The first thing to say is that if you don't need to combine the washer and drier for very practical reasons - ie space, then don't. Don't get me wrong, the AEG is a very well put together machine that does what it's supposed to do - wash and then dry your laundry. The problem is that it doesn't perform these combined tasks as well as single function machines.
A house move left us with little option but to get rid of our Bosch washer and Hotpoint drier and we opted for the AEG L16830 on the back of consumer recommendations. It looks good, it's easy to install, it's incredibly quiet on wash cycle, the controls are relatively user friendly and it washes pretty well. But........the drying cycle is very disappointing. You have to significantly reduce the load to get an adequate drying cycle and even this takes forever. Because of the extra time needed to finish the drying cycle, you lose that fresh smell that a quick burst in a stand alone drier seems to provide.
Looking in more detail at the washing programmes - you have a stain programme at 95 degs for the really grubby stuff, an economy programme and the customary settings for cottons, easy cares, delicates, wool/silk etc. There's a very useful delay timer set from 30 minutes to 23 hours. The machine also has a rinse hold feature to cut back on the creasing and a choice of four speeds for the spin cycle. The AEG also has a balance detection device to prevent vibration during spinning.
There are a couple of nice touches with the AEG's control panel including a sensitive setting which reduces the intensity of the wash and a time saver setting for lightly soiled items. You can also change a programme once the cycle has started using the pause facility. The machine comes with a three compartment drawer for detergent and fabric softeners.
There are various drying settings including iron dry, cupboard dry and extra dry, the latter on a pre-set time of 105 minutes at 1600rpm spin. However, we've found it necessary to repeat the dry cycle again for at least another sixty minutes before the autosensor kicks in....frankly pathetic compared with a stand alone drier.
In conclusion, we would not buy the AEG L16830 again but then I don't think we would buy any washer drier - they generally don't seem to be up to the job when it comes to the drying. That said, if you absolutely have no choice because of the accommodation then it does actually represent pretty good value. Just be prepared to do a lot of pegging out.
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Jun 23rd, 2007
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