Combo (110 volt) washer/dryer... anyone used one?

8thandprez

Has anyone had any experience with a combo washer/dryer unit? We're looking at an apt that has laundry hookup but didn't, in their infinite wisdom, provide any venting for the dryer. The only option seems to be a combo unit, but I hear they take a looooong time to dry and are electricity hogs. Any info would be most appreciated!

reader

I've never used one of the combos but have not heard good things about them and they are usually very small capacity. I'm referring to the one
that is just one unit and not a stackable dryer over washer or dryer over washer combo.

In our upstate house, they didn't provide a vent for the dryer either. We have an electric dryer, which has an indoor vent. It is a kit we bought a Lowe's, it is just a small box attached to the dryer that you fill with water to catch the lint.

8thandprez

Thanks, reader. Yea, I'm talking about the combo unit, not a stackable. I' haven't seen good things about them either. One report said that it takes 5 hrs to do a cycle!

The lack of venting isn't the real problem... it's the low voltage. We coudl do a high-quality ventless stackable if the unit had normal voltage. 110 V is nothing and basically limits you to a combo unit.

wally

Subject: don't know if it's the same but...

I don't know if these are the same thing but lots of UK/Ireland apartments have these combos (washing and drying in the same unit). They work but in SMALL SMALL bunches. The drying doesn't take 5 hours but I found problems with things like jeans. The smaller amount of clothes, the quicker than drying of course....

crowchai

We have a 110 V combo (ventless) and both the wash and dry take a LONG time. The "fast" wash takes 75 minutes, and the drying time is 1.5 hours if the barrel/load is about 1/3 full. If it's too full, no amount of drying time will actually dry the clothes. It's actually faster to air dry, or you can air dry and then throw the clothes back in the machine for 30 minutes to soften them up a bit.

It's a pain, but it gets done. It only requires a cold water hook up and requires little water (which is what convinced our landlord to let us have it).

If you have the voltage, definitely go for the 220 and a vent. Also, if you are going to use it a lot (we do at least 10 loads a week), spend the money on a warranty because something will go wrong (water pump is almost a certainty) with moderate/heavy usage.

Hope this helps.

albertitto

I have the LG combo washer/dryer. The capacity is not a problem for me since I am doing laundry for only 2 people. And the machine changes my laundry habit. Instead of waiting until I have a big pile to do many loads, I just do laundry whenever I think there is enough for one load. The 5 hour wait time is fine with me. The washing doesn't take long (it depends on your setting, like extra rinse, spin, or soil level, etc). It is the drying that takes longer than conventional dryer.

But the design of it requires longer drying time -- the hot air enters the dryer, becomes saturated with hot water vapor, then leaves the compartment to be misted with cold water so that the water vapor condenses. This now-drier-but-still-quite-hot air then returns to the dryer compartment to further dry the clothes. So it differs from conventional dryer because a conventional one keeps feeding the dryer compartment with fresh bone-dry hot air.

I honestly don't really mind because: 1. according to my lay research online, this kind of drying is more energy efficient even if you count the longer time because the machine does not need to keep heating air from room temperature to really hot; 2. the machine start time can be delayed for many many hours, so the 5 hours of laundry time is taking place while I am sleeping or at work. And I wake up to or return home to fresh clothes. I think if you have few people in the family and are willing to adapt to new laundry habits this should work for you. My laundry actually take very long because I am a clean freak and I always use the longest rinse cycle and stain cycle and extra wash, etc.

And yes my machine works on 110V, one plug only, no vent, just hot and cold water inlets and one drain.

Be careful if you want to upgrade your 110V outlet to 220V. You need to be sure your electric wiring is thick enough to withstand the current. When I was researching for different kinds of washer and dryers, nearly all (except 1 or 2 extremely tiny capacity ones) dryers, combo/stack or not, run on 220V and 30 amps. For 30amp current you need a 10gauge wire. But this is not common, because most appliances don't need this amount of current. It is likely you have 12gauge wiring for the 110V outlet, which could burn up if you try to use it to carry 30amp.

8thandprez

Thanks for the very useful info... we're expecting twins, so I'm not really clear on our future laundry situation. We're currently very much of the school of "let it pile up and then do a marathon session of laundry". With two new additions, I think our laundry habits will change, but I'm not sure I'm willing to buy into new construction that skimped on the dryer voltage and venting... I mean, the air conditioner 10 feet away has a 250 volt outlet!

yoyo

I have a stackable 110v separate washer/dryer - it's a european brand called Malber. It's carried by PC Richards on Flatbush. Not a huge capacity, but it works fine, takes a little longer to dry than a normal dryer.

My laundry room is not vented either, so I use one of those kits that vents into a bucket of water. It works fine.

Customer service is decent - there is only one licensed Malber repairman in the city, but the one time I had to call him he was responsive and helpful.

yoyo

FYI - Malber also sells a combo washer/dryer unit, I don't have any experience with that.

I believe the washer I have is the P25 and the dryer is the TD700.

Website is www.malberusa.com

crowchai

If you do go with a combo washer/dryer unit, regardless of brand (they all use the same parts), Dial Appliance seems to be the only people I've found to work on it.

garfunky

someone i used to work for in the city provided his tenants with wd in the apt. often times they were the 1 piece combo units. often times i heard statements of how long it took to dry jeans , how they seemed to break down alot (just reporting what others told me) and we certainly did have issues getting them repaired. i leave out brand name,intentionally.

while i have no direct excperience with the units,
i cannot recall any of these tenants having something good to say about them once they had started using the unit regularly

apparently its especially um [b] fun[/b] when the unit breaks with 12 pairs of jeans still in the wash cycle

(and you put them in at bedtime , needing clean pants in the a.m.)

8thandprez

Update: turns out the apt does indeed have a 220 volt outlet. Just no vent. But the increase in voltage opens up a whole new world of dryers. Crisis averted.

garfunky

8thandPrez wrote: Update: Crisis averted.

WHEW ! that was close !!!