Congratulations! I hope after being a Miele owner, you will love the new Bosch set as much. Looking forward to pictures and experience reports!

Can't wait to see pics.

Great!!! Best of Luck. I'm sure you will have great results after all its not only the machine..the launderess has to know what she/he is doing....and you do.

Congrats Roc! You may have to do one of guides for the Bosch like you did for Miele!

Happy Laundering!

Yay!! Congratulations!!!

I'm happy for you Roc. I know you will enjoy using them more so than the laundry center you had. Please post pics and let us know all about them.

Very nice Roc

I think you will be happy with them. The only thing I have seen recently is with the new heatpump dryer that has not come to US yet is about the selfcleaning condensercoils are no good. It gets buildup due to the waterpressure is to low for a good clean but your dryer are. Manual cleaning witch is good.

Happy washing

Very nice Roc! Does Bosch still have the washer plug into the dryer?

@linus - this is condenser, not heat pump. I have cleaned the condenser before. It's just something that needs to be done each week with the right brush!

@littlegreeny -- yes, that's one reason I went with Bosch over Elux or others. The laundry closet came with only one plug (ugh!). Was very annoying and more expensive but getting the condenser dryer gives me flexibility should I need to move. Best of the situation IYKWIM

First load: Used "Bulky/Large Items" setting to wash queen bed pad. I folded a Grab Green pod in the pad. It preselected hot and medium spin. Those can be changed but I will use the defaults first to get to know the machine. A queen bed pad does fill it. Within 1 minute the pad has been saturated and is starting to decrease in bulk. So far so good.

Awesome! That gives folks much more flexibility. Where I live, we also only have one plug.

I hope you love your new set. And I’m looking forward to your review.

Really nice set. Congrats and Happy Washing!

But... you clean the condenser weekly?! I upgraded my Siemens with the double-filter (like you have) and only clean the consenser every few months. Once a week, I vacuum the filters and that's that.

Alex

Nice @rococogurl! I was thinking of the need for a cheat sheet too, like @homepro. I would love to hear a washer review, comparing it with the Miele you had. Its great that you have that space, you can reach the shut off valve easily too, I see.

I hope you are liking your new digs too.

Very good looking set. Can’t wait for the forthcoming reports. Congrats.

First day report. First, this washer is very quiet, especially on the spin. Dryer is also quiet. Control boards are digital touch. Doors have a very interesting feature. There are two layers. The outer layer is plastic and it insulates the inner glass door that seals down. While I would prefer to feel the heat of the cycle through the door (as I always was able to do on the Miele) this double door stays room temperature. I can see this being especially good in a house with small children.

Did 3 loads yesterday -- towels, bath rugs, bed pad. I have the sheets in now as I'm waiting for my new bed to be delivered.

This machine is cycle driven. F.ex. I'm using "cottons normal" for my sheets. I used "bulky" for the bed pad. I used "Towels" for the towels. I'm not someone who wants that type of pre-select in general. But I can see the practicality for the general user who is not especially laundry savvy. The default heat for towels is "extra hot". They don't tell me water temps for the settings (haven't called yet) but Sanitize is 170F. Towels setting default is "extra hot" but everything is adjustable. So gives control to someone like me or default to someone who is just doing laundry on the settings.

I really liked my previous Bosch dryer. Both were condenser though this one looks a bit different. My towels came out perfect with no wrinkles. I will see how the full set of sheets comes out.

Coming from 7 months with a laundry center the cycles seem long. But that's top vs front loader issue. Since everything is adjustable it's just fl vs tl on cycle times.

My sheets are very smoothly spinning now -- full set of queen fits easily.

Most critical for me are the lower cycles -- delicates and the ones for synthetics. I'll give a report on those later in the week and, as we all know, it takes a while to get to know a set. At first blush, this is a very nice set that's designed for exactly the situation I have -- laundry closet vs laundry room. Has a heater. Adjustable. Solves the 1-plug issue. Condenser dryer makes it flexible if I take it with me and want to install under a counter. Bought it at Black Friday discount price. There's a deal on the extended warranty (1 years basic) which I'll explain in another post as it's fairly unique.

Roc, congratulations too. Last night I perused through all 3 series manuals. I too noticed the cotton cycles in addition to the towels cycle. Only difference being the ex. hot for towels as well as 1/2 load restriction and I was thinking, why, kind of redundant. I'd just use cottons and add extra hot for temp just to be able to do a larger load of towels. And they could have used that "slot" on the selector for something else.

