[comfused]

Hi there,

We live in Gloucestershire and were unfortunate victims of the recent floods. Thankfully not as bad as some but enough to wreck a perfectly good selection of white goods.

I gave our old Hotpoint WD63 washer dryer a few days to dry out before giving it a try and it managed about 15 seconds of a cycle before dying with a pop and tripping the circuit breakers. It hasn't worked since. Frankly, I'm glad to see the back of it as its plagued us with leaks from day 1. The irony wasn't lost on us that it met its end at the hands of a real flood as opposed to the puddles it spent much of its life standing in.

Anyway, to get to the point: We are obviously in need of a replacement and after my last poor choice, I thought it might be an idea to ask someone (anyone) who actually knows something about these things.

We don't have anywhere to put a dryer so we're after a Washer Dryer again, it would be nice to have a timer and for it to be as quiet as possible. Cycle time is apparently an issue but I understand that all modern Washer Dryers (and Washing Machines) take an age to complete a cycle - something to do with cold supplies only? Budget is £500 - £600. We can stretch a bit but not to a Miele!

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

[Washerhelp]

Hello and welcome. The irony that it met its end at the hands of a real flood as opposed to the puddles it spent much of its life standing in made me laugh - thanks for that

If I was buying a washer dryer with that budget I would look at Siemens or AEG Electrolux. John Lewis do the AEG Electrolux L16830 (currently) at £479 with a 2 year guarantee. It's got a delay start and it also has a 7Kg drum which increases the amount you can tumble dry (A large drum is much more useful in a washer dryer because you can normally only dry half the wash capacity). Unfortunately it was temporarily out of stock when I checked online although it may be in some stores. This could be due to a rush on them after Which? gave it a Best buy award. The only negative thing they said about it was that it was poor at rinsing but they seem to say that about most washing machines except some even get a "very poor". I find this bizarre as the washing machines often have AAA awards.

The Which? test must be pretty tough - even the Miele WT2670 costing £1000 is a Best Buy - but "poor at rinsing". Frankly I think it's letting Which? down having all these Best Buy washing machines that are allegedly "poor on rinsing" because in my book, if a washing machine is poor at rinsing it shouldn't be a Best Buy - even if that means there are no washing machines that can currently earn the Best Buy status. If Which? Best Buys literally just mean that they are the "best" of what is available - even if they are still not up to standards then Which? should surely make this clear. Frankly, I feel it undermines the credibility of a Best Buy award if one of the caveats is that the product doesn't perform to acceptable standards on an important area.

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[comfused]

Thanks for the reply and recommendation.

We've ordered the AEG Electrolux L16830 from John Lewis now they have them back in stock. I'll keep an eye out for the rinsing performance but if Which? are reporting pretty much all machines as "poor" I'm not too worried!

If there is a problem, let's just hope it's limited to the drum only and not an attempt to rinse the floor as well as the last machine did on a regular basis...

[Washerhelp]

Thanks, please post a review or at least your impressions in the AEG forum when you've had chance to evaluate it.