Breezer, I would prefer a tumble dryer but the combined machine is the only practical solution - we need to dry cotton nappies every day and don't have the space for a separate dryer, in fact a sensible route for an exhaust would be impossible, unless you can get condensing tumblers.
I must say that except for the recent problem, the one that we have (Servis 900) has been excellent :- used at least once a day and often four or five times on a weekend. It doesn't use too much electric - I would be interested to compare the energy consumption over a complete cycle against a separate dryer (throwing all that hot air away). My main criticism is the noise - it's a lot more intrusive than the previous Hotpoint, but that was a plain washing only machine.
I must say that except for the recent problem, the one that we have (Servis 900) has been excellent :- used at least once a day and often four or five times on a weekend. It doesn't use too much electric - I would be interested to compare the energy consumption over a complete cycle against a separate dryer (throwing all that hot air away). My main criticism is the noise - it's a lot more intrusive than the previous Hotpoint, but that was a plain washing only machine.