You might want to check out the reasonably-priced LG WT7100CW and its companion DLE7100W (or DLG7101W) dryer. Be sure to carefully check the appliances' specs for the amount of space required, including space behind.

I gather the search engine here failed to turn up the very, very long ongoing thread here titled Miele-W1-T1-Washer-Dreyr." Maybe you missed it because it hasn't had a post in the last day or two and it scrolled onto the second forum page? It has been going for a couple of years and has over 600 posts. The discussions by owners cover all of the W1 models from the "classic" WWB020 up to the highest-end one ( WWH860) and the matching dryers as well as the TwnDos detergent dispensing system available on the WWH660 and 860 models.

Also, have you searched at the AutomaticWasher site where washaholics and laundrophiles discuss, explain and argue over the minutest of insights about washers, dryers and dishwashers. Numbers of detailed discussions of the W1 and T1 there.

I have an older Miele. Very dependable. No way I'd choose an LG or Maytag.

No appliance is 100% perfect. That said i don’t think you will be disappointed with a Miele set. In fact I think you will really like them.

The only downside I see is that once you have a Miele set you will have a really hard time going to anything else.

its sort of like driving a BMW, AUDI, etc. Once you drive a luxury car its hard to go back. Can you? Sure. Will you want to? I doubt it.

Thanks everyone! I'm just really concerned about a T1 type of dryer working well to dry our clothes. I'll definitely check out the LG top loader. That's about all that will fit (28" deep unit) about 32" deep overall. Of course the Miele W1/T1 will fit easily. But it's a difference of a $1500 spend for the LG and more like $4000 for the Miele pair.

Any thoughts regarding the top end versus the low end in the Miele line? I've been scouring other threads, but I can't see any good comparisons.

Thanks!

• The differences in the Miele washers are features, not washing performance. You can compare features here.
• Miele washers are small: 2.26 cubic feet, vs. 4.5 cubic feet for the LG.
• Miele dryers are ventless heat pumps; they exhaust heat into the room. LG dryers are vented; they exhaust heat outdoors.

You might want to check ratings on Consumer Reports (http://www.consumerreports.org/join - $10/month digital)

Another thing to consider with buying a Miele washer is the availability of factory servicers in your neighborhood. While the CR membership surveys rate Miele washers as having among the best reliability of all washer brands, no appliance line is ever perfect. There mostly are no generic parts available for Miele washers on this side of the Atlantic. Miele runs a pretty tight ship when it comes to parts and repairs. Kind of like Apple in that way.

As a result, an oft-repeated caution here over the years has been to check out where the Miele factory servicers are located before buying. If you call Miele customer support, they can tell you how far you are from a Miele tech equipped with a MDU laptop. (MDU= Miele Diagnostic Unit.) Few third party servicers have them. Miele washers and dryers are sufficiently technical and complex that you want your servicer to have an MDU and really know what he or she is doing.

One point of clarification on dryers: not all ventless dryers are the same. The ones that exhaust heat and moisture into the room are the condenser dryers. A condenser dryer takes in cool air to pull through the condenser to get the warm dryer air from the drum to release it's moisture. That results in heat exhaust into the room. Heat pump dryers (like Miele's models) have a small refrigeration unit that both puts heat into the dryer and also cools the collector to takes moisture from the dryer. This process exhausts much less heat into the room. Miele claims (and is mostly backed up by the posters here who use Miele heat-pump dryers), that their dryers do not heat the rooms or laundry closets to any significant degree. That and the reverse tumbling seem to big selling points for the brand's dryers.

>>>"Any thoughts regarding the top end versus the low end in the Miele line? I've been scouring other threads, but I can't see any good comparisons."<<<

Seeing that no owners have responded to your question, I'll suggest downloading and reading the user guide for any washer you are considering and offer what I think I learned about the WWB020 last year when I was not sure I could fix my existing washer and researched new compact washers.

The WWB020 , the lowest tier Miele model, offers an array of wash temperature settings similar to the company's higher tier models. For those who want it, these give more flexibility than with most washers having on-board water heaters. For example, there are two "warm" wash settings: the plain "warm" and "warm plus." The "warm" setting mixes the wash water to 85°F /30°C which actually is wiithin what fabric care instruction tags would consider a "cold" wash. The "warm-plus" setting targets 105°F/40°C (which actually is the temperature contemplated by fabric care instructions for a "warm" wash).

