Combo washer dryer

The boat we are in the process of buying used to have a washer/dryer combo but that was taken out by one of the previous owners. The space and plumbing is still there.

Seeing that it has been almost 20 years since the original w/d combo was installed I assume that they have (maybe) gotten better. Before I use the space for something else does anyone have any insight, comments, experience using the newer w/d combinations? Are they worth putting back into the boat?

The weekly trip to the laundromat gets old quick, especially in lousy weather (and I am lazy).

Thanks

We have one . Wouldn't live without it. I would put a new unit in.

If you have room? We put in front loader stacking units

Ted

Don't have room for stackables, that would be my first choice. Only have room for a combo type.

If that's the case get a vented one. Having a w/d on board is so nice!

I would second the vented one. As I recall, there was a thread sometime back where the same issue came up and several commented that the dyer was much more effective in the vented unit.

We have a 10 year old Splendide combo. The vented unit. This is a 110v unit and we love it. Used almost daily. As with any combo unit to dry clothes you need to remove half of a full load of wash. This is a matter of physics. A wash load can fill the tub, a dry load must leave half the tub empty. With separate units this is accomplished by having a larger tub for the dryer.

A 110v dryer takes a long time. Some folks like 220v units. On most North American boats this means running the generator (or shore power) for both the wash and dry cycles. A lot of generator run time.

With our 110 volt unit we can run the wash cycle on the inverter. This is a real benefit for us. The combo unit wash cycle runs from 60 minutes to 80 minutes depending on whether we run the express or regular cycle.

Water usage is another issue. The regular cycle uses 11 US gallons of water. Less for the express cycle.

"Seeing that it has been almost 20 years since the original w/d combo was installed I assume that they have (maybe) gotten better"

The hassle is weather you are dockside and can provide dryer power for hours on end.

20 years has not changed the amount of energy that is required to evaporate water.

Washing underway with a line drying would be fine , its done all over Euroland on family working boats.

Bay Pelican said:

We have a 10 year old Splendide combo. The vented unit. This is a 110v unit and we love it. Used almost daily. As with any combo unit to dry clothes you need to remove half of a full load of wash. This is a matter of physics. A wash load can fill the tub, a dry load must leave half the tub empty. With separate units this is accomplished by having a larger tub for the dryer.

A 110v dryer takes a long time. Some folks like 220v units. On most North American boats this means running the generator (or shore power) for both the wash and dry cycles. A lot of generator run time.

With our 110 volt unit we can run the wash cycle on the inverter. This is a real benefit for us. The combo unit wash cycle runs from 60 minutes to 80 minutes depending on whether we run the express or regular cycle.

Water usage is another issue. The regular cycle uses 11 US gallons of water. Less for the express cycle.

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What he said. We have the Splendide 2100XC vented model and love it. We use the dryer a lot in winter time just to dry towels after showering. 20 minutes and they're dry. For wet heavy stuff the dryer sucks for the most part but you get use to it. For $1,000, it's worth every penny.

We were fortunate to have stacking Maytag units, 240v, so we got drying performance just like at home in a smaller package. Cruising and living full time on moorings and anchor for long periods of time, we simply combined our laundry use time with things like cooking, charging batteries, dishwasher... that is, during the morning and evening generator time.

Larry M said:

What he said. We have the Splendide 2100XC vented model and love it. We use the dryer a lot in winter time just to dry towels after showering. 20 minutes and they're dry. For wet heavy stuff the dryer sucks for the most part but you get use to it. For $1,000, it's worth every penny.

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Us too. In fact doing a load now

If you want to look at a faster, although more expensive unit, than Splendide, then Miele is worth looking at. If you have the space and place to install it, then I'd go to some form of traditional stackable units.

Regardless, even the Splendide is so far superior to the option of lugging laundry all around. If typically it was just the two of us, one would be more than adequate and they're great machines.

Larry M said:

What he said. We have the Splendide 2100XC vented model and love it. We use the dryer a lot in winter time just to dry towels after showering. 20 minutes and they're dry. For wet heavy stuff the dryer sucks for the most part but you get use to it. For $1,000, it's worth every penny.

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Have one on my boat and am very happy with it.

Trick to boat laundry is think about whether there is a load to do every time you have an extended run on the generator. As soon as you plug in shore power, do laundry. It's a different mind set from living in a house.

Ted

O C Diver said:

Have one on my boat and am very happy with it.

Trick to boat laundry is think about whether there is a load to do every time you have an extended run on the generator. As soon as you plug in shore power, do laundry. It's a different mind set from living in a house.

Ted

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So true. Don't let it pile up. We're doing the canals right now and do a load of laundry along the way most days plus one at night. Frequent small loads. Makes sorting simpler. The key to the Splendide from the little bit of time we used ours was simply not to overload. The lack of speed with most boaters will not be a problem. It's not as if there is any work for you to do while it washes and dries. Actually less work in a combo unit than traditional, just takes longer. However, the time it takes really is inconsequential.

I'll post this once again as a helpful tip to those of you with Splendide washer/dryers. We have one and use it frequently as we live aboard. One time, a little piece of clothing didn't make it all the way through the door when loading the machine. The door closed on it and we started the wash cycle unaware of the stuck piece of clothing. All was well until the level of the water reached the door seal and began leaking out.

