load of washing coz it has to get all the dampness out of the washer before starting to dry your clothes. If you got the room I would buy seperate .

[mrsmarzipan]

In my experience they are rubbish at drying clothes, ours just warmed the wet clothes and didn't really dry them! Now have separate and wouldn't go back (plus you can get a load drying and be washing the next load ready to be dried at the same time!)

[lborolass]

If you have the room and the money i'd go for separate every time. Unless technology has moved on since I had one the dryer part is pretty rubbish and as mrsmarzipan says if you have separate you can get it all done quicker.

[trinitybleu]

Just got one and I like it so far. AAA rated so hopefully not too £££. Today I have washed and dried 2 loads of towels, washed some non drier darks, and then put on darks for drying overnight. It washes 9kg and dries 6kg but it's never complained yet .

[EuroStar2013]

Am posting, a bit late, as I share the minority view. Some of above is hearsay and I am the horse's mouth! We've had washer-dryers for years, although I've never used the dryer much (only when in dire need timewise or if it rains for a week - and even then the labels say so much can't be tumbled). I can't say I've noticed they're prone to break down - our last (Bosch) was nearly 8 years old before anything went wrong. Would have agreed about less than efficient drying, though, until my new one (Bosch Exxcel) which I think is really good (I love the way it works out how long you need to dry for!). But I don't put a lot in it at once and of course I don't know how good a standalone dryer is. You can't wash and dry at the same time - obvious, but could be an issue if your time at home is limited.

Decider for me is that I'm not that keen on tumble drying and would always rather hang up washing to dry. A lesser point is that even in a large kitchen, I'd sooner have a cupboard. Down to priorities I think

[Frontdoorstep]

I used to have a washer dryer and was happy enough with it but I now hav separate appliances and there is a world of difference between my separate dryer and what I got from the dryer part of my washer dryer.

Not sure how I'd feel about it in spare room tbh so if that was my choice I might compromise with washer dryer.

[Jan49]

I used to have a washer dryer but I found it didn't dry very well. You could only dry half a wash load at a time and drying half a load for 40 minutes seemed to have little effect, so it would probably take at least 2 hours to dry one machine load. I never expected the clothes to actually be dry after tumbling but this seemed ineffective.

I just use a washing machine these days and hang it up to dry.