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Keeping your clothes clean is something of a science, with all of the washing machines and tumble dryers on offer claiming to out-perform other washing equipment on the market. While each brand attempts to win and keep your loyalty, there’s an important decision to make before you get make a decision on what you should get: will your best buy be a washing machine and a separate tumble dryer, or a combination washer dryer that does both jobs in one unit? It turns out that they both have their pros and cons, so find out more about the washer dryer debate before you make a purchase.

How do washer dryers work?

Photo: Indesit

This kind of washing equipment works using water condensers. After the washing process is completed, the washer dryer’s ‘frosty water condenser’ gets to work on the humid air in the drum to create a dryer environment. This air circulates through a plastic compartment where the cooling takes place through contact with a mist of cool water, which causes condensation, taking the water out of the air and into the same drain that removes washing water. What remains to circulate into the drum is warm, dry air, perfect for drying clothes.

Convenience

It might seem obvious that the more convenient option for keeping your clothes clean is the washer dryer. It takes up less space than a washing machine and a tumble dryer would, and there’s no transfer of damp laundry between two appliances. However, it’s a good idea to consider the fact that with a washer and a dryer, you can have both working at the same time, and that when you have a lot of laundry to do, this could get it done twice as fast. This means that you should consider how heavy your laundry loads usually are before investing in a washer dryer.

Drum size

Photo: Indesit

When considering kinds of washing equipment, the efficiency of the products will probably be the buyer’s main concern, and that’s where drum size comes in. A tumble dryer generally needs a larger drum to dry the same amount of clothes that a washing machine cleans in a smaller space, so trying to wash and dry while keeping your clothes in the same place can be a difficult option. The solution to this will often have to be to remove some clothes between the washing and drying processes, tumble drying them in two parts.

And the winner is…

Washer dryers lose points for being less energy efficient, not allowing as effective a drying process as tumble dryers, and possibly lengthening laundry time. They do have good points, however, not least of which is the amount of space saved and that added bonus of not having to transfer laundry between them. The verdict? In general, it’s better to go for a separate washing machine and a tumble dryer, but if your needs make a washer dryer combination an option, then you’re unlikely to encounter any real problems.

Tags: washer dryer, washing machine