Washer dryer filling weight
One of the biggest disadvantages of a combined washer and dryer is the fill weight. This is because the maximum kg fill weight for washing and drying is different, so you always have to dry some of your laundry in an alternative way. The other option is that you always wash less than the maximum fill weight can handle, wasting more water and electricity than necessary. If the wash weight is 8 kg and you choose to wash only 6 kg because it is more convenient, you are not using the full capacity of your washer-dryer. On this page you’ll find everything you need to know about the fill weight of a washer-dryer.
Washing weight
Choose a washer dryer combo with enough wash weight.
The wash weight of a washer-dryer indicates how many kilograms of laundry you can put in the drum without affecting the quality of the wash. Do you put more laundry in the drum than the maximum wash weight allows? Then you run the risk of not getting your laundry clean. There is not enough room left in the drum for all the detergent and water to go around, so the result will not be optimal.
In addition, a full drum is never good for your clothes. When everything is pressed too tightly together, there is a chance that your clothes will wear out faster. On average, the wash weight for a washer-dryer is between 7 kg and 10 kg, the most common being 8 kg.
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Drying weight
As mentioned before, the fill weight for drying is always lower than for washing. You should take into account that you can use between 50% and 75% of the wash load for drying. So the fill weight for drying is always lower than the fill weight for washing.
For example, a 10kg combined washer-dryer will have about 7kg left over for drying and with a 9kg load only 6kg. Small combined washer-dryers barely keep any dry filling weight left, sometimes you can put only 4 kg in the drum.
If you put more laundry in the dryer than the maximum fill weight indicates, you run the risk that not everything will dry properly. This is because there must always be enough space left in the drum for the hot air to be blown through your clothes.
How many kg fill weight do I need
There is a general scheme that indicates how many kg of fill weight you need for households of a certain size:
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At least 6 kg
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8 or 9 kg
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9 kg or more
Exceptions
For most households these figures are correct, but there are certainly exceptions. Think, for example, of a household that does a lot of sports; that automatically means more laundry. Also households with young children wash more than average. Finally, there are specific cases, for example when someone is allergic to dust mites and needs to wash bedding and/or curtains more often.
So always think carefully about what washing and drying needs you have. 6 kg fill weight may not be enough for a household of 1 person if you have a lot of laundry.
Look at the reviews
If you want to know if a washer-dryer combination is suitable for your household, you can always look at customer reviews. Online stores often have space to review a product and that often includes how big the customer’s household is.
Load sensor
Are you buying a washer-dryer that has a larger fill weight than is recommended for the size of your household? Then pay attention to whether it has a load sensor. This adjusts the program duration and water consumption per cycle to the amount of laundry that is run. This way you wash economically and you can be sure that you do not use more water and energy than necessary.
Solutions for the low fill weight of washer dryer combos
What if your washer-dryer has a 9kg capacity for washing and only 6kg for drying? You always have to find an alternative way to dry the remaining 3 kg of your laundry. This has several disadvantages.
- First of all, you can dry some of it on a rack. Some garments cannot be put in the dryer anyway because they will get smaller or otherwise damaged. For this, you do need to take some time after the wash cycle to sort everything out again.\
- You can also choose to wash less laundry so that you can wash and dry everything nonstop. The disadvantage of this, however, is that you don’t use the capacity of your washer-dryer combination optimally and use more water and energy than necessary.
