The Best Washer-Dryer Combo (But We Don’t Recommend It)

If single-drum washer-dryer combos worked well, they’d be the ultimate laundry appliances. They take up less space than separate machines, and you don’t have to transfer clothes between them. But our stance hasn’t changed since we began covering washer-dryer combos in 2017: A combo is a great alternative to schlepping laundry to the laundromat, but the advantages end there, unless you have no other option.

Various companies have tried to make all-in-one laundry happen for decades (PDF), but the machines are still not popular. The washing aspect works fine. But drying in a combo machine, which uses a ventless heat-pump dryer, limits you to small loads that take a long time to dry.

There are a few reasons for this. First, most 120-volt combo machines can’t crank out as much heat as a typical 240-volt dryer. Second, these machines are typically ventless, and ventless dryers always take longer than vented ones. Third, although the drum capacity in these machines is about the same as a 24-inch washing machine, it’s usually only half the volume of a typical 24-inch dryer. Dryers need bigger drums so that clothes can tumble freely. In a drum this small, a full washer load is an overstuffed dryer load, and clothes will dry even more slowly.

You can’t wash new loads while you wait for the dryer, either, and that makes combos less efficient if you regularly wash multiple loads in the same day. (Historically, all-in-one machines have also had higher repair rates.) Because the heat pumps used in combos are expensive, there’s a good chance you won’t actually save any money purchasing one machine instead of two. (Though the Inflation Reduction Act’s appliance rebates, which are expected to roll out in late 2024 and can be applied to heat-pump dryers, could reduce the cost a bit.)

Chaim Shanet, a repair technician and owner of Mr. Appliance of Park Slope in Brooklyn, New York, services an area with many small apartments in mid-rise and high-rise buildings — a neighborhood where all-in-one combo units actually make sense. He said that even among his space-constrained clients, “people either love them or hate them. … There’s no middle ground.”

All of that said, the user reviews for all-in-one machines tend to be pretty good. Most of the reviews we read seemed to be written by people with little space but plenty of patience. We’ve also read a couple dozen reviews from people who live in small homes and don’t mind the long drying times of an all-in-one, because they find it easier than hang-drying.