LG Mega Capacity Smart Wi-Fi Front Load Washer

We got ours on sale (“spring black friday”) at HomeDepot a month ago…it’s been a delight, and I researched it to h— and back before we bought it (there are some good reddit discussions but I’ll save you that with my experience + summary).

1. This combo unit is PERFECT, you never have to move wet laundry into a dryer!
2. Yes, it takes a little longer, but without having the be present to move stuff into a dryer, you probably save time 80% of the time (unless you’re sitting around waiting to swap it!)
3. App is GREAT and convenient. (I’m not an app guy, I don’t like my phone buzzing and beeping nonstop but here it’s really handy)

A few interface learning curves:
– the black panel on the right (looks like just a bunch of status lights) is ACTUALLY a touch screen….touch it to get different options to show up….
– app is a little funky at first – once the washer/dryer (w/d) is on, there’s a down-arrow you have to click (/tap) to change your function (i.e. wash/dry or AI Wash/Dry or Dry Only etc.)
– my other fav undisclosed feature is turning on ‘fresh care’ – basically, if your laundry finishes but you don’t unload it right away (and you don’t want a wrinkled mess) …it’ll keep turning on + off to keep it warm / not get over dry / not sit in one spot non-stop for (up to 19) hours … not sure if it’ll re-steam things a little but there are options of the whazoo for EVERYTHING, including that!

>>> This is where the App is really damn good for this <<<

You can customize / hide options you don’t want to use (or will never use) and put only the things in the pull-down list you WILL use. (love that!)

>>> IMPORTANT NOTES

> You can’t overload this puppy. If you fill it to the brim, it’ll wash fine (& nice and fast, done in an hour-ish) but DRYING will take MUCH LONGER.

> Our normal “larger” loads still get done, wash + dry, around 2:15 (yes 2.25 hours). A “normal” normal load will run 1:45 – 2 hours(ish).

(as it turns out, your ‘standard’ 5 cu foot washer it typically paired with a 6.5-7 Cu Ft dryer – that extra space helps a LOT for getting air in a big load and making it dry quickly!)

> Reddit reports seem to indicate that if you install this in a cold basement, it’ll take MUCH LONGER even for a small load to dry.

I think I know why…

– This guy is SUPER energy efficient!! We live in a rental with NO DRYER VENT. The heat stays entirely inside this guy and it uses about as much power as a hairdryer (or microwave)! It condenses moisture out of the hot air (what would normally be just blowing hot air outside non-stop for an hour+) and uses a small fridge compressor, along with a little cold water, to condense moisture out of the air and send it out the drain pipe.

– As you can see in our photo, I build a cabinet so we can fold laundry etc.

– I also have a drain pipe that dumps into our kitchen sink. (You need that 12″ of vertical pipe…when i first did this with a short vertical run, even with the standard 1″ drop per 1′ run…let’s just say that drain pump puts a little force behind the water! haha)

– My ONLY complaint is the lint catcher is accessed on TOP of the unit…so when I made our little “cabinet” I build it so the top, right near the front edge of our microwave, pivots up so we can access that/clean it out.

– This bugger is around 250 pounds, so it’s HEAVY! But so far it seems really well made…

I love refilling the soap dispenser (& not over-using soap!) =)

It’s super quiet, my girlfriend has a massage business in the room next to our kitchen, and when it’s running you can’t hear it next door.

Also, because it’s so energy efficient – the app tells you how much electricity you’ve used – I could hardly believe the ‘estimate’ for a year is $30 (!!) … in that regards this feels a little like an electric car, might spend a few extra $$ up front but assuming it lasts as long as it should it’ll pay off. Big time. 😉

So far, so good and I’ll update this as time goes on if we discover any other quirks / issues / oddities.

Oh, there is a tub clean thing you’re supposed to run every 30 or so loads – we just started our first on this front, takes around 2.5 hours (just put a little bleach in the bleach tray/holder/thingy… I know some front loader wash machines get funky if you don’t leave the door open (because of a little water left inside) – this thing, being a washer/dryer combo doesn’t seem to ever have that issue. So far, we’ve been leaving ours cracked a little (just to be safe) but it doesn’t smell or seem to have any trace of water left over, since it’s a combo unit and we always run the dryer as part of our load.

One other thing, the AI thing – might be a gimmick…I don’t see any difference between the “normal” wash/dry cycle vs AI. of the handful of times we’ve tried the AI it’s been fine, but once it thought (after “sensing” the load size) that it would be a 3.5 hour wash + dry time…which seemed ridiculous. Washing cycle was done in about 60 min (not a small load) but when I checked about 2 hours into the dry cycle it was all totally dry (except one tangled up towel)…so I yanked everything (slightly over-dried) and restarted the towel (1 towel!) and it was done (dry-only) in <30 min =)

The machine is seriously quiet, not bosch dishwasher quiet but wayyyy more quiet than you’d expect a washer (or dryer) to be! OH and the thing doesn’t produce mountains of lint…so I believe the drying function is way more gentle on clothing than other units. (Time will tell)

Overall 9.8 / 10 (for us …2 people, and she does her massage business sheets + towels 😉