4842 and 9802 were delivered today. 1st impressions: First - we loved our Asko's and hated to see them go. Install was simple stuff - the crew was in and out in about 1 to 1 1/2 hours. They assembled the washer / dryer on the stands while in the truck. Getting the washer downstairs was a chore for two big guys. Installer said the washer (on stand) weighs nearly 350. The pair is a beast on the stands. Coming from our little Asko's - this pair is huge. Fit and finish is excellent. The stands are very nice - soft close doors, a place to set a basket on - well made (ought to be for the $$). The washer is almost silent until it spins up - and then it is not nearly as loud as the 1200rpm Asko it replaced. It does shake at full spin - did not walk or anything, but a clear shake. We did not consider the dryer to be noisy - but it clearly moves moves more air than any dryer we have had before. We did not install the solid aluminum vent pipe as recommended by sales person and folks on this forum. I bought it and installer encouraged us to try the flex aluminum vent pipe he brought with him. We agreed to try it and it was fine - returned the solid vent material today. The wife is very pleased - thought her first load of whites came out cleaner than the Asko - which is saying something. I talked her into these - would have been trouble if they did not perform at least as well as what she had. Quick wash (on cold) was about 30 minutes - Normal wash about an hour. More later after we get some experience.

I'm sure I'm not the only one that finds these discussions a little xenophobic (at best). Might just be me (with my particular family history) but things being made in Germany isn't really a selling a point. I agree. I think a lot of folks forget the whole "German engineering" thing was a marketing ploy developed by VW to sell cars. I was an expat from the U.S. living in Germany and working side-by-side with Germans for several years and was not the least bit impressed (especially by the work ethic). But putting all that aside, keep in mind that German-made VWs consistently rank at or near the bottom of the quality/durability ranking, as do many European cars (BMW is currently the highest, ranking only slightly above average). Note this is not my opinion nor is it based on personal experience, it is based on the actual statistical rankings by companies that do nothing but collect this data (i.e. J.D. Powers, etc.) I am an experienced engineering consultant in the field of automation, and as a result get many periodicals. One of the most memorable articles I still recall was from one of the industry pubs I get that covers SPC techniques/rules, etc. On the cover they had an older Lexus ES (the cheaper one based on the Camry) alongside a brand-new Mercedes S class (the one with the six-figure price tag). The headline read "why is this 7-year old Lexus more dependable than this brand new Mercedes?"

I gave up on candles - too much soot damages the walls. I only melt tarts now, and I buy them from online etailers so I know they are made in the US. But, sorry to say, I can't get too tweaked about something not being made in the US. The world is too small, and the economy is too global to be so exclusive. We've done it to ourselves. We want cheap, and cheap isn't always made in the USA. Can you imagine the Chinese boycotting made in the USA? We all depend upon each other. Like Dances said, the only concern I have is safety. And that isn't necessarily linked to any one nation. Look at the E Coli epidemics we've had here in our own country with our own food supplies.

Couldn’t they just provide an adapter for the washer & dryer to share the singular dryer outlet—like they did in the past? I imagine the modern heat-pump dryer would use much less energy than a traditional condenser. And, really they are not likely to invest in the condenser models any more—old tech now, it will be HP, from here on out. This minimizes production lines. Therefore, the washer could have a stronger heating element (closer in wattage to the pro models)—this could result in faster wash times. Though the washer & dryer ratio of power usage would shift more towards the washer and become proprietary relative to standard 240V washers or dryers using all 30Amps, as long as the adapter was used, it’d be fine. Also, plugging either of them in to a dryer plug would be fine too as neither would use more than 240V/30A, so there would be no problem of over loading. Finally, most construction that provisions for a washer/dryer area have a 240V/30A outlet. In fact, this will only increase as we move toward more electrification, agnostic of generation. My city wants to outlaw gas installation in new homes—to reduce CO2 emissions. I only see this moving in this direction, not the opposite, for sure. Most people buy in pairs—especially at this price. Also, this would more align with Miele’s global operations—which are mainly 240V (so sad we aren’t). They can easily swap-out heater coils (just commodity parts) for different markets instead of redesigning their entire machines for NA. So, in conclusion, it would make perfect sense to bring over only 240V washers.