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A washer and dryer in one sounds almost too good to be true. We find out if they live up to the promise of laundry utopia by seeing how well they work, putting their washing AND drying performance to the test in our labs.
Through our rigorous testing we reveal which models:
Our Recommended list will help you see quickly which washer/dryer combos come out on top.
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List of brands we tested in this review.
Recommended or average retail, as of February 2018.
enter value/s in increments of 1 between 1199 and 3999
CHOICE recommends currently available washer dryer combos that score at least 70% overall, 75% for wash performance and 55% for drying performance.
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The claimed capacity of a washer/dryer. We find people rarely fill their washer with a full load, so base your decision on how heavy your common load is. Weigh it on your scales. Note that the dryer component is less than the washing capacity in all machines, from 50% up to 80% of the washer capacity.
enter value/s in increments of 1 between 5.5 and 16
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'Delay time' or 'time delay' is a feature that lets you program the wash to start at a specific time in the future. Consumers who are on off-peak energy can take advantage of this feature.
Designed for lightly soiled and/or small loads, a fast-wash option reduces the length of the selected program or is a faster cycle in itself. How fast is fast varies from machine to machine – as does the terminology. You might see it referred to as "fast", "quick", "rapid" or something else. Some machines also offer temperature variations in conjunction with faster washes. If this is a feature you're likely to use, be sure to clarify with sales staff how fast is fast – and what it's called.
Some machines have an extra-gentle wash cycle for garments labelled as only suitable for handwashing – including woollens, silk and cashmere. The program uses different washing actions such as less water.
Most front loaders allow you to pause the wash in the first moments of pushing the start button, but after water gets to the door, its a no go unless you cancel the wash and start again.
An extra rinse feature can be useful if your wash hasn't removed all the detergent, leaving white marks behind. Some washers have it as an extra run added to the end of a program, or as a simple single run (rinse and spin) once the primary program is finished. Some can also either do a spray rinse only (water saving) or a deep rinse. If you have sensitive skin and find the detergent you use is causing a reaction, try changing or using less of your detergent, or adding an extra rinse.
The machine we use to measure this (a spectrophotometer) is more accurate than the human eye; differences of about 6% are visible.
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This is a measure of how well the machines keep the dirt suspended in the water rather than depositing it back on the clothes, and how well they rinse out the detergent. We add a marker chemical to the wash, and after the cycle is finished we take a sample of the water remaining in the clothes to determine the amount of chemical that's left – the less there is, the better the rinse.
To check for fabric wear, we attach swatches of easily frayed fabric to the garments in each load. The area of the swatch is measured before and after the wash – the less fraying, the gentler we assess the machine to be and the higher the score we give.
The test load is weighed before and after each wash. The higher the score, the more water that's removed, which means the washing takes less time to dry. We use the maximum spin speed (some machines let you vary the speed).
The drying performance score is made up of energy efficiency (40%), drying time (40%) and ease of use (20%).
Manufacturers have to declare how many litres of water are used per wash cycle of a dishwasher or washing machine, per drying cycle of a washer/dryer or condenser dryer, per minute for a tap, or per full and half flush for a toilet. A WELS water star rating is derived from this. The water use and the star rating are displayed on the product's WELS label.
enter value/s in increments of 1 between 4 and 4.5
Energy star rating based on a formula that incorporates the energy used per wash and the claimed capacity of the machine in kg.
enter value/s in increments of 1 between 3.5 and 4
Energy star rating based on a formula that incorporates the energy used per dry and the claimed capacity of the machine in kg.
enter value/s in increments of 1 between 1.5 and 4
A Similar model is identical in most aspects except for a few. This means that a majority of its test results are identical so you can reasonably expect to get the same results from the model we tested, but for those aspects which aren't identical, we'll note these as "Not Tested" in the Compare tables.
A Tested model refers to a model that is still current and available in the Australian market. You should be able to order this model through your local retailer, or find it online.
These models can't be found in retailers or online or are no longer manufactured. You may still find these models on second hand websites, or in second hand dealers. Test methods may change over time, so criteria which can't be directly compared will contain an N/A.
An Identical model is exactly that. Performance characteristics will be identical and the only difference will be something trivial such as colour, which won't have an impact on performance.
These are models we haven't yet tested but that are available.
The wash performance score is made up of dirt removal (40%), rinse performance (20%), gentleness (15%), water efficiency (15%) and spin efficiency (10%).
This is an estimate of how much it will cost for water and electricity over 10 years if you wash the equivalent of one load every day using a normal cycle and do a drying cycle three times a week, based on 30 cents per kWh of electricity and $2 per 1000L for water. Some machines still draw power when the machine is connected to a power source but not in use, so switch off the machine at the power point when not in use. The running costs don't include detergent, which is the largest ongoing cost of running a washing machine.
