Compact Washer/Dryer

2 years ago

I'm building a new house and the laundry room is galley style with cabinets, sink and washer/dryer on one wall. I'm seriously considering compact washer and dryer each on their own pedestal to bring them up to a reasonable height for use. Do you have any favorite models, and if so, why? It seems i need to decide and spec it now since they all have different electrical requirements. I definitely want heat pump/ventless options for the dryer. Miele, LG, Bosch and Samsung are all on my radar. I'd love input and also advice on how much clearance I should leave on the side of each unit. My concerns are length of time per cycle, and overall reliability.

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Karenseb

2 years ago

I just got the new compact LG washer and heat pump dryer two weeks ago. So far, I love it, especially the dryer. It seems really gentle on the clothes and the clothes seem less winkled and softer. Time to dry seems similar to my old compact vented dryer.

the lint filter that i clean out every load is easy to clean.

The other filter people complain about cleaning is a self clean filter located on the rear of the machine. They recommend vacuuming the outside grille 4 times a year.

self clean condenser

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Comments (8)

HU1234
2 years ago
I have a miele heat pump dryer and love it. Cycle times are just under an hour for a normal load, a bit longer for a heavy load such as towels. I also considered the other brands you listed but opted for the Miele because I know from a family member as well as this forum that it is easy to clean the lint filters. The other brands did not seem as easy to clean (or “self cleaning“ in the case of the Bosch) and had reviews of problems with this part of the machine. Dry times also seem longer on the other machines based on the limited information I could find. I wanted to buy a less expensive heat pump dryer but felt it was not worth the risk of long dry times or difficult to clean filters that develop mildew etc.

I have a Miele washer that I love but it is an older 240V model that is no longer available. I can’t comment personally on the current washers available.
Sue T. thanked HU1234
SEA SEA
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
You will do best to cross Samsung off your list now. Nice phones but not good appliances. Miele gets a lot of love on this site, but do take a look at a couple of recent threads here on the laundry forum where there is an issue with certain Miele washers. Some owners do not have the issue and others do. May or may not apply to your needs. Bosch owners seem pretty happy too as are LG full size owners. I can't speak to the compact model owners as we haven't had many (any?) here on this forum. I did see the LG compact washer in person in Maryland recently looking for something else, and it looked very nice. Says nothing to how it performs, but it seemed rather solid on my quick look-over of it. I took note because spouse would like to move back to a front loader eventually. Good luck in your search.
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HU1234
2 years ago
@Karenseb It’s great to hear you have the LG and love it. I was not able to find any feedback on the LG machine when I was looking for a heat pump dryer so I went with the only one I knew had great reviews. I was hoping not to spend so much on a dryer (Miele). Hopefully they both last a long time!
luna123456
2 years ago
I think you will be happy with Miele. The only downside is that everything else will seem like a step down in the future.
scottie mom
2 years ago
I also love my Miele set and I agree with Luna. i bought them about two years ago and there was no real alternative for a HP dryer here in the US at that time. as for the clearances, Miele has excellent documentation. i might have added just a bit more room on the sides (they are stacked with a cabinet surround.) It would be nice to get the long crevice vacuum tool (also Miele) into that space. NBD, but since you asked about it…

Cycle times: i chose the top of the line models and some cycles are very short indeed. i think it does vary by model. But a Sanitize cycle is always going to be long bc it takes time to get things up to temperature. i like the quicker options too, but it’s not such an issue since it tells me when it’s done. i like that feature a lot.

Good luck. Sounds like a nice design!
Barb Chamberlain
last year
@sue_t What did you end up getting and what do you think of it?

We're redoing a laundry room as part of a kitchen remodel and I've been thinking a lot more about kitchen appliances than w/d so it's time to move to this research. We have older ones and the top-loading washing machine sounds like NASA is spinning up for a launch so they need to go.

There are only two people in our household and we plan to be here for decades. A compact w/d makes sense for us in terms of our general laundry needs. I want them side by side with a countertop above--no reaching up high to try to get things out of the dryer, as I experienced that in an AirBnB and hated it.

I might see if we can build in shallow drawers below and put the w/d up on top of that. This is our exit to the garage and we could stash things like hats and gloves there. We have enough room to do one skinny set of drawers to the right of the w/d as well, but likely only 12" wide. We'll have cupboards above.
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Sue T.
Original Author
last year
Miele - I was sold after visiting their showroom - I haven't yet started using it, but love the size and found it very informative to hear from the miele staff about how to best use it. We did pedestals because they sit pretty low and I think that as I get older having to reach in far/low would be hard. We put a counter top above and some cabinets so that detergent, etc. can be easily accessible.