Anyone out there..have/had a washer/dryer combi?

[WithLotsOfSprinkles0]

Lookking to buy a new house which doesnt have room in kitchen for a tumble dryer..

I'm thinking about buying a washer/dryer in one...are they reliable? Expensive to run?

Sorry for the boring question

Have had several over the years from a number of brands including Bosch, Samsung, Miele. Wouldn’t bother again as none of them were capable of drying properly. In my experience it’s just a way to spend twice what you need to on a washing machine.

We used to have one. It works well as a washing machine but is much less effective than a separate tumble dryer. I'd rather have a combi than no dryer at all though.

I have had better luck than Expressedways. I’ve never had a kitchen large enough for both so have had Hoover, Hotpoint and Siemens. I posted on this thread last week

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/housekeeping/3553750-Recommendations-for-a-Washer-Dryer

With drying, I usually want some dampness for ironing. The Siemens has got two different heat settings.

Another alternative is this from Lakeland:

www.lakeland.co.uk/around-the-home/laundry-and-ironing/indoor-drying-and-airers/electric-dryers-and-airers/special-offers/

I don’t tumble dry everything - especially in summer when it’s dry outsider so have never found it especially expensive but I think the cost mounts up if you use them a lot.

To follow up nettie’s comment, if your goal is to get dampish clothes ready to iron out of the dryer then that’s perfectly achievable with a combo machine. However, I don’t really iron and on the rare occasion I do, it’s before wearing not straight out if the wash. What I’ve never managed to achieve is completely bone dry and ready to be put away after one drying cycling.

If space is tight, AEG washer dryers are good. Mine came with a 5 year warranty, and ticks all the boxes I was looking for : good selection of wash cycles, fast spin speed, and efficient drying times. It's been going strong for nearly six years.
I previously had a Samsung washer dryer which broke down twice within a few months so I returned it to John Lewis. It was a real hassle dealing with Samsung's customer care dept. and I went for weeks without a working machine.

I have a samsung one and I like it. With a washer dryer you have to be realistic about what you want from it, it can't take the place of separates but for me it gives a good enough balance of the two. After each wash I sort out the load and only dry what I need to, usually pants, socks, tops, school uniform. Heavier stuff like towels, sheets, jeans etc I dry on an Airedale's or the radiator. I wanted the dryer just to reduce the amount I had hanging round the house drying so it works perfectly for me.

People who hate washer dryers are usually those expecting too much!

We had an AEG previously and now have a Miele washer/dryer combo.

The issue with them is that they can be a 7kg wash but only 4kg dry. So they really aren't for drying a full wash load. Obviously you can half fill it and run a wash & dry cycle. Both the AEG and Miele dried well when used as directed (as in only 4kg).

However, I find it useful in the winter for drying bedding, underwear and towels (although usually towels are still damp but nearly there). It means our airers are just full of regular clothes rather than faff.

I had an expensive meile washer dryer that broke down very often.

I got a washer dryer in January, its a hoover one.

Its great at drying clothes, less at drying sheets and such like. However it does depend on how much you load it, but we were having real problems with just a washing machine and no room

I've had two and both were awful, doing neither job adequately.

Now I have a tumble dryer (condenser) in the wrong room which looks awkward but is 100 times better functionally!

I have a Zanussi, and it's brilliant. Having said that, I don't use the dryer function much - just for sheets and towels in the winter. But it dries them perfectly; no worse/slower than a tumble dryer. It's the second Zanussi washer/dryer we've had - its predecessor lasted for years.

Drawback (of course) is that you cant do both at the same time, so if you wash/dry a lot you would struggle. And the load capacity for a dry is usually smaller than a standalone dryer.

One watchout is some machines won't let you just dry; the programmes are either wash, or wash-dry. Not much good if you have a mixed load and only want to tumble dry certain items out of it.

I had an expensive meile washer dryer that broke down very often

Me too, it ended up going back!

OP the other things worth considering is that you can't wash and dry at the same time, so if you have uniforms, pets or bed wetters, it will take all day and all night to keep up with it!

We currently have a neff integrated washer dryer. I have just persuaded DH that we need to change it for a washer. We are expecting DC2 and the current machine just doesn't have the capacity we need. The dry function on it is ok and it does dry properly but it takes a very long time and I'm reluctant to leave it drying while we go out or anything. It's very noisy and we don't have a separate utility room. We spent quite a lot on it and tbh I wouldn't bother again. The heated dryers from Lakeland are good. We just got one and am now researching washing machines!

I had a Miele one, it was really good. Worth the money.

Prior to that I had a hotpoint, it was shit.

I've got an AEG 9kg wash/7kg dry and it works really well. It is a slightly larger machine though, so check your measurements.

I've got a Bosch serie 6 8.5 kg.
It's been great. Especially in the winter when I no longer have to drape my clothes everywhere and smell the dampness.

I do still have some drying rails above the radiator in my bedroom where I will dry jumpers etc but it's been great on sheets and towels and daily use. I wish I'd had one when the kids were little! It's particularly been useful with school shirts.

It cost an absolute fortune though and we went halves on it. But it's been worth it and I haven't noticed it's cost a huge amount more to run.

I've currently got a zanussi combo. I tend to only use the dryer function for towels and bedding.
It doesn't add much more to my bill... However the wash and dry cycles can take anything upto 5 hours and then I need to put it on a other hour or so drying cycle.
Do you know how frequently you'll use the dryer function?