We had a bit of a flood before we noticed it. We immediately stopped the machine however the water kept leaking out. Since the machine was stopped mid-cycle, the door was locked and could not be opened. The manual was handy but there was no mention about this kind of incident.

We called Splendide and were lucky enough to get a tech on the phone immediately. Now, should you ever need to open the door mid-cycle, here's what to do;
Remove the kick plate at the bottom of the machine--it pulls off. On the right hand side you will see a string hanging down. Pull the string down and the door will unlock. Suggest you file this away in your Murphy's Law book.

another tip for spledide's. If yours stops drying and the leds flash rapidly, you have to clean out the bellows. A real pain too. It's the rubber air tube that goes from the bucket to the back panel and because its a bellows type of tube it traps lint.

Always, always use liquid soap. dry soap powders sometimes dont dissolve and aggravates the lint build up.

Other than a vented dryer would work faster, are there any other advantages? I was hoping not to have to put yet another hole in my boat...

I have a Spledide 4 year old non-vented dryer in a cabinet of my AT34.
Do I like it? Wellll, it is better than hand washing or a 10 mile round trip to the laundromat.
Usually, even using the max drying setting, I need about 10 mins of 'hanging time,' especially if it involves towels (2 bath towels and a hand towel) Depending upon the other load sizes, it usually needs some "hanging time".
Per sheets, one sheet and 2 pillow cases. That means 2 loads to wash a set of sheets and 4 pillow cases plus "hanging time."
Of course, one needs to get use to wearing wrinkled clothes too.
Hind-sight, I should have installed a vented Spledide and vented it (a 2 ft run) into the cockpit. I'll let the next owner tackle that.
On my N46, I had a vented Spledide. It was obvious there was an ongoing problem with lint build up in the exhaust vent.

I am very happy with my Splendide vented, which I have had for four months of almost daily use.
Best,
Maldwin

BillZe said:

Other than a vented dryer would work faster, are there any other advantages? I was hoping not to have to put yet another hole in my boat...

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That's the reason for vented. A second thing is removing the hot humid air.

Well worth putting the hole in the boat. Unless you are in the Tropics where almost no one uses a dryer to dry clothes on a trawler. In any North American situation the vented dryer is a real plus.

Bay Pelican said:

Well worth putting the hole in the boat. Unless you are in the Tropics where almost no one uses a dryer to dry clothes on a trawler. In any North American situation the vented dryer is a real plus.

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Could you explain the Tropics. It would seem like it would be even more beneficial there.

BandB said:

Could you explain the Tropics. It would seem like it would be even more beneficial there.

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When I chartered in the tropics we called the boat Gypsy Princess cos our laundry was hanging out on a line every day.

The non vented combo units work fine. The only negative is they take longer to dry.


They don't add any hot humid air to the boat. It operates as a sealed unit by condensing the moisture and collecting it. You just have to manually empty the built in water tank after every second load or so. (a 30 second job)

Alaskan Sea-Duction said:

Us too. In fact doing a load now

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Yes, what they all said.

We had a combo unit on our other boat and hated it. The PO had cut a hole in the hull and vented it.
You could only wash a couple of things at a time and it took forever and yes, everything came out very wrinkly.
We took it off the boat and sold it and had that vent hole glassed over.

Full-time cruisers with a Splendide vented. It works great, although as others have pointed out, it has its limitations. It takes about 2-1/2 hrs for a full load start to finish and yes, if you pack it, it's gonna be wrinkled, but stuff always very clean. But we use it pretty regularly. If there's a laundromat handy, we'll do that, but absent that, it's great to have aboard. A non-vented was never an option, heard too many cautions against using one. Running a load of wash with the genset and watermaker running, we gain a bit on the water, so it works out very well for us. Wash done, batteries charged, end up with more water than we started with. Couple times a week and wash is well managed.

AusCan said:

The non vented combo units work fine. The only negative is they take longer to dry.


They don't add any hot humid air to the boat. It operates as a sealed unit by condensing the moisture and collecting it. You just have to manually empty the built in water tank after every second load or so. (a 30 second job)

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Where is this built in water tank?
Bottom lower right?

Star0210 said:

We had a combo unit on our other boat and hated it. The PO had cut a hole in the hull and vented it.
You could only wash a couple of things at a time and it took forever and yes, everything came out very wrinkly.
We took it off the boat and sold it and had that vent hole glassed over.

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Yes to all, however when you are cruising and you stop at a marina and they charge $5 per wash load and $6 for drying, a little wrinkles are no big deal. Besides you can only turn your whitey tighties inside out just so many times.

We have the vented model and the only drawback is lint. You MUST clean the vent hose annually or more.

AusCan said:

The non vented combo units work fine. The only negative is they take longer to dry.

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Wifey B: That can be a substantial negative though. Can't go around wearing wet clothes. Seriously, it impacts how many clothes and how fast you can wash. Can't start load two until load one is done.

I know Splendide is the most popular combo unit for boats and RV's, but one should consider others too as when we compared, there were other brands that were faster or could handle more volume. When we first looked all we found was Miele and they no longer offer it, but now nearly every brand seems to.