May sound dumb. May not.
I'm tired of walking down the basement to pull clothes from the washer and load into the dryer.
Has anyone invented a washing machine that turns itself into a dryer, dries clothes in the same unit, without transferring loads?
And, if so, howcum I never saw one advertised (howcum not in gen'l use)??
Cheers, Willie
Well, they did exist; maybe not now. I remember reading about them, but nothing recently. As I recall, the review said that it took a long time to complete the whole cycle since the machine had to completely dry out before the clothes would dry. It was also a complicated machine with extra seals including a sealed heating element (the whole thing was electric). The sales pitch said that the machine was great for small spaces since it was about half the size of a two-unit washer and dryer.
TKM
A number of companies made them. GE was the last I saw. Manu years ago, Bendix made a great one. Heavy as heck, but they worked. Both were front loaders. Now LG and some others have them. No idea if they work well.
My washer has lots of water in it when the cycle is done.
In addition, one couldn't start on the second load of clothes until he dried the first load, or pulled it out of rotation.
This would especially trouble those who separate their whites and coloreds.
On Fri 24 Oct 2008 03:44:49p, Willie The Wimp told us...
A few of these have been around for years, but they're rarely ever top rated. They are always frontloaders. The biggest downside, is that you have to wash and dry one load before starting on a second load. Most people don't wash that way. They start the second and subsequent wash loads while the previous load is drying.
The are pretty common in Europe, where they are often cramped for space. My daughter was in Switzerland (Geneva) on assignment with her company for 2 years. They had one. I think Bosch. It had the drum horizontal, and there was some deal so that you loaded it from the top. It indexed to a specific stop position, and then there was a hatch into the drum. IIRC, the sucker sounded like a 747 on takeoff when it spun. Good extraction was a big deal there, according to my SIL. However, the dryer wasn't all that good. She would start a batch when she went to work in the morning, and it would just be done when she got home. They eventually just used it for washing, and then dried things in the dryer in the basement common area in their apartment building. Limited sample of one, but that is my limited experience.
on 10/24/2008 6:44 PM Willie The Wimp said the following:
Google - apartment washer dryer
de, is that you
that really doesnt matter, after the first load has been moved from washer to dryer and second load is washed the dryer is the hold up. it takes twice as long to dry than wash.
i have 2 washers and 2 dryers. a buddy has 1 washer but 2 dryers, to seed things up
my sister in law worked for a company who rented apartments with washer and dryer.
they converted 600 units to the LG washer dryer combo. unfortunately she changed jobs so i never heard how it worked out.
has consumer reports tested them?
Every such machine produced was a spectacular money loser for the manufacturer. Turns out that people prefer the convenience of two appliances, even at higher cost.
Joe
I think you are probably right. We had one years ago that was produced by either Servis or Bendix. The greatest pain was that it could wash twice the weight that it could dry.It would complete the wash cycle and then you had to remove half the load (assuming you had filled it) to use the dryer function. They were also less efficient than a separate dryer.Not many folk had one. I wonder why?
I've lied. My wife now recalls it was an Ariston which was Italian if I recall correctly.
So there were several manufacturers.
Hi Terry,
They're still available in the NA market. However, as others have reported, their drying performance tends to be rather weak and it takes a *long* time to wash and dry a single load.
See:
I kinda suspected.
People prefer what is available and *looks* dependable, for the most part.
I doubt the "higher cost": making a viable dual machine wouldn't be cheap.
The advantages are smaller footprint and "set it, forget it". I dunno why they're so scarce, save "old habits never die" and, possibly, failure to properly design.
Willie
On Sat 25 Oct 2008 11:23:40a, snipped-for-privacy@aol.com told us...
I can only partially agree with your theory. Drying does take longer, but at least one can continue to wash loads during the drying process. I see no point in having two of each, for the same reason you point out about having one of each. Having one washer and two dryers is the only logical solution you've offered.
OTOH, I'm quite content in having one of each. I would definitely not want a combination washer/dryer unit for several reasons, not the least of which is not wanting a front loading washer. Secondly, I would definitely not want to wait through an entire wash and dry cycle for each load before I could start another wash load.
If these combinations were as common/popular as you might be suggesting, ther would be a hell of a lotmore of them to be had. Every manufacturer would be making one, and they're not.
Just a lurker here.....we had one in our camper....they take forever to do a load of clothes. We took ours out and made a closet....but many like them for along the road.....might check Camping World if this is what you really want.
Sheryl
Sure it does. Let's say it takes 30 minutes to wash and an hour to dry. Let's make it simple and say that the combined unit is just as effective as a separate washer and dryer, so it takes 90 minutes to do a load.
With a combo unit, it takes 180 minutes to do two loads.
With separate units, it takes 150 minutes to do two loads.
Why? Because there's a 30 minute overlap where washing and drying can take place simultaneously.
For every additional load, add 60 minutes to the separate units' time, and 90 to the combo unit. Three loads, you've saved yourself an hour. Four loads, an hour and a half. Five loads, and it takes two hours less to do it with separate units...
Add in the fact that the combo unit is not as efficient, and you're looking at even greater time savings.
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