Washer / Dryer Combo - any thoughts?

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  CrashAndBurn on 09/07/2026 - 07:08

  If there is enough room, I always go for separates as more expensive to fix if it is the combo. Also, I can do another washing load while the other is already drying. When I was living in an apartment, I had no choice but to go combo due to the limited space.

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    Alan6984 on 09/07/2026 - 11:19

    If there is enough room, I always go for separates as more expensive to fix if it is the combo. Also, I can do another washing load while the other is already drying. When I was living in an apartment, I had no choice but to go combo due to the limited space.

    I completely agree with this. Our dryer is wall mounted over the washing machine, so the space it's in would be completely unused otherwise anyway.

    We also have a 'free power in the evenings' plan too. Means we can be running both at the same time, which significantly increases the free power available to us as well. Our weekly / monthly costs would be much higher if we had a combo machine, at least in the winter when its harder to get things dried outside, and we have to accept the hygiene issues of using the dryer.

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      Jizah on 09/07/2026 - 11:22

      And a dryer can also sit directly on top of a front loader washer if wall mounting is too difficult.

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        Alan6984 on 09/07/2026 - 11:25

        Some certainly can - you would want to check that (in terms of the combination of the two) before making a purchase if it was a requirement.

        Ours is just hung on an interior stud wall - many aren't very heavy.

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      froggyruderose on 14/07/2026 - 20:59

      " Our dryer is wall mounted over the washing machine, so the space it's in would be completely unused otherwise anyway"

      well… you could have wall-mounted anything else, or put some shelves there instead.

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  AleBeerenhoff on 09/07/2026 - 07:43

  Chatting with a repair agent recently he said that in his opinion, too much stuff is being crammed into the small space for these things, meaning repair costs are increasing, and durability over the lifetime is suffering too. His recommendation was to keep things simple - eg we still have just a standard old school tumble dryer and he was raving about it saying they are the best. Simple and functional. His recommendation was across the board too - ovens, fridges, washers. Don't look for technical solutions for a simple task (eg LCD panels regularily fail, when in the past a simple rotary switch would go for decades).
  Another factor is the speed at which these combined units complete their purpose is (usually) extended too; so where a basic dryer may complete its cycle in 45 min, a combination unit may still be going 90 min later. Hypothetical times, but check it out when evaluating products.
  So I would say unless you really need to condense (punn intended) the functionality into a single unit size (eg some apartment living requires it), then do yourself a favor and don't.

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  sigma on 09/07/2026 - 19:15

  i have one which works quite well for my purposes. however i only use it to dry certain things and hang other stuff in the laundry cupboard to dry. actually causes less damage to the clothes tbh. guess it depends on your volume of laundry as well. i wouldnt buy a haier one though.

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  Slogan on 09/07/2026 - 11:19

  Although they're not as terrible as they were 10 years ago they're still unreliable and ineffective, especially at drying clothes.

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  LupinS on 09/07/2026 - 18:59

  Pull the access port of your pump out and see how much water comes out. Have a towel on standby (if you are lucky it will be less than 2 cups)

  Now imagine trying to dry clothes in the same thing with that much water sitting in the bottom of it.

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  humvee on 10/07/2026 - 07:32

  We had a Panasonic 9kg / 6kg NA-S96FC1 Front Load Washer Dryer. And while it worked it was very convenient slow but convenient.

  But it barely lasted 3 years before the water pump failed. One thing i didnt know until it failed was it squirts water into the drier during the dry cycle (yea make that make sense) anyway other then making the dry cycle inefficient. It means if you use the dry cycle only when the waterpump has failed your cloths will come out wetter then they started.

  Worse then that If you used the dry cycle and the water pump failed - there seems to be no maximum fill level sensor - so it will raise the waterlevel so high it cooks the dryer element, which we didnt find out until after we spent money to replace the failed pump.

  Anyway we gave in. And replaced it with
  https://tradedepot.co.nz/master-11kg-washer-10kg-dryer-combo…

  Which while 2 separate units are higher capacity far more efficient and about the same price total

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  Smolcheese on 14/07/2026 - 16:03

  I want to replace my current machine with a combination washer dryer so I can do a load of washing/drying while at work and one over night. It feels easier but haven't had the lived in experience.

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    LuvvaGreatDeals on 14/07/2026 - 20:20

    Yeah I was thinking how convenient it could be - but from the feedback above it seems like a no go.

    I value the opinions of cheapies members than other online site.

    Thanks for your contribution too :)

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    froggyruderose on 14/07/2026 - 21:02

    it's doable but it means you'll wash less stuff, and only the stuff that can tumble dry.
    If that's ok for you then it is convenient.

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  Karens Hate Winners on 15/07/2026 - 21:57

  I had a washer/dryer combo but didn't use the dryer function much. Ended up going back to a normal washer that is more efficient, with a dehumidifier (during winter). I prefer this because the dehumidifier keeps the house dry and warm in winter, in addition to drying the clothes of course.

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  LuvvaGreatDeals on 13/07/2026 - 19:42

  Thanks everyone for their thoughtful contributions.

  I'll leave the all-in-one washer/dryer and look ahead to other deals.

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