How long are your dryer cycles lasting?

l@sagoldst - Haven't paid much attention. Sheets said 2+ hours but they didn't take that long. I think there are sensors. It's a condenser so it will take longer and I noticed my robe done on very dry was quite hot. But it doesn't seem unusually long to me.

Thanks so much for this update!

Hello rococogurl, thank you for posting all this information. I just ordered a pair of Bosch 300 but I was considering LG. I still have some time to change the order as it is on the backlog. I have a small laundry room and even a window behind it. Bosch is more expensive than LG. I was not sure which ones works better. So, your information helps. Is there a significant difference between 300 and 500 series other than the stainless steel drum and slightly quieter drier?

@ingashops - I looked at the 300 because it was the least expensive in the line. But after reading reviews I decided to go with the 500 series instead. I believe the 500 dryer was rated higher. It's problematic because the reviews tend to be all over the place. I can say I am happy with the 500 washer which I used yesterday. I had a Bosch pair 8 years ago and loved that condenser dryer. This one has a sensor so it's a bit quirkier and, based on very limited use, it's not identical to a vented dryer in terms of performance. But it works for me and gives me the flexibility I need.

Every washer/dryer pair has its pros/cons. I can't comment on LG as I've never had that brand. I would likely have gone with the Electrolux (due to price and good reviews) but I needed a washer that plugged into the dryer. It came down to Bosch vs Asko and I didn't like the Asko I had in another house so Bosch it was.

I did 5 loads of laundry yesterday. Used the Wool cycle and perm press. Everything comes out well including heavy cotton bath rugs. Machines are very quiet -- quieter than my Miele I must say.

Hi rocogurl, Thank you so much for providing your advice and also describing your experience. LG is less money and probably would work, but I also like the fact that Bosch washer plugs into the dryer even though I have both 220 and 110 plugs installed. LG also has a container to empty after every other drying cycle. I think maybe 500 dryer is a bit more efficient than the 300 dryer and also provides more heat thus us dries the clothes faster than the 300, which makes people happier (good reviews). 500 dryer is also Energy Star rated, the 300 is not. Mass. provides $50 rebate for Energy Star dryers. Tough call. I also bought extended warranty from Lowes, which I never do just because I have had bad experience with my current appliance. All this technologies and sensors they now put in the appliances are expensive to fix. I am happy to know that you like your machines. Did you get the extended warranty?

I bought from a local dealer who gives a 5-yr warranty and provides service and who I know can repair as I used them before. I would check with Bosch on a warranty otherwise. I have never bought a major appliance from Lowe’s. Others may weigh on on that.

I've been wrestling a bit with this condenser dryer, which works a bit differently from the one I previously had. It really needs to be understood, as I found out today when the service guy came to change the door bevel (which came scratched).

Now I understand why folks posted comments that it doesn't dry the clothes. It does, but the sensor makes a huge difference.

I have adjusted my dryer to the +1 dryness level, adding five minutes to every cycle. I prefer this over selecting Very Dry instead of Cupboard Dry, which would add about ten of extra drying. Five minutes is all it takes to remove that little bit of residual moisture left behind from the basic Cupboard Dry setting.

As for the Towels cycle: from watching YouTube videos, it appears that the washer does intermittent spins at the end of the cycle with a lot of fluffing in between to make towels extra soft - thus the reduced load suggestion.

I need to use timed dry for all the small loads which the sensor thinks are dry. The dryer sensor is geared to full loads which I don't often have. When I have one I use the regular settings. Otherwise timed dry -- 40 minutes.

My last question before the machines are delivered. Did you use any anti-vibration pads? I don't want to place them directly on hardwood floors. If you used any, what brand would you recommend?

I did not use anti-vibration pads. My machines are on a tile floor. In our apartment with the previous Bosch pair 8 years ago the machines were placed on some type of pan so that, should there be a leak, the floor wasn't compromised. I believe that was required by the building and it was a good idea, I thought even thought there was a cement floor. The issue would have been leakage into the apartment below which would be serious.

I believe that Bosch 500 has some anti-leakage mechanism. I mainly want the machines to be stable and not move. The machines will be placed on the anti-vibration pads on the hardwood floor.

The only reason the machines would move is if they were improperly installed and not level. Hope you will report on the pads and their usefulness so others can benefit.

The installation guys told me to remove the pads as we could not properly level them. And, it was a pain to install just because where the set is located. Unfortunately, I may have to change the Bosch set for LG Washer Dryer Combo which is a better fit into the space. The new stackables block the window. I am sure Bosch machines are great.

rococogurl, I am interested washing/drying times for various items (towels, shirts, sheets, etc) with compact condenser or heat pump dryers. Is 40 minutes still typical to dry an average load in your new Bosch 500? Also, did you consider Bosch 800 series or eliminate the other brands for reasons you can specify (e.g. what you didn't like about Asko and did like about Electrolux)? I am looking for a compact washer/dryer for a secondary laundry room. I'll keep the older full-size set in the basement. The new dryer can be vented or unvented and there are no other restrictions that I know of. Any thoughts that might help me decide will be greatly appreciated. It's been a long time since I have purchased a major appliance.

@dsgts - glad to give you my perspective. I've had the 500 series condenser Bosch dryer for about a month now. Because I'm one person and I sort, my loads tend to be small. The dryer has a sensor system on default settings. If you have full loads the default settings will be drying times. F.ex. there is a "towels" setting with a default time of 1:41. But since I don't have completely full loads, I don't use that setting. I used Variable Timed Dry and my towels are dry in about 40-50 minutes. That setting is adjustable in 10 minute increments.My towels are 500 g cotton. If, say you have 800 g -- very thick -- towels and a full load I could see it taking the full cycle time.

A set of queen cotton sheets dries in about 50 minutes.

Other than those two I can't say I have loads that are family-typical. As a generalization I estimate drying times to be about 25% longer than my Miele vented dryer. I get less wrinkling, however. I do like this dryer.

I looked at all 3 levels of the Bosch. If I recall correctly, the 800 series offered a few more features at an up charge that didn't seem to me to be substantial. However, it got top rating of the 3 from CR. The claim seems to be that it's very quiet but the set is quite quiet.

In the past 20 years, I've owned compact sets from Miele, Asko and Bosch. This is my second Bosch purchase. I loved my Miele set and highly recommend those. For a secondary pair, I think Bosch would serve very well. Asko was nearly the price of Miele and there is no comparison between the two in my opinion. Asko is acceptable but the water levels are so low it was difficult to was a queen quilt or blanket because they didn't become fully saturated. Also, several of the short cycles of the Asko never worked in the original machine or the one they replaced it with. It shines on 2 hour boil washes. So someone with a new baby might find it great. But I could never do a load of wool sox, f.ex. With the Miele, those settings were so good I could wash things I previously took to the dry cleaners.

My purchase this time was affected by two primary factors: cost and set up. I sold my house a while back and have moved to an apartment with an excellent laundry closet that allows for a vented dryer but, for reasons I cannot explain, has only one 240v outlet. So the set I purchased needed a washer that plugged into the dryer. It ruled out Electrolux (the best value as far as I could determine and good ratings here) and Miele. For me, it was a choice between Bosch, Asko or one of those horrible "laundry centers" and I wasn't going there.

I opted for the condenser dryer because, should I need to move and take the set, vs sell it to the next tenant, the condenser dryer was more flexible as it could be used in a set up similar to the present stacked one or installed under a kitchen or utility room counter.

Another aspect for me is that the dryer was less important than the washer. I'm a hot water person and would not buy a washer without an internal heater. I throw that out as I feel it's important.

Like you, I did a fair amount of research before purchasing and I timed it last fall to take advantage of black Friday sales. The Bosch set was a good chunk more than the Electrolux compact set I was going for. But given my restrictions I feel I made a great choice. Someone asked if I feel a big difference between this set and the Miele which I adored. It's far less than I would have expected to not much at all. Cannot compare it to Elux as I have never used those.

Hi rococogurl,

I got my set of Bosches 500 and I really like them. They perform very well. Your reviews of all the washes and dry cycles are pretty accurate and I also think they have sensors to determine how long it would take to dry something. I did notice that the clothes comes our with wrinkles, but it does not bother me all that much. It is expected with the condensed dryers because unlike others they do not use the vent and dry out clothes by de-humidifying the space.

Unfortunately, I may have to replace this set nonetheless with the LG washer dryer combo which also has positive reviews. The reason why I may have to do this is that the stackables block the window that I really like and I cannot even reach the plug anