Does anyone have a washer-dryer they actually like?

[Kaloobear]

We inherited one with our house. It's crap. It's an Indesit and takes an aaaaage. The quickest wash option takes an hour, the dryer only works if there's about 5 things in there so most of the wash has to come out at that point, and even then it takes about two hours. The real killer is that we have a perfectly good washer and separate dryer in the shed that don't fit in the kitchen.

I reckon we could
A) take out the combi, put our washer in and get used to no dryer (but I love my dryer and we have a baby so shed loads of washing)
B) take out the combi and replace it with a good combi (if such a thing exists)
C) learn to love the Indesit (unlikely)

Any ideas? I think option B is my preference but I don't want to send gazillions and it seems the good ones are very spendy :(

We have a Zanussi Washer/Dryer and it is crap! Good thing we had the 5 year extended warranty as we have used it about 50 times...pretty much the entire machine has been replaced.

Don't know if there is a good one. I have the same dilemma.

I love my Candy one. Total lifesaver as I don't have room for a seperate dryer. I can't remember the model number but it has a really big drum and door. I think it's also got the name alise on it.

We have a Zanussi Jetsystem 1600 and it's been great - a couple of problems in te few years we've had it, but nothing much, and far better than the Hotpoint one we had before.

It has a 45 minute Quick-wash, an will dry about half of the wash-load at a time.

But if I had the choice, I would probably have a separate drier, as its easier if you have to do more than one load. Is there any option of running your drier in the shed or a garage or anything? Assuming it just needs an electric socket, you could run it there and just have the washer in the kitchen.

Google tells me that the only genuinely good one is from Miele and costs £1200.

I thought about having the drier in the shed but I'm not sure that the cost of running electricity to it wouldn't be more than a new machine :(

45 minute quick wash sounds great though...

whatever you do: don't buy a hotpoint washer dryer. We have just replaced ours with a Bosch washing machine, without a dryer: now we just hang things out in the utility which saves on electricity. The hotpoint was a lemon from word go, and it broke after less than 2 weeks, and roughly once a month thereafter. We never got a new replacement, but rather the engineers came and jsut patched it up (not very well).

i would actually run drier through to shed, and then pick up a second hand chest freezer to keep in there too which would pay for itself if you batch cooked or filled it with reduced-sticker meat etc

sorry doh run electric through, it would be a lot cheaper than a decent washer/dryer

Hhhm, I quite like our Bosch washer dryer. But only because we have literally no choice but to have a w/d, other than no dryer at all (no shed, garage, etc and no space in kitchen).

I think the dryer bit is always a bit feeble, because it doesn't have the right drum size and set up to get a good dry. It doesn't bother us too much because we just use it in emergencies, or to finish things off.

The washer is fine, as good as a normal washing machine. And it has a 15 minute super quick cycle, which whilst it wouldn't shift kiddy dirt is good for situations like realising you haven't washed a top you need later that day for work or whatever.

If I had any outside space at all, I'd get the electric hooked up. Like Saturday suggested, I also really hanker after a chest freezer!

I have a Zanussi, a larger drum model. Love it, haven't had any problems in the 1 year I've had it. It does take HOURS, but as I'm on economy12 I put it on overnight anyway so it makes no difference to me.

From a drying point of view, I will happily put a full load on to dry. Eg towels - 3 bath sheets, 2 toddler towels (but big poncho style ones, 1 thick cotton and 1 bamboo) and any odds and ends (flannels etc) - put on to wash when I go to bed and they will all come out dry and be hung straight back again in the morning. I can't get all the bed to dry though (king size sheet, duvet cover and 4 pillowcases) - it all seems to end up inside itself so it will be mostly dry but with damp patches. But from a purely-wash point of view this is a FULL load, probably too much for even the large drum washer as I know you aren't supposed to cram any machine full.

I don't dry clothes so can't help with that I'm afraid.

Gemma do you know what your model is called? Drum size is key I think...

Will investigate electricity to the shed more fully, I have assumed it'd be v pricey but it may be worth it. I also hanker after a chest freezer but hadn't thought of sticking one out there!

Likewise when my hopeless, rip and crease things Hotpoint having died I've replaced it with a John Lewis washer.

Had two washer driers, they are expensive and now the DDs wear adult sized clothes, too small.

I now have a 7kg drum.

