Combination washer/dryer units?

Any new info? I am looking at replacing my full size separates with a combo unit. I want to install a shower where the current hole for the dryer vent is. Instead of making a new hole, it would be nice to get a combo unit that doesn't require a vent at all. Since a shower would be taking up room, the space-saving aspect of the combo is also appealing.

Like Drakino, I also fancy being able to throw dirty clothes in and not have to manipulate them until they're clean and dry. The LG units seem to have good reviews in the $1,000 range. Unfortunately, the big box stores don't appear to carry any combo units (or their websites don't show them). I don't necessarily have a problem going to a smaller vendor, but they're getting harder to find and don't usually have a good price.

I did find a manufacturer of them that I was going to research more, but the need to do landuary without running down to the landromat finally won out and I am now renting normal units from the apartment complex.

http://www.thorappliances.com/ was their web site. No idea if their units are any good, I didn't see many reviews out there for them.

OK, The LG I was talking about is the WM3431. The Epinions reviews look great. I also found it available at Best Buy so I can probably check it out in person.

2 hours to complete a cycle seems a little long, but the 19-hour advanced timer means I can load it before I go to work, and then come home to dry, clean clothes. Seems like a good deal to me.

Consumer Reports doesn't seem to have any reviews on these machines, but I did notice in looking that they seem to attach to a normal household 120V/15A circuit (the LG ones claim to only need 10A), rather than the 240V/30A circuit that's usually used for dedicated dryers. That probably explains why it takes a long time to dry.

Typically, these combo units use condensing dryers, as opposed to a big heating element. It eliminates the need for a vent to the outside, as the condensed moisture is piped down the drain. This process does indeed take longer to dry.

--Dan.

Update:

I have been living with the LG WM3431 for a few weeks now and I'm pretty impressed. There is some adjustment on my part, but not having to move clothes from the washer to a separate dryer is really nice. It's also nice not having the dryer venting into my garage like the old one was.

The total time for a large load of cotton shirts/pants takes just under 4 hours including drying time. That's actually way more than I anticipated, but the 19-hour timer allows me to load-up, go to work, and have the cycle start a few hours before I get home. By the time I'm home, I don't have to wait long for the cycle to complete.

I don't know how it manages to dry clothes with cold water, but clothes come out steaming hot. They usually feel damp at first, but once they're out in the open for a couple seconds, they dry completely.

The device is very compact and has a relatively small capacity. That's fine for me, but I think doing laundry for a whole family wouldn't be possible. There is a larger version for about $1,800. I bought my WM3431 for about $1,100 from Best Buy.

Any update Rob after living with the unit for a few years? I'm back in buying mode.

I don't live in the house I was using the LG machine in anymore. I probably used it for two years or so and it never gave me any issues.

I moved to a condo that has a shared laundry room in the basement. The bylaws also specifically prohibit (in bold type) personal washers and dryers installed inside your unit. I spoke to a board member about the reasoning behind this, and his response was something about owners/renters not having adequate insurance should there be a leak. This makes no sense to me being that dishwashers are allowed. I lived with having to walk up and down two flights and paying $3.50 per load for about 6 months. I wasn't really bothered by those issues, but the machines are shared between 4 units. I'd say about 80% of the time, I would have to remove people's clothes from the machines. It became really annoying that people could just leave their crap down there for hours. Someone also liked to put orange peels in with their wash. I don't know what kind of custom that is, but cleaning food out of machines was also something I'd rather not deal with. I eventually decided to ignore the silly personal washing machine rule.

So, I was going to purchase another LG machine for the kitchen based on my past experience. However, they all run on 120 volts and I happened to have an open 220 volt circuit in the kitchen that was being used by an in-wall heater. Eventually I settled on the Fagor FAS3612X. Aside from being 220V, it also requires only a cold water line run instead of both hot and cold that the LG needed. The load capacity seems the same as the LG and the wash/dry time is comparable. A typical load for me will be 6 polo shirts which takes 3:31 from dirty clothes to dry clothes. When I do jeans, I usually do 2 or 3 and set them to dry for only 50 minutes which makes the total time 2:21. I've found that jeans dry better if you hang them up when they're still a bit damp. Otherwise they'll just get very creased in the machine.

