Hi chaps,

We’re moving house, and already have a Tumble Dryer. But, the utility room has space only for the Washing Machine.

We have two options, get a washer dryer. Or put the Tumble Dryer in the garage.

Are washer dryers worse at cleaning clothes, and do they generally leave them soaking wet if you don’t use the Tumble cycle too?

Cheers, this is all beyond me!

Ricks

Separate, a complete wash/dry cycle takes hours and you can generally only dry half a wash at once so can’t run them unattended.

We had an AEG one, it was hopeless for a family due to cycle timed and broke down twice in the first two years before going again out of warranty and being got rid of.

My memory is that washer dryers are less effecient

This may help

http://www.whitegoodshelp.co.uk/washer-dryer-or-separate-washing-machine-and-dryer-which-is-the-best/

It confirms that you have to remove cloths before you start drying

If you can find the room then separate every time. Way more practical.

Could you put the dryer on top of the washing machine?

We stacked ours when we had them in a “spacious nook under the stairs” e.g. Cupboard.

Stacked separates here. We’ve got the tumble drier on top and the arrangement works a treat.

Remember many won’t like being in the garage though – the temp differential messes with the sensors.
Vented seem to do better than condenser though.
Same as freezers – once it drops below a certain point they get spazzed

You’re always better off with dedicated machines for a specific tasks. As some have said before can you stack them? Can’t see why having one in the garage might be an issue – especially for a vented one as you’ll have no liquid condensate to cause any problems if the temp in the garage drops below freezing. Not checked the spec sheet on any tumble dryer i’ve had, maybe there is an operating range listed on there.

Having had one washer dryer, separates every time – not least for the fact that you can be washing one load and drying another at the same time.

Having had one washer dryer, separates every time – not least for the fact that you can be washing one load and drying another at the same time.

This.

And a tumble dryer in the garage helps make winter fettling just a bit more bearable……

We had a washer drier, a hotpoint thing that I bought for my first house.

Worked fine for just 15 years. We didn’t use the drier bit very much though

Got seperates now (I thought seperates was a hifi term) – Miele washer, cheap and nasty drier.

seperates every time, and definately fit a smoke alarm in garage, they do catch fire quite often.

If you can find the room then separate every time. Way more practical.

Seperates if you can IME
If the “we” you mention is just you and another you should be ok with a washer/dryer BUT if you have kids forget it. I had a washer dryer in the flat years ago, would only dry 1/2 a load and either creased everything to bits or didnt dry it properly, took an age, hated it for drying. It washed fine but had a tiny drum so bedding etc was a nightmare.

Our Condenser dryer lives in the Workshop down the garden, not a big inconvenience and we only use it in the winter months when stuff won’t dry on the line.

We have internal garage and had a couple of dealers – John lewis being one, that we shouldn’t have a condenser in there because of lower temps.

We have no way of venting unless we keep the current vented one near the door which is a pain in the ass – because it gets in the way!!

We’ve got a combined one, does the job for us as we try to line dry.
If its raining we’ll sometimes stick a 30 minute dry on before unloading just to give everything a head start, but its usual use is when we’ve done two full loads and the clothes horse is full, then we chuck the underwear/jeans back in and leave the stuff thats liable to shrink to dry naturally.

I don’t find the part unloading an issue as I can’t remember the last time I did a full load where everything was OK to tumble dry (except towels) without shrinkage issues.

We have internal garage and had a couple of dealers – John lewis being one, that we shouldn’t have a condenser in there because of lower temps.

Never heard of that. The Workshop isn’t heated (unless I’m working in it) and the dryer works absolutely fine.

We run both washing machine and condenser dryer in garage and haven’t had problems.

I guess it depends what you are washing.. I have both, but i only use the dryer for emergencies, 99% of my clothes are fairly light so a decent post wash spin in the washer and they come out very slightly damp, certainly not dripping wet.

For heavy fabrics like throws and blankets.. They tend to get hung out as they are still a bit wet to deal with inside.

Are you sure your not overloading the washer, or neglecting to use a programme that spins for a bit after the wash cycle?

Separate.
We have a gas fired tumble dryer in the garage. It’s brilliant, much cheaper to run than an electric.

Condenser tumble in the garage here. Surely by virtue of the condensing effect it will work better in a cold garage?

as above, had combined AEG one and it blew all the time.

Now have a washing machine, a pulley and dehumidifier.
But separates all the way.

It’s the auto sensing part that goes haywire in colder temps.
Went through two previously- tech who came out to the second one when it threw a wobbler explained it all.
They work on the temp and humidity difference and cold temps mess them up.
Fine when you just hit the timer function 30/60/90 etc though.

Simple timer condenser-dryer has worked well in the garage for ten years. No sensors (that I know of), just set it to run for an hour or two and job done. Keep the condenser unit and filter clean

Combined fridge-freezer defrosted in the garage during its first winter though. Some only have a thermostat in the fridge, if the ambient temp drops below its setting (e.g. 5C) then it doesn’t sense the need to switch the motor on for the fridge…or the freezer. Replaced it with a separate freezer, no problems

Googling found this explination of why they need to be in a warm room

http://www.ukwhitegoods.co.uk/help/buying-advice/tumble-dryers/3022-tumble-dryers-installation-requirements

Combined machine in the flat for the last couple of years. I was surprised how good it was but I wouldn’t buy one if you can avoid it. we’ve now got separates.

Something no one seems to have mentioned – there’s a lot of waste heat from a tumble drier. If it’s in the garage all that is wasted. If it’s in the house contributes to your heating so your boiler will run a bit less. Heating an up insulated garage is pretty pointless.

Condenser driers of course are much more efficient/produce very little waste heat (but still some). I saw a calculation somewhere that they cost so much more the payback time is long but I’d rather a long life device with low running costs personally.

I’ve had a washer dryer for 16 years (on my second one now, first one had a leaky inlet after about 11 years), both Zanussi. I do live alone though so don’t have lots of washing to get through.
Only downside I’ve found really is you have to clean out fluff from the drum/seal every couple of washes otherwise it can get stuck back on the clothes in your next wash (was mostly a pain with work shirts), this is much less of an issue in my current model than the old one though.
I’d also take it with a pinch of salt you should only dry a half load – I’ve never taken anything out between a full load wash and dry cycle and never had an issue as a result.

Separate seems to work best for us as we always seem to have both working, had a Gorenje washer for 10 years & just spent 35 quid on a new pump & fitted it in 10 mins other than that been perfect & dealt with far to much filthy biking gear, they are a bit pricey but well made with 5 year warranty.
Also a white knight dryer again proven to be very reliable and quite cheap.

Separates everytime, it also increases your washing drying capacity

Googling found this explination of why they need to be in a warm room

Interesting.

For a condenser dyer to operate correctly the room temperature must be above at least a 5?C minimum or, it won’t work.

Doubt the workshop ever gets that low with modern winters. Coldest outside so far this year is only -1.2C!

Cheers everyone. I’ll bang in a vent in the garage and get the current dryer out there and buy a decent Washing Machine for the house. Boom 🙂

Something no one seems to have mentioned – there’s a lot of waste heat from a tumble drier. If it’s in the garage all that is wasted. If it’s in the house contributes to your heating so your boiler will run a bit less.

Our house is at the top end of a B rating, so wouldn’t want it to get much hotter!

You don’t want a dryer venting inside.. Yes it’s a massive waste of energy, but you don’t want to be pumping damp warm air into your house.

Basically a dryer for me is only used for towels. So a washer/dryer in garage for dirty biking clothes and towels works fine. It’s plumbed so there is no venting.

Have a super fast washer only in house for the regular stuff.

I’ve only known a washer dryer go funny once in really old temperatures and then it was a reset button under the top panel.

I generally think you’re best not to overload any of these items but appreciate families just want to optimise each wash.

SWMBO has been consulted and confirms that washer dryer combinations are abominations from a usage point of view. I can confirm that the one we had was the least reliable thing ever purchased. Bosch one so you might expect reasonable quality. Not so and therefore Miele only from then on.

uphillcursing – Member

SWMBO has been consulted and confirms that washer dryer combinations are abominations from a usage point of view. I can confirm that the one we had was the least reliable thing ever purchased. Bosch one so you might expect reasonable quality. Not so and therefore Miele only from then on.

Seems to be down to the luck of the draw as much as anything.

I’ve got the cheapest washer dryer you could buy from Indesit, and it’s been running like a champ for seven years.

My wife is not exactly know for mechanical sympathy (as two clutches broken and another now slipping within 50,000 miles on her car will attest) so you can guarantee it’s been massively overloaded and set with everything up on full blast when she uses it.