Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Although I purchased this unit from another source, I wanted to leave a review here because many folks look at Amazon for reviews even if they decided to purchase a product elsewhere. First, you should know I use a manual wheelchair full-time for mobility AND I am short-statured. Every place I've lived that has had laundry facilities in the unit has provided top-loading washers. In the house I'm renting now, the top-loading washer and dryer were installed in two closets, five feet apart. You should also note this washer and dryer were older units that had the controls on a panel on the back edge of each unit. This made doing laundry a real issue for me. To remove the clothes from the washer, I had to use a pair of tongs (one item at a time), then transfer the damp clothes to the dryer on my lap. Back and forth, back and forth, over and over again. Because I couldn't reach the controls, I had to stand up on my wheelchair footrest and s-t-r-e-t-c-h my arm as far as possible to set the dials. I've had to do laundry this way for most of my adult life (well over a couple of decades). Finally I had enough. I had been aware of these all-in-one washer/dryer units for many years; they are quite popular in Europe where living spaces are usually much smaller and don't have a separate "laundry room," hence these units are often installed under the counter in the kitchen. I still can't quite figure out why these units haven't caught on here in the US. Until recently, I simply could not afford to purchase a unit of this type. Reviews on the LG WM3477HW are mixed; some people love them, and some do not. The most frequent complaint seems to be that the clothes do not dry sufficiently. Since my house is very small with no place to hang damp clothing should it not dry completely in the unit, this was a concern prior to my making the purchase. But ultimately I decided the many benefits of the unit (should it work the way I hoped) was worth the risk. I am now happy to report this is one of the BEST buying decisions I have ever made! Clothing is obviously cleaner when I wash it in this machine, and it is perfectly dry at the end of the cycle. IF you are the type of person for whom reading user's manuals is anathema, then you likely are going to be disappointed with this appliance. I suspect many of those who claim the clothes do not dry sufficiently are simply not setting the machine correctly for the load. To get the best performance, you must follow the directions in the manual vis-à-vis type of load, water temperature, spin time, and drying. Drying is NOT part of the default settings for any load type (drying is an option only) and thus the unit will not go through the dry cycle AT ALL unless you specifically set it to do so. Because there are many different settings (and combinations of settings) available on this machine, I strongly recommend downloading the .pdf of the user's manual from LG's website, then printing out the pages referencing the various settings. Keep it near the machine to refer to for the first few weeks while you are learning the machine's capabilities. I cannot tell you how much I am enjoying this machine. Previously, the top-loading washers I'd been forced to use put a lot of strain on my body (because there was so much physical effort involved in setting them, unloading them, and moving the load from one unit to the other), and as I'm getting older, the long-term effects of that strain were becoming apparent. If you purchase the LG WM3477HW washer/dryer combo, and are willing to take the time to not only read the manual, but use it as a reference as you're learning the settings and capabilities of the machine, I think you will be quite happy with its performance. I enthusiastically give this machine my highest recommendation! Update 12/28/2015 I've been using the LG WM3477HW washer/dryer combo unit for almost a full year now, and am updating my review. I still love it! However, this unit may not be for everyone. Take the following into consideration in your decision whether to purchase the LG WM3477HW 1. How often do you typically do laundry? If you're a "wait until there's nothing clean left to wear" type, this unit may frustrate you because you can only do one wash/dry load at a time, instead of having one load wash while another dries (if you have a separate washer/dryer). I've gotten in the habit of doing a small load every other day or so, which means my hamper never gets full and most of my clothing is clean all the time. 2. How large is your family? I'm referring here to not only the number of family members, but also their size. This unit calculates the **weight** of the items being washed, and the time it takes to complete a full wash/dry cycle is determined by the weight of the load. Larger clothes = more fabric = more weight = longer cycle times and more loads to wash/dry. Although the details of this unit refer to the capacity of the unit in terms of cubic feet, that's deceiving because it's the weight of the load upon which the unit bases the amount of water needed and the length of the cycles. For example, 10 yards of denim and 10 yards of polyester chiffon will take up about the same amount of space in the unit, but 10 yards of denim weighs a LOT more than the chiffon, and thus the amount of water and time needed to wash and dry the denim will be considerably more than if you were washing/drying ten yards of poly chiffon. When you load the items into the unit, shut the door, and set the cycle types, the drum will begin slowly rocking from side to side - it is weighing the load. You'll hear the door lock engage, and then the amount of time the full cycle will take will be displayed on the screen. This time displayed is the MOST amount of time the cycle will take, based on the load weight, but because the unit has sensors which check the moisture content of the load continuously during the dry cycle, the unit can [and often does] adjust the amount of time left to completion while it's drying. (In my experience, it usually adjusts to reflect less time, not more). 3. What type of clothing does your main wardrobe consist of? If your staple wardrobe consists of mostly of heavyweight denim jeans and heavy fleece sweatshirts/hoodies, these items weigh more than, let's say, dress skirts and pants, and silky blouses and tops. Thus, you can wash fewer of those items per load. 4. You are NOT going to be able to wash a comforter in this unit. The easiest solution to that problem is to either launder your comforter at a laundromat OR switch to a duvet and duvet cover. Duvet covers can be easily washed in the unit (and you'll probably clean it more frequently than you would a comforter anyway). These combination washer/dryer units are very popular in Europe (smaller living spaces, you know), and Europeans use duvets, not comforters, due to the smaller size of these combination machines. Some reviewers of this unit have mentioned loads do not dry completely. I have only encountered this when leaving items in the unit past the time the cycle finishes (i.e., overnight). Once the wash/dry cycles are complete, the unit will continue to periodically turn to keep the clothes dry and prevent wrinkles from setting in, for a period of four hours after the end of the dry cycle. Leaving the items in the unit past the four hour time period causes condensation and the clothes will then be damp when you remove them. Use the timer function so that you'll be able to remove items from the unit promptly when they're dry. Furthermore, I've discovered it's not a good idea to mix light and heavyweight items in the same load. I've had the habit of occasionally tossing in a towel with my clothes, and when I do, the dry cycle ends when the clothing is dry - but the towel is still quite damp! I think this is a feature, not a bug - overdrying fabric weakens the fibers and over time, causes the fabric to be more prone to rips and tears. I believe the unit's sensor ends the dry cycle when the lighter weight items are dry to prevent overdrying. To resolve that issue, you may either ensure you're washing items of similar weight together, OR after removing the lighter, already-dry items, reset the machine to continue drying any items that are still damp. (Press the On/Off button, set the dryer knob to the appropriate setting [i.e., "Normal," "30 minutes," etc.], press the Spin Cycle button to select No Spin, then press the Start/Pause button). The ONLY complaint I have about this unit is it is not possible to add liquid chlorine bleach to a load. All in all, I still love this machine and wish I could have bought it years ago. It has made my life so much easier, and my clothes are much cleaner than they were when I had a conventional, top-loading machine and separate dryer.