Could you put drier somewhere else, under stairs, upstairs in bathroom? We built a cupboard in our hall and stacked washer drier in there - and freed up a unit in the kitchen .

I used to have a washer drier. It took forever and I spent hours cleaning the filter. Never again.

hmm... its a Zanussi Jetsystem+ 1400 7Kg, model ZWD14581W1
HTH

I had a Zanussi Jetsystem, it caught fire, fortunately I was at home, it was only 18 months old. Zanussi replaced it free of charge, but I opted for a straight washer at the time. Miele now, always

"Which? Best Buy:Zanussi ZWD14581W1

Which? report says: ?This Best Buy freestanding machine from Zanussi is very quick to get clothes clean and dry and makes little noise as it runs. (Other Zanussi washer dryer best buys include: ZKI245 integrated washer dryer)

For full report please see: www.which.co.uk/reviews/washer-dryers"

.... unless you are alibeenherealongtime and it catches fire....

I even hated my Miele washer drier and moaned so much they replaced it with a separate washer and drier eventually.

Has anyone had a washer dryer they have loved? I had one years ago, it was always going wrong but have heard they are much better now. I've seen some old threads (from 2012) and wondered if anything better has been developed more recently. Like most people considering one, space is an issue. I would only use the dryer for sheets and towels.

I have a Bosch washer dryer, had it for more than five years, been very reliable, washing is great, has a quick 35 min wash. It only dries a half load in one go but I do washing every day and very rarely do a full load at a time so this was never an issue for me.

However, I have just added an extension to my house which includes a utility room so I now have space for a separate dryer, still use the Bosch for washing and what a difference in the speed of drying with my separate dryer, it is so much quicker and I imagine, more economical.

Why don't you look at running electricity to your shed and operating your dryer there and as suggested a freezer as well if you want extra freezer space, that's a good idea too.

I just bought one last week and so far I LOVE it. I can't offer a full on review as a week isn't really long enough to know, also I have never owned a washer dryer before so have nothing to compare it to. It's a Samsung Eco Bubble and I offer you the following observations (caveat emptor etc etc):

• it's virtually SILENT. Genuinely. Even when spinning. I am astonished at how quiet it is.
• It has an 8kg was capacity and a 5k dry capacity. The loudest noise is the gurgling of the water in the pipe under the sink. So you can still dry a lot of stuff, equivalent to a whole load in my old machine.
• the default wash cycle is quite long but there is a short cycle under an hour and even one extra-short one at 15mins
• the clothes are properly dry when I get them out of the dryer
• the dryer is even quieter than the washer. Sometimes I have to double check it's actually on
• drying takes a long time compared to the big ones at the launderette (2h30 ish for a full load), but never having owned a domestic washer dryer before I don't know if that's long
• it's got some fancy air-refresh cycle which just blasts it with air rather than water to 'refresh' clothes that have been worn but aren't stained (esp delicates) without actually using water. I haven't tried this yet, but it's very exciting (bet I never use it!)
• the delivery man said it was the most popular model he was delivering at the moment
• from the site I bought it from (and poss other places?) after 10 days you can upgrade to a free 5-year warranty and claim £75 cashback from the manufacturer
• it's not cheap but it's not £1200. I paid £565 for it (haven't yet claimed cashback) at point of purchase. Appliance deals has 2% cashback through quidco if you're a quidco user. So once I've got those two cashbacks, it cost me more like £480 which is quite the bargain.

Damn I have a lot to say about my washer dryer

oops my bullets got all mixed up there.

Also meant to say - I usually am a Which Best Buy girl, but for washer dryers every review I looked at seemed to be a couple of years old, so I went off piste and bought one that wasn't reviewed (cause it's too new!)

extension cable to the drier in the garage when you need it?

Sometimes it helps to get a stacking kit and you can mount the drier on top of the washer. Bosch do a standard kit.

I wholeheartedly agree with those that say avoid hotpoint, mine has been nothing but trouble from the very first month of ownership. The dryer mechanism is so poorly designed and engineered that it is constantly failing. It has had a new heating element, it regularly overheats and trips out which requires a minor dismantle to reset and now the fan motor has burnt out. Will never buy Hotpoint again!

I want to bump this old thread because due to lack of space in our kitchen I'm gonna need to get a combi washer/dryer.... Has anyone got one recently that they like? I'm hoping the newer models are an improvement!