Since getting the Fagor, I haven't been to the communal laundry room once. However, I'll probably go back down there to wash bed sheets. Due to the low capacity of the Fagor, I have to wash the fitted sheet separate from the top sheet which takes about 7 hours total. That's fine if you're just sitting around all day over the weekend, but I could do the whole sheet set downstairs in about an hour and a half. That's probably worth it.

Anyway, if you're a single person, this machine is more than sufficient for all your needs. If you're a couple, it's probably just about right. A family of 4 or 5 would probably have a problem.

The Fagor is pretty quiet and despite having a faster spin cycle than the LG, it doesn't seem to vibrate as much. I don't think my downstairs neighbor can tell I have laundry in my unit. One thing that's a slight downside to the Fagor is that it's clearly designed for a more international market than the LG. There are 16 different modes on the machine, but they're only represented by a number. I have to keep the manual close by as a reference to what the modes do. Practically every other option on the machine is denoted by a symbol rather than english text. So, someone looking at the machine for the first time might not understand how to operate it without the manual nearby. Aside from that, the functions and features pretty-much match the LG. The time delay feature was something I used frequently on the LG. I could set the machine to start its cycle 3 hours before I got home from work, so it would be finishing up as I came home. The LG was limited to a 19 hour delay, but the Fagor can do up to 24 hours. Not a big difference, but it's nice to have the option. Other than that, the features are the same between the two machines. I can recommend either.

Either you have huge sheets or the capacity is pretty small. It doesn't matter how efficient the machine is on a single wash if I have to do several additional washes per week.

By the numbers, capacity wise, how does it compare with other front loader and the typical space saving stacked toploader washer dryer combo?

I have a king size bed. It's not impossible to wash the entire sheet set in the machine. They will physically fit. However, since it's such a large piece of fabric, it can get twisted or bundled up in areas during the wash and/or dry cycle. This causes some areas to get very dry while others stay pretty wet during the dry cycle. Since I started washing the two sheets separately, this hasn't happened.


Efficiency doesn't have anything to do with my purchase. I'm operating a washer/dryer in a space that's not allowed to have one. The machine is physically small enough to fit under my kitchen counter and doesn't vent to the outside. If I could get away with a stacked laundry unit or full-size separates, I would prefer that.


The capacity for washing is large for the amount of room the machine takes up. It's not as spacious as my mom's big Maytag, but you would be surprised how much you can fit in the Fagor. Sorry I don't know the exact specs, but I'm sure they're available online.

Drying is another matter. The drying capacity is roughly half the washing capacity. Rather than wash a full load, then remove half of it to dry, I just put in less clothes in the first place. So, I probably run a full cycle on the Fagor twice as often as I would if I had full-size separates.

It makes perfect sense... to the person/committee/association collecting the money.

Multiply the number of condo units times maybe three loads per week times $3.50 and you've got almost $2,000 a month coming in, assuming it's a good-sized complex, maybe 40 condos.

The condominium group I was in before moving to Mexico had 44 units, the monthly association fee was around $400. I could never understand where that $200,000+ a year was going. Oh, wait... we did get free trash removal.

tanstaafl.

I understand where your coming from re the tangling. I grew up with the standard front loader, but i the US the selection seems fewer and more expensive. I do now wish that we'd considered space rather than the standard side-by-side.

Thanks Rob for the feedback. I hadn't seen the current model you linked to before, and it's now towards the top of my list. Key things I've been looking for is a 220v unit with a condenser. One of the ones on my list appears hard to get here in the US (Miele combo unit).

Oh, one thing I forgot to mention is the type of detergent needed. In the manual for the Fagor it reads:

People discussing the washer on other sites said that when they called to get the part, Fagor claimed it was a misprint and no such part exists. It's safe to use liquid detergent in the machine as-is. I've just been using powdered Tide that I get in a giant box from a warehouse store. It seems cheaper than liquid and works great in the machine.

I bought my machine from Amazon. They delivered it on a truck in 10 days or so from California to New York.

Update: Here's a photo of the washer/dryer in my kitchen. Where it sits now was left open by the original owners for a 220V in-wall heater. I took the heater out since I never used it, and installed the appropriate electrical outlet in its place. As if it was mean to be, the pillar holding up the counter top was exactly 24 inches from the cabinet to the left. The washer simply slid right in. The water input and drain is run under the cabinet and hooks up to the sink's drain and cold water line. I don't know if European counters are slightly lower, but the washer fit uneder my counter without having to remove the top. The gap between the top of the washer and bottom of the counter is about 1 inch.

