[rsynnott]

Really depends on how expensive your electricity is; a modern heat pump dryer consumes about 1kWh to dry an 8kg load, vs 2-3kWh for either vented or conventional condenser. Though, also depends on what's available to you and at what cost; my impression is that decent heat pump dryers are still very expensive in the US. My fairly high end Bosch one cost about 550eur this year; looking at Bosch's US website the roughly equivalent US model seems to cost $1500, somehow. That's around what they cost here 10-15 years ago.

The other advantage of heat pump dryers is that they operate at lower temperatures than the other types (so damage clothes less); on the negative side, they're slower.

[seanmcdirmid]

Electricity is cheap here, 12 cents/KwH. I more liked the not ruining clothes aspect and not using the vent means I can get the unit closer to the wall. But I was worried about the smell complaints, my wife is really strict on that, also we have a combo so we can’t pipeline loads anymore. The drawback is that only Samsung makes a vented combo, an Samsung doesn’t have the best reputation. Heat pump was cheaper than vented in a combo at least, but only by 1-2 hundred bucks.

[rsynnott]

Ah, right. After having had a washer-dryer for about 15 years (they're very common in apartments and small houses in Ireland), would never have one again; when the existing one finally died I replaced with a separate washer and dryer.

I'm somewhat surprised anyone makes a vented washer-dryer at all.

[seanmcdirmid]

I really like the extra space and not needing to transfer clothes when drying. To each their own though. Only Samsung is making a vented combo so far, and it’s a beast to install and drag up three stories of stairs.

[account42]

How much useful extra space do you really get? You can stack separate washers and dryers on top of each other without issues.

[dragonwriter]

> How much useful extra space do you really get? You can stack separate washers and dryers on top of each other without issues.

Stacking still takes up usable space; in rooms designed for unstacked washers and/or dryers the space above is frequently used for cabinets

[seanmcdirmid]

Enough space for me, but you are right stacking would provide similar benefits. Don’t undervalue not needing to transfer clothes to your drier, and you never have to worry about mold and mildew in your washer.