The WWB020 offers "hot" and "hot-plus" settings and a santize setting similar to the higher-tier Miele models but the WWB020 does not have a recirculation pump to maintain the set temperature. The WWB020 also does not offer the other's "steam" option for extra stain removal and wrinkle reduction

Like the higher tier Miele models, the WWB020 offers a menu setting for maximizing rinse water levels, a function intended to help for those needing enhanced rinsing but, unlike the other Miele W-1 models, does not offer a way to add a third rinse to a wash program. Nor does it offer a "rinse and spin" program. Miele customer support staff say that the two regular rinses do a very good job but, if you need additional rinsing or a rinse-and-spin, you run an “Express Wash” program with the “soil” option set to “light” and the wash temperature set to cold. Apparently that runs in about 15 to 20 minutes.

The WWB020 offers fewer wash programs than the higher tier models and seems to contemplate that most or much washing will be done with the normal cycle. For example, the WWB020 does not have a dedicated "bulky" cycle for washing things like comforters and bath mats. Since the WWB020 has the same drum capacity and load weight ratings as the other Miele models, it apparently could wash even a king size down comforter. There are several internet videos of this being done in other W-1 washer models as well as user reports in the W-1 thread here and in discussions at the AutomaticWasher site. Other kinds of comforters --- such as ones stuffed with non-compressable cotton or poly batting -- are out of the question. I found no reports of anybody washing bed pillows in a WWB020 although the other W-1 models seem able to do so.

Apart from the “Express Wash” cycle, the Miele models' wash cycles mostly seem to take well over an hour to run. AFAIK, only the top-end model, the WWF860, offers the comparatively speedy "Power Wash" cycle. The WWB020 has nothing comparable.

A couple things to remember with the Miele, one you’re buying a Porsche, if all you do is wash regular loads, you might not be getting good value for your money, but then again most people only buy Porsche’s to drive around town anyhow so there’s that.

I love my W1/T1. The dryer will not raise the heat in your house. Although it gets a little warm in the closet but it’s not any more than a dishwasher using the ultra hot wash heated dry setting. This might seem contradictory but it does not mean that it puts out a lot of heat but you do need to make sure that closet door is left open while using the dryer unless you have vents in the door or in the closet so machine doesn’t get hot for the motor.

You don’t have to use the twin dos detergent but they are really good if you do, however check out the prices for the refills as they are on the expensive side vs off the shelf brands.

That extra recirculating pump really makes the washer times go faster and it’s worth it in my view.

The washer is engineered to last about 10,000 hours normal (not overstuffed) usage. Ditto for the dryer but less at 9000 hrs product life.

If you buy this, consider having the dryers drain hose connected by the install team. I didn’t think anything about it and they never asked me and now I regret not knowing about it. I don’t use the steam feature so I don’t care to empty it but it is something you will have to do and you might get tired of it. Which means if you do like to steam clothes then you will have to add water in manually to the tray.

Also watch the install team don’t let them tip that dryer it cannot be tilted very far on its side it. A lot of these install people are not familiar with Miele specifics and may toss it around like it’s a football do not let this happen. Believe me the temptation will be there for the less than professional installers to want to man handle it because of its diminutive proportions. They will think it’s a toy.

Oh and one more thing as far as Maytag is concerned. Their parent company Whirlpool Corporation is part of the reason why our washers are a little bit more expensive now. their allegations of product dumping mainly at the two Korean brands resulted in the Trump administration imposing unilateral tariffs on all imported washers which affects everybody and that’s why Miele washers are now $200 more roughly per unit then they would otherwise be. The most egregious part of this is that after this happened whirlpool begin to raise the prices of their own washing machines to now match the now higher priced imports. So now everybody’s paying more for a washing machine for no good reason.

I had a top-loading Maytag stacked w/d that I replaced with a lower end Miele w1/t1. I appreciated how easy the Maytag was to operate, and how a dried load could sit for hours until I remembered to take it out. That said, the Miele gets clothes noticeably cleaner. I didn't realize this was a deficit of the Maytag until these Miele machines. Also the capacity is huge in the Miele even though you wouldn't think so from the specs. It's because you can stuff it full, which you couldn't do with the Maytag. Miele downside: more care and feeding. The dryer does a great job drying and adds no heat to the area. But you can't let a dried load sit; it buzzes until you retrieve your clothes and turn it off. If anybody's figured out how to disable this feature, lmk!

J9Swimmer: "In the late Fall of 2018, I replaced my early 1990's Maytag Neptune top load washer / dryer set ..."

Did you mean to say a Neptune frontload set?

The earliest Neptune frontloader was model MAH3000, introduced to the market circa 1997 ... late 1990s, not early 1990s.

There was a Neptune toploader but it came out circa 2003. They weren't on the market for very long, a very unusual design that had a lot of mechanical problems, and are rare. I have one bought in May 2008 at a huge discount from a dealer trying to get rid of their remaining stock.

@nycmom: "But you can't let a dried load sit; it buzzes until you retrieve your clothes and turn it off. If anybody's figured out how to disable this feature, lmk!"

Extra Options, page 39

dadoes "Did you mean to say a Neptune frontload set?"

Yes. Neptune were FRONTload machines. Not topload. Good catch, dadoes. Thank you.

@nycmom The dryer does a great job drying and adds no heat to the area. But you can't let a dried load sit; it buzzes until you retrieve your clothes and turn it off. If anybody's figured out how to disable this feature, lmk!

On my T1, to turn the buzzer on/off, I press directly upon the word "buzzer" on the touch pad display. When it is faded, the buzzer sound is off. When it is brightly lit, the buzzer sound is enabled.

The Miele T1 dryer install docs indicate that the dryer needs a clearance of minimum 19inches on the top. Has anyone installed these as a stacked unit in a front open cabinet? And how much clearance on the top? We will be installing these (Miele w1/t1 pair) in our garage, and the stacked unit will be a 5 or so inches from our media rack. I am concerned about the heat from the ventless dryer and how much will it raise the ambient temperature around it.

The dryer doesnt generate a lotnof heat, rather it sometimes needs to remove extra waste heat, similar to your fridge. I would siggest making sure there is enough clearance and open space for proper ventilation.

Thank you lun123456

Thanks to all for the comments in this thread. I've been scouring available information as we are in the market for a washer & debating Miele vs Speedqueen vs LG. We have had abysmal responses on phone calls to Miele sales, Miele customer service, the nearest Miele experience center (12 hours away), and the two nearest Ferguson's. Miele actually told us to call Ferguson's to find out about diagnostic and treatment options. Neither Ferguson's keeps Miele in stock, so we can't look at one in person; we drove an hour this week because a Ferguson's associate told us they had a Miele, and on arrival discovered it was a Bosch.

@jwvideo, do you have any further tips for locating the nearest MDU?

My preference from everything I've read is to either install a W1 or a W1/T1, but I hate to end up with untenable service issues.

>>>"@jwvideo, do you have any further tips for locating the nearest MDU?"<<<

Nope. MieleUSA seems to have revamped its customer support system since I last called (which was maybe two years ago now.) Some posters at AutomaticWasher.org have reported that Miele Customer service only schedules service calls these days and can't tell you who does or does not have an MDU. Sorry I can't help.

Miele is farming some service out to local servicers. I spoke with thr professional sales reps and he said it is extremely hard to retain good servicemen. We had our dishwasher repaired under warranty once. It is a Miele Crystal. The mainboard failed. we had about 4000 hours on it in a couple years.

The guy who fixed it was able to tear it down and called miele who walked him through the diagnostic steps. They then sent a main board. Tech came back two weeks later and installed.

The delay was more the local shops fault. They only come to our area once a week. We could have had Miele come from chicago, but they charge mileage if uour more than 50 miles from their service center. we are 120 miles away.

I wouldnt be too hung up about getting official Miele service. They have always taken care of us one way or another.

We were in a Fergusons here yesterday looking at lighting and ended up looking at the appliances as well. I looked at the Miele set that is being discussed here. It did not seem to be as substantial i.e. tank like as past Miele's that I have experienced. The responses about service are unacceptable for appliances retailing at their prices.

Thanks for the comments. We decided to try the Miele over SpeedQueen or LG. Hoping we like it, and like it for the next 20 years!