I've also come to this conclusion. There are 16 building here with 4-8 units each. If you average each building to 6 units, that's something like $4,000 per month in laundry fees going by your estimates.

Aside from the laundry issue, I can't say I hate my condo association. It seems like it's run mostly by uncorrupt condo owners. The fees are about $220 per month and I do see them maintaining the exterior of the buildings and grounds quite a bit. The snow removal service is also first-class. I basically don't have to do a thing. They'll plow and shovel all roads, walkways, and even right up to my garage door. I can't say I love condo associations, but this one is miles above my previous one which was obviously run by bastards skimming money off bogus pool repairs.

Rob, any idea how easy it would be to change out the 220v plug on the Fagor FAS3612X? The Amazon page shows it uses a NEMA 6-15, and I have a NEMA 10-30 outlet. The manual seems to indicate switching it out is not something they support, unlike a lot of dryers.

Around here, "home stores" generally stock prewired Dryer cords. Just unscrew a panel at the back of the unit, loosen the wire terminal screws, remove the existing cable, attach the new one, tighten the screws.

But that's generic advice. Hopefully someone who has that exact unit (Rob?) might chime in with specifics.

Even easier is to use an adapter. Home stores around here will have what you need and cheap. I used to have a box of them for the travel trailer.

The power cord on the Fagor is not the removable type. However, the washer did come bundled with an adapter. There was the round twist-lock type plug on one end which ran into a plastic electrical box with two NEMA 6-15 outlets on it. This is probably what you're looking for. In my case, it came with the washer.

EDIT: Maybe the plug on the adapter wasn't twist-lock, but the pins were in a circular formation. To me, it looked like what's commonly used for electric dryers in the US.

I wasn't having much luck finding a NEMA 10-30 to 6-15 adaptor. The main difference seems to be that 6-15 has 2 hot pins and one ground pin, while 10-30 has 2 hot pins and one neutral pin. Both are three pin connectors, not four like are common now.

I'll check with a local hardware/electrical store to see what they can do. With the apartment I'm in, I'm hesitant to modify the actual wall socket, especially with the lack of a grounding pin in the current one.

The lack of standardization for this kind of thing is amazing...

It seems the 10-30 socket comes from an era that we treated neutral and ground as equal. Most houses typically tied neutral to ground at the breaker box. I'm suspecting that you won't find that adapter new.

Why not just replace the plug and not the whole cord?

*All* houses here still do connect neutral to ground at the breaker box. Has that changed anywhere?

But some heavy current outlets (eg. electric oven, possible the dryer) have contacts for both neutral and ground (separate).

Finally ordered and it arrived today.


Mine didn't come with this adapter. I'm going to look around for it, along with having the outlet changed out. I think it's going to be easier if I have the outlet changed out to the 4 prong NEMA 14-30R and use the adaptor, vs wiring it for NEMA 6-15 and having to change it back when I move.

Any impressions after a week?

Still sourcing the adapter cable to be able to plug it in. Found stayonline.com for custom cords and am trying to work with them to go direct NEMA 14-30 to 6-15. The cords they have available would go 14-30 to 6-15L, then 6-15L to 6-15.

Interesting. StayOnline used to be the only retail IT store in RTP. Since then, they closed their storefronts and went web only. I hadn't realized they decided to specialize in power cabling and such.

Incidentally, now there are zero IT stores in RTP. >:[

Electrical sorted out. The hose the washer came with however leaks like crazy. *sigh*

One day, this thing will actually clean my clothes.

Ok, the adventure of ordering, getting the right cord to avoid rewiring outlets, and a non leaking hose are all in the past.

The unit has worked well now that I've adjusted to it. It took a bit to discover the proper dry times for different washables, along with avoiding wrinkles. The timer for starting it later is handy to ensure a load of laundry is done right around the time I get home.

The main negative is that the dry function is set only by holding down a button and watching the display tick up in 10 minute intervals. A bit annoying to need this every time. The two minute door lock is also an issue from time to time, though it's less of an issue now that I've got the dry times mostly worked out.

Overall I'm happy with the unit, and appreciate the recommendation Rob.