Washer dryer or washing machine and tumble dryer: which is better?
By Lukas · Last checked:
If you're short of space, the washer dryer is the more convenient choice: one machine, no moving laundry across, in in the morning and dry in the evening. If you have room for two machines and do a lot of washing, a washing machine and heat pump dryer are better. They dry more at once and often use only half the electricity for drying, or less.
Space: one machine or two
A washer dryer fits exactly where the washing machine would otherwise go and needs the same connections. Two machines side by side need twice as much floor space.
It can be space-saving too, though: with a stacking kit you put the dryer on top of the washing machine, never the other way round. Then both only need the footprint of one washing machine, but room upwards. Without a kit, the dryer can slip during the spin cycle.
How much you can dry at once
A washer dryer usually washes 7 to 10 kg but only dries 4 to 6 kg. So a full wash load needs up to two drying cycles, or you hang the rest up. If you want to wash and dry in one go, only fill it a little over half.
A separate dryer, on the other hand, dries a full load at once. And while it's drying, the washing machine is already washing the next one.
Electricity and water
Drying makes the biggest difference. A heat pump dryer usually uses about 1 to 2 kWh for a full load. A washer dryer without a heat pump uses just over 2 kWh, and that for only 6 kg. So for the same laundry the heat pump dryer often uses only half the electricity, or less.
Many washer dryers also cool with tap water while drying. That's why they use more water than a washing machine and dryer together.
There are also washer dryers with a heat pump. They use less electricity and water, and at Stiftung Warentest one such model was the test winner in 2023.
Time: what's done faster
Compared with a clothes horse, both options save you time: with three loads a week, hanging up and taking down takes around half an hour a week according to my calculator.
Washing and drying in a washer dryer with a full load often take 8 hours or more. In the Konsument test, heat pump dryers needed just over 2 to just over 3 hours for a full load, plus the wash beforehand.
That needn't bother you, though: with the end-time function, the washer dryer starts so that it's finished when you get home. If you want to get through several loads in one day, two machines are faster.
“I have a Haier washer dryer and never want to be without one again. The laundry goes in in the morning, and when I get home from work it's washed and dried. I don't have to iron any more either: the i-Refresh steam programme freshens up the clothes, and above all they come out crease-free.”
Lukas, author of this siteWhat it costs
To buy, a washer dryer is often cheaper than a washing machine and dryer together. Drying, however, costs more electricity: with three loads a week at 37 cents per kWh, my calculator says it's just over €10 a month, at 30 cents just under €9.
A heat pump dryer would often manage the same laundry with half or less. According to Stiftung Warentest, the higher running costs can eat up a washer dryer's lower purchase price over the years.
- You wash several loads a day for a large family.
- You want to wash and dry full loads in one go.
- You have room for two machines, side by side or stacked, and want to use as little electricity and water as possible.
- You often need the laundry back quickly: washing and drying together usually take 8 hours or more.
- Evenly dried laundry is especially important to you: many washer dryers don't dry as well as a separate dryer.