Combined washer/dryer. Is separate REALLY better?

[Heje]

We've got a combined washer dryer which works fine. We're moving house and will have space for separate. I've read on here that separate is much better. In what way? Ours washes and dries clothes so why would separate be better?

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MNHQ

Separate driers are better and typically bigger.

You can also have one load washing and one drying.

I have a washer dryer. Used to have seperate.
Seperate is better.
Clothes washing is about the same but the stand alone dryer was much better.

You need to dry smaller loads in the dryer. Can't wash next load while one load is drying. But if it works for you, keep it. The when one function stops working, just buy a separate washer or dryer then.

My understanding is that a washer dryer takes ages more to dry a load and that you cant dry as much in one load as you can wash so have to split the load in order to dry. A separate dryer will take the whole load and dry it much quicker.

I have separate as we always kept tumble drier I. Garage - but we’ve recently moved and we don’t have a garage attached to the house so want to have appliances in the kitchen but we have realised how much space they both take up.

hoping to change our kitchen this year so im weighing up whether to get a washer dryer instead or try and stack them.
I have 2 teenage boys and we run a football club so honestly do so much washing and often we have washing machine and tumble drier going at same time.
I think we will need to stick to 2 because of our washing volume

I recently switched from a washer dryer to standalone machines.

The dryer is much more efficient, I can dry twice the amount in half the time.

My washer/dryer was really useful at the time but now I have separate machines I can see they are far more efficient.

If you need to do a lot of washing a combined one will drive you mad.
You can do a wash/dry programme but can only load the amount the dryer can take - which may be half the amount a conventional dryer takes. Even a straightforward drying programme takes longer with a combined machine.
Basically I find my combined machine is mostly used as a washer and occasional dryer. I do a wash most days but dry on an airer or outdoors when possible.

Apologies if this is a stupid question, but if the dryer can fit more in does that mean it's overall bigger in size?

Is a dryer better in any way for the clothes (less creases maybe) than a combined machine?

The overall size of the machines only varies slightly - maybe by a cm or so. But a basic dryer has less internal workings than a combined machine so the drum may be more spacious - it's designed just to do one thing rather than wash too.

The dryer drum is larger but the overall machine isn’t. If I washed a full load in the w/d I had to split it to dry it.

My washing machine is 10kg and the dryer is 9kg so much larger capacity than probably mist combined! I think I will probably have to stick with 2 appliances

Id prefer separate as it's more efficient, but I have a combo and though I could stack separate machines it works fine and came with the house. Might not be ideal if I had small kids. Biggest thing was to have it upstairs where the bedrooms are - I enlarged a hall closet by stealing a bit of space from adjoining bedroom, then put a built in wardrobe in the resulting alcove.

I honestly don’t have room for two machines . My washer dryer washes and dries a full load in just under two hours . Personally I couldn’t be doing with moving the washing between machines , but then I only do one load a day , I can understand how there’s a benefit if you have multiple loads going . I always understood lifespan was shorter on combined , which makes sense as they are in effect doing twice as much work.

We had one and I was so glad when it broke!! I rarely used the tumble drier on it as you have to remove half the load and at the end of it the washing just did not smell fresh and just washed.. Avoid!!

I've had both arrangements- separates are much better.

Another vote for separate if you can. I've had combined and both several times over - the difference is really just in the dryer, the washing machine element is identical.

Separate dryers are much quicker and more effective. Depending on your washer/dryer, the way mine both worked was you had to pretty much take the stuff out straight away after drying (well, within a short time) or there would still be some moisture in there that would make the clothes damp because it worked in a different way from a standalone which you could happily put on at night and take out the next morning completely dry.

As others say, having both on at the same time is an advantage in a family setting too.

That said, washer dryers are really perfectly fine so if you're moving, I'd personally be inclined to take it with you until it dies and then 'upgrade' to the separates.

And if you've got, say, two slots out of the ideal three for dishwasher, washing machine and dryer, I'd 100% go dishwasher and washer dryer over washer and dryer with no dishwasher!

Good luck with the move!

Thanks everyone. I think we'll take our washer drier but leave the dryer space for later.

Next is to figure out if it's practical to fit in 2 dishwashers!

@heje when I was in a similar situation I used the washer dryer as just a washing machine and bought a separate dryer. Then a few months later replaced the w/d (because it broke) with a washing machine.