I'm kind of a newbie too in the whole washing machine buying category so I need a little bit of help here! I want a nice washer but I also don't want to spend a billion dollars (doesn't everybody?) So I was hoping for a little advice and suggestions about buying a little bit cheaper washer that's still pretty high quality if that makes sense. I'm thinking about buying the LG WT5070 but i'm not sure if that's the best washer for the price. Any help or suggestions would be great, thanks guys.
Well the best washer for the price depends on your budget and requirements. So, what is your budget, and what are your requirements (size of load, space etc.)? Are you dependant on doing a wash a day and thus need a good repair/warranty plan with the washer or can you do without?
Our new place we are hoping to move in shortly only has space for one, and having had no end of problems with damp and not being able to dry bed stuff/towels in the winter we are opting for a combo.
Samsung eco bubble has a 5 year warranty and 80percent of the time will be used just as a washer but we want the added benefit of the dryer for those times when you just need it dry and quickly... Any comments?
http://www.appliancesonline.co.uk/pr...ite-24278.aspx
Only the one I made earlier, that my experience with combi's is such that never again will I have one. The ones I had were not only lousy driers, but lousy washers too.Originally Posted by Andehh
If I can get both in, then I'd have separates. If not, I'd have a washer and no drier, but never again will I risk a combi. Things may have changed, and I wish you well with whatever you choose, but I (and the wife agrees) will never allow another combi in the house. On the odd occassions where we really neededcobe, I'd rather do the washing, bag it up and gobto a launderette to to the drying. Or hang it in the utiluty room, or spare room, plug in a dehumidifier and leave it for several days to dry. But combi? Nope.
Haven't had one for a long time, but I'd never have said they got anything dry quickly. Our separate dryer takes about an hour and a half to dry a complete load. The old washer dryer at my dad's used to take about 2 hours for half a load.
When we were living in a flat we had a half size dryer that sat on top of our freezer. We used to dry most stuff on radiators cause the heating was free, but the dryer was useful for baby clothes needed in a hurry.
Had a cheapish Hotpoint combo for 10 years with no problems / repairs anything.
The thing almost everyone gets wrong with combos is they overload - you can ram a washer full and it'll wash, but a drier needs space for the clothes to move around. They treat a combo like a washer and wonder why after 2 hours the clothes are still damp. Never fill more than half way and you'll be fine.
We've currently got a plain jane washer - was reduced from about 430 to 250 as it was from an old range, and make use of a couple of airers ... but then we're lucky to have a bit of space and we're both from the north so resent paying for anything we don't need to
i'm just waiting on a hotpoint washer dryer to get delivered. i noticed last week that my old hotpoint wasn't spinning properly so the clothes came out soaking. i wasn't sure if i put it on the wrong setting, but this week had the same problem so ordered a new one yesterday for delivery today. the old one was here when i bought the place nearly 10 years ago and it was ancient looking then, it literally must be about 20 years old. when i got a cooker a couple of years back the guys said they were built like tanks
this is the first washer dryer i've had. i live in a flat and there is no space in the kitchen for seperates, without renovating the kitchen. i just do one wash a week for myself, sometimes two, and the drying facility could be pretty handy so i don't have clothes lying about the place drying. it's a bigger drum too so should be able to do my stuff and dry in one. the whole thing was £360 inc sunday next day delivery, connection and taking the old one away. as i'm top floor it's a nightmare carrying stuff. i had a clear out of the cupboard the washing machine goes in and chucked out a 21" NEC CRT today. it weighed nearly as much as the washing machine, a right struggle getting it down the stairs, but i suppose the delivery guys will have a proper trolley thing or there will be two of them
One of the machines I had was Hotpoint. First, it was so noisy it'd have drowned out a SpaceShuttle launch. Secondly, it vibrated so badly it regularly went walkabout. We'd do a wash load, and sometimes find the machine a good 12 inches, yes a foot, from where it started.Had a cheapish Hotpoint combo for 10 years with no problems / repairs anything.
