(This review is for the
Silver model that I own - Amazon has not yet merged the reviews, so I'm cross-posting)
QUALITY
The build quality of this washer/dryer combo is inconsistent: On the plus side, the machine is heavy enough to stay put, and the drum feels so solid that you could wash bricks in it. Giving 10 years warranty on the motor is also a nice touch. On the other side, the entire front (including the secondary "glass" and shiny bezel around it) is made of plastic, the control panel gets hot (can't be good for the electronics), and I have observed kinks, such as a program starting in the middle maybe 1 out of 10 times, requiring an extra off/on.
THE WASHER
Front- loaders are only now making inroads in the US market, and if you believe "the internet", they are magical. I can confirm at least some of the claims in this specific incarnation: First, the washer is extremely frugal with all consumables involved: I'm down to 2 tablespoons of detergent and 1 of softener with no adverse effects; water is kept no higher than a puddle at all times, and the 1 hour cold cycle runs on a measly 0.1 kWh (or 3 cents for me). Second, the machine is easy on clothes: there are Delicate and Wool modes to give you an idea, plus I have successfully cleaned neoprene wetsuits (with special detergent), which are said to be shredded by agitators.
The major downside to the design is that the horizontal drum causes vibrations that many US homes cannot easily absorb. Consider my case, top floor of a pre-war walk- up, wood- based building: even on medium spin speed, the contents of the fridge next to the machine would rattle loudly, and I only saw some relief after I bought
Sorbothane Silent Feet. I'm fairly content now, but I still feel the machine should have better built-in vibration reduction, especially considering that LG is the company that showed off a washer operating on 4 glasses a few years ago!
THE DRYER
The dryer is the weaker part in this package. For starters, a full cycle runs for 4 hours (on top of the 1 hour wash), which makes this machine unsuitable for big family laundry days. There is no lint filter, so you'll have to pry things out of the seal afterwards, and one low-temp cycle eats up 1.5kWh (= $0.50), somewhat negating the overall efficiency advantage. And as if all that wasn't enough, I swear I see more wrinkles than before, with my Brooks Brothers "wrinkle free" shirts now coming out in MORE need of ironing than regular shirts!
Now all that said... if you can navigate around those issues (also see TIPS below), the advantage of the combo design begine to shine: all you have to do is drop in the dirties, set the timer, go to work, and come back to a readily washed- and- dried package! I've gotten used to doing this during the week, and found that I have more clean clothes available than before at any time, therefore donated some, AND gotten rid of my large dirty- laundry container! That was an unexpected triple- win in the space department for me, and worth the trade- offs.
OPERATION
I find this machine easy enough to use, although there is room for improvement. Basically, you go from left to right: fill in the detergents, pick a cycle (cotton is the default), pick options (extra water, etc), select a dry mode, and press play. What irks me a little is that selections cross- interfere: for example, the machine may override your just-picked spin speed when you select a dry mode. Also, some drying combinations are missing: you can do time (30, 60, 120), dryness (damp, normal, extra), or "low temp", but no other permutations. For my wool pants or dive suits, a delicate wash cycle followed by 30 mins of low- temp drying would have been perfect, but nope....
One nice feature worth mentioning: you can interrupt the program at any time, change any setting or open the door, and then resume. Even with the Extra Water option selected, nothing will pour out (like I said, frugal).
NOISE
This machine is specifically marketed as quiet, an important feature when you want to sell to urbanites who perhaps plan to sneak it into their apartment (usually forbidden) . And yes, the direct- drive motor is a winner: all you get is a gentle hum at normal wash speeds. However, there are two problems (three if you count vibration, above):
- The water inlet valves open/close/open/close/etc... up to six times each time water is added, and this triggered building- wide "water hammer" events in my case. I used to think that this, too, was my building's fault, but I found that many people experience this with LG machines even in new construction. Thankfully, there is a solution to it: so- called "water hammer arresters" like
this Sioux model help out a lot.
- The pump that gets the water out is loud. That being a vague qualifier, I ended up measuring it (we've all got issues!): washing or drying registers around 60dB, but when the pump comes on, the sound level jumps to 70dB. For comparison, these numbers happen to be the range of human conversation: it's like someone speaking very softly (60 dB), then suddenly borderline shouting (70 dB). This keeps happening during the 4- hour dry cycle as well, not just the washing.
TIPS
After a couple months of use, here are a few practical tips I'd like to pass on:
- Use powder instead of liquid detergent. You'll be able to do a pre- wash this way as well as use the timer feature. The softeners is ok in liquid form and won't drip down.
- To save on electricity and ease ironing, make sure you pick the fastest spin speed possible, then shorten the dry cycle. For business shirts or synthetics, I'm getting away with as little as 30 min drying time.
- To run the dry cycle by itself: select "drain and spin" on the knob, set your dry option, then unselect the spin speed - et voilà! - you can dry your clothes some more or use
Dryel sheets this way.
RECOMMENDATION
One the one hand, this is the best appliance I've ever purchased: space- saving, efficient, and a heavenly luxury compared to the alternative which is an inconvenient and pricey "wash and fold". If you're in a similar situation, I predict you'll absolutely love this machine for what it does to your routine. On the other hand, there are some considerable flaws, mostly the noise level, slow drying, and the vibration issue. Overall, if you actually have the space for two machines, a separate washer / dryer would be the safer bet.