I've been looking at these washer dryer combo units from the likes of LG, Samsung, etc.  I do NOT mean a stacked unit.  What I am looking at is one unit that looks like a typical washer, but it also dries.  The idea of not having to deal with finding a vent location and using typical wall current as opposed to 220 makes it even more appealing.  From what I've seen/read, these things are VERY common everywhere else on the planet so why not here I wonder.

I have the small LG unit for my house. The only downside really is that drying takes longer. If you are in the habit of doing laundry everyday the unit works great but if you go by the theory of "laundry day" it won't cut it. It is nice though to put a load in at night and take it out in the morning and it's done. Just wish they would come with a folding option =]

Posted By ANGELofDEBT on 07 Mar 2011 08:42 AM
I have the small LG unit for my house. The only downside really is that drying takes longer. If you are in the habit of doing laundry everyday the unit works great but if you go by the theory of "laundry day" it won't cut it. It is nice though to put a load in at night and take it out in the morning and it's done. Just wish they would come with a folding option =]

Thats just the kind of reply I was looking for, thank you.  We usually do a load or 2 a day.  With two small boys, laundry day is every day.  If I may ask you a few questions;

1)  How long have you had the unit?

2)  Is it loud when it runs through it's cycles?

3)  I've read they are ventless, but I've also read they do not need a hot water hookup, is this true?  It may be model dependent but I guess some of them turn cold water into steam so no hot water hook up required.

4)  How is the drain set up?

5)  Did your energy usage go up or down?

Sorry for all the questions but thank you in advance for any that you can answer. 

Have a good day.

Ryker.

I had one when I lived in England and I did not like it at all, but that was several years ago (1994), so maybe they have improved. The clothes came out so wrinkled everything had to be ironed, just so you could wear it.

I'll reply to your questions in order
1)We have had the unit for over 5 years

2) It's no louder than a normal washer/dryer setup

3)Ours has a hot water hookup but it doesn't offer the steam option. That seems to be recent trend

4)Drain is the same as a normal washer

5)Hard to say as not long after we bought it we had a baby so it increased usage.

We used one when in England, the small capacity compared to North American appliance capacity was a big negative. I would think that some families would have to have a bank of them setup.

I'm with ANGELofDEBT. We had the LG WM3677HW for 5 years, and loved it. Throw clothes in it, set it for a 3am start, and it'll be ready the next morning. The energy savings come from a lower power draw since you're not heating as much air, and in colder climate areas, you're not also dumping out air out, only to be replaced by cold air coming back into the house. The LGs have the North American standard size of 27" wide, and a capacity of over 4 cu.ft., so in capacity now it's very similar, and very different than the Euro 24" models (which LG also has, but geared for the apartment market).

The trick to less wrinkles is to get the clothes out during the 4 hour cooling down cycle where it still spins, and to not overload the unit, since the drum is smaller than the typical dryer.  The other trick is to sort clothes by density, so don't put cotton t-shirts in with jeans, and it should come out just fine.

We sold our house with the old unit, and have just received our two new WM3987HW for the new house, since we wanted on on both the main floor and second floor.  The only thing that ticked me off was LG's pricing; list price of $2600CAD in Canada, and $1679USD in the US.  The exchange rate is now just about par (in fact CAD being higher than the USD), and the explanation they gave me was that "it was two different markets".  Ended up ordering two units in Buffalo NY for just over $1300USD a piece, and towed a trailer down to pick it up.  For the price difference, I don't really care for the warranty, and to me that was an acceptable risk.

Bottom line, happy as can be for the unit, ticked off at LG Canada for the way they price it.

Victor
www.ecobuilthome.ca
A 4350sqft Cold Climate Net Zero Energy initiative

I have a Bosch washer and dryer in one here in the UK. I've never seen the stackable ones in person before but they seem to tuck in to spaces quite neatly.

Washer Dryer Dimensions

rykertest, I would suggest you have a look at this washer dryer combo website - I found a lot of useful info there. Just about a month ago I was practically in the same situation as you are right now. Yesterday, I bought the LG WM3987HW model so now I have to wait a few days to have that delivered. I cannot wait to see that in action!

Samantha3,
Later on let us know about the frequency of repairs for the LG combo.  I have not had any experience with that brand.

Ok Alton, I just hope I won't need any repairs, at least in the near future..