The thing almost everyone gets wrong with combos is they overload - you can ram a washer full and it'll wash, but a drier needs space for the clothes to move around. They treat a combo like a washer and wonder why after 2 hours the clothes are still damp. Never fill more than half way and you'll be fine.
We've currently got a plain jane washer - was reduced from about 430 to 250 as it was from an old range, and make use of a couple of airers ... but then we're lucky to have a bit of space and we're both from the north so resent paying for anything we don't need to
Third, even as a washer, it was an abject failure, clothes often simply not getting clean, and needing two or even three cycles.
So, the machine was replaced. Little improvement. Eventually, it was replaced again, after several visits from an engineer, and even from a Hotpoint area manager. At that point, they whrugged and, excuse pun, washed their hands of it.
Conversely, I had an old AEG washer given to me when my parents upgraded. We ditched the Hotpoint combi. That AEG was a good 30 years old when we got it, and we got several years out of it, and it never budged from it's original spot. We only got rid of it because a rubber hose perished and we couldn't source a replacement, despite a hunt all over the country. We replaced it with a Whirlpool. No oroblems for about 12 years, never budged a millimetre.
Now, we have Siemens. About 3 years in, no problems at all, except noise. We can't hear the thing at all, so have to walk right doen to the utility room to tell if it's finished or not. It's almost too quiet.
As for overloading, nope. I demonstrated it to the engineer, and the area manager, going walkabout and making more noise than a Black Sabbath concert, when loaded with precisely three tea-towels.
EDIT - and before anyone says it, yes, we had the feet adjustment checked for balance, the floor was level but hard, we tried putting it on all sorts of surfaces, from lino blocks, to cork, to carpet cutoffs, to 1/2 inch felt carpet underlay, etc. Some reduced it a little in noise and wanderlust, but none came close to solving it.
I've noticed our washing machine has a go at re-arranging its load before spinning up, sort of flicking cloths around. Is therefore pretty good at not moving and pretty damn quiet.
Not as much as that old AEG washing machine, I bet. In a face-off between a main battle tank and that AEG I think I'd have backed that AEG. I know why, too. When the Bismark sank, I reckon I know what happened to it's armour plate .... it went to AEG to make washing machines from.
My God was that thing a lump.
Two guys got the new machine in the house fairly easily, but it took four of us and a lot of sweat and tears to get the AEG out, and it nearly killed us getting it in their flatbed truck to remove it.
I reckon if they launched it into space, it'd have it's own gravitational field .... and might change the moon's orbit.
My Miele washing machine is about twice the weight of the hotpoint it replaced. Its so much quieter, especially on full spin and never moves even on hard wood flooring. Definitely worth the extra money.
I'd be inclined to agree with that, with the proviso that as you go up the ptoduct quality ladder, you get a diminidhing marginal return from money. That is, be it a washing machine, car, or cpu, you have to spend increasingly large sums to take the next step up.
So, unless you have very large resources, sufficient to go in at the top of the range on everything, you have to decide when to compromise, and assuming you have the budget to do it at all, when to not compromise.
Miele would probably be my first choice, but when I bought, the Siemens I ended up with was heavily discounted due to a (cosmetic) model change, and had a free extended warranty. It ended up about half the price of the Miele equivalent, so for the budget, it was Siemens washer and dryer (separates, not combi), or Miele washer and no dryer.
To use another economics term, the opportunity cost of going Miele over Siemens, at that time, was the dryer. Did I want Miele over Siemens, or did I want the dryer? Each to his own, at that point.
Two separate machines for washer and dryer is ideal if you have a lot of storage space available. It's because they function well and have bigger capacity than the combo set. But the only problem is that separate machines cost more and may harm your budget. So if you want to save money, space, energy and water, a washer and dryer set would be the best option for you.
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