What do you think of when you hear the word compact? A car, a makeup case? When I hear the word compact, I immediately think of laundry.
Compact laundry refers to 24 inch washers and dryers. This size is convenient for stacking in closets or placing side by side in a standard 24 inch kitchen cabinet. Almost all compact laundry is built and/or engineered in Europe.
This type of laundry has become popular because it allows you to place laundry upstairs close to the bedroom rather than going down to the basement. You can put it in the kitchen or in that spare closet. We will look at vented laundry in general and then look at the Samsung.
What Happened to Vented Laundry?
You may have noticed vented compact laundry does not have much selection. Currently, Samsung, Asko and Blomberg are the only companies offering vented compact laundry.
There are three reasons:
First, UL is requiring all dryers to hold a fire in the cabinet for 7 hours for approval. Many major companies including Bosch, Miele, GE, Whirlpool and Electrolux could not sell vented compact laundry.
Secondly, condensation or non-vented laundry has become more popular. Builders do not have to place holes in their buildings (it can cost up to $1,100 for each hole) or add the vent to the HVAC load.
You can easily make any room a laundry room with some power and water. Venting becomes a tougher challenge especially on inside walls. Vented dryers perform better and don’t require as high a spin speed as the condensation.
Third, many of the European companies are investing in compressor or heat pump technology. It does not draw room air from the room and is 50% more efficient than the other options.
But let's not get way ahead of ourselves. Heat pump laundry are 3-7 years away.
Today we are going take a look at Samsung’s vented compact laundry, but let’s look at Samsung first.
Samsung Compact Laundry
Samsung is a South Korean based company that began 75 years ago; they are known for their use of the latest technologies, and for producing innovative products. Samsung has made a huge impact on the South Korean economy, and are best known for the manufacturing of electronics. The appliance division is a small part of this large conglomerate.
A tip for buying a Samsung product: They always promote around holidays. You can usually buy products at a better price during promotional sales on President's Day, Memorial Day, Labor Day, July 4th, and Black Friday.
They are also the fastest growing appliance company. Their compact laundry have been around for awhile. Maytag used to source their compact laundry from Samsung over 15 years ago. Let's look at the products.
Samsung Washer WW22K6800AW - $1,099
Features:
- 2.2 cu. ft. Capacity
- Super Speed (cuts washing time by 30%)
- Steam Washer
- 12 Wash Cycles / 5 Specialty Cycles
- Quick Wash
- 5 Temp Settings
- 5 Soil Levels
- 5 Spin Settings
- Child lock
- 1400 RPM
Highlights
The washer has several impressive features. It is the first compact washer that releases steam from the bottom of the laundry tub (not top), which saturates every item in the load.
It has SuperSpeed which can complete a full wash cycle in 40 minutes. Lastly, Samsung features SmartCare. It Interacts with your washer and dryer to perform an immediate diagnosis and offers a quick solution to potential issues.
Samsung Dryer DV22K6800EW - $1,099
Features:
- 4.0 cu. ft. Capacity
- 4-Way Venting
- Sensor Dry
- 8 Options
- Stainless Steel Drum
- 12 Drying Cycles
- 5 Temperature Settings
- Drum Light
- Lint Filter Indicator
- Reversible Door
Highlights
The dryer will also be one of the largest at 4.0 cubic feet; it also offers a reversible door to match the washer.
Samsung offers a Sensor Dry, which provides a drying cycle optimizing time and temperature to dry clothes thoroughly.
Samsung also offers moisture sensors detecting when laundry has reached its optimal degree of dryness. Then again, most dryers are sensor driven.
Final Thoughts
Samsung should dominate the vented laundry market, due to lack of other choices. Blomberg is an unknown, less expensive with less features brand and Asko is too expensive. It will be interesting to see if the other companies can produce UL compliant equipment.
However, non-vented dryers will still be more popular. Builders in multi-family will still save money and aggravation. Most people use non-vented just because it is easier.
Lastly, heat pump laundry is around the corner, so vented laundry may have had its day.
Additional Resources
Need some information about compact laundry? Get the Yale Compact Laundry Guide. It is totally dedicated to compact laundry with features, analysis of vented, non vented an heat pump options plus detailed profiles of all the major brands. Well over 160,000 people have read a Yale Guide.
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