I also had one of these while living in the UK. I didn't have the problems mentioned with wrinkling, at least not worse than any other front loader, which all spin faster than top loaders. But no condensing dryer (which is what one of these is during the drying phase) gets clothes as dry as a vented dryer. Add together the wash time of a front loader (generally longer than a top loader) with a long, inefficient dry cycle and total cycle time was loooong. Another thing that hasn't been mentioned: having only one device means you can't dry one load and wash another at the same time, so one load takes a couple of hours or more before you can even begin to wash something else. Add to that the small capacity and there's no such thing as "laundry day", you'd better be thinking about laundry all the time. It seemed like we were continuously drying socks, hanging on radiators all over the house. As others have said, I wouldn't have another one of these things unless circumstances absolutely demanded it.

On dryers, it seems the bigger the better. As it has been noted, it is possible with the larger washers like Miele W48xx, Duets, HE5t, etc, to actually overload the dryer. I had the Miele T9800 for about 5 months. Some observations. Overall a good dryer. List price is actually reasonable (I paid $1200). A little smaller at 6.4CF than other competitive dryers (7-7.3CF). And limited temp controls and very limited manual timer/temp options. Almost too limited, YMMV. Loud, but bearable (mostly air flow sounds). Nice SS drum, filter, all glass door, and reverse tumble. Normal setting sometimes slightly under dried clothes, but not a big problem. I now have the HE5t matching Kenmore (Whirlpool) dryer. As posted, I returned my Miele W48xx machines. I did considered for a while just keeping (or getting another Miele T9800 dryer) to go with the HE5t. Eventually matching considerations and the ridiculously low price I ended up getting both the HE5t and dryer. The Kenmore high-end dryer as compared to the Miele is bigger (7 vs 6.4 CF), shocking quite (like real quite), seems to dry about the same- time/dry level. Very flexible temp control and timer/temp options. Almost overkill. but nice to have. Digital readouts (including time remaining) instead of Miele status LED indicators. No SS drum nor option to get one. Overall pleased but lack of SS drum is concern. If the Miele dryer was a little larger, a little quieter and had more manual temp/controls, it would be strong contender. The Miele looks like a high quality dryer, the Kenmore looks so-so. Looked at LG, and Samsung dryers. Both had SS drum options, but overall quality level seem to be more in the Kenmore/Whirlpool range and price about the same as Kenmore. Where LG and Samsung lead if a very big 7.3 CF capacity. So far I have not missed reverse tumble. I had it both on the Miele and older Bosch dryers. I don't think you need it on these larger dryer (or need is very reduced). On the Miele T9800, the reverse tumble was actually used very little of the time. It was also interesting on the reverse tumble phase because the dryer suddenly would get very quite- apparently just reduced air flow noise. This indicated the noise was not the mechanics of drum but just motor noise and air flow issues. My gut feel is the Miele could (or should) cut the air flow back for home use. For a commercial dryer, it is probably ok, but most home users would make the trade-off easily. Also, it is sucking your conditioned air out your home at a high rate. So no free lunch on reduced drying time (if any) over other more standard dryers. In a basement- yes. Upstairs- no.

Nismo, I am not so familiar with well and septic systems being that I live in Chicago. However, I can tell you that in all combo machines with condensing dryers, the cold water supply and pump cycle on and off periodically throughout the dry cycle. The water does not run constantly at full force for three hours. Generally, most combo machines use somewhere between 14 to 20 gallons of water per load for both wash and dry (comparable to a standard dishwasher). In contrast, a standard topload washing machine by itself typically uses 40 to 50 gallons of water per load. If your septic supports a standard topload washer, it should easily be able to handle a combo machine. Moreover, you will be using much less detergent in a front load combo machine which is also better from an environmental standpoint. The manufacturer specifications usually state how much water the machine will use per load on average. I hope that answers some of your questions. Happy washing.

I don't recommend Ariston appliances. They don't have a particularly "good" reputation here in Europe. (Quite frankly, their reputation sucks.) If you want a good compact, stackable washer & dryer look at the Bosch Axxis line or Miele. HTH, Alex Here is a link that might be useful: Ariston in the US--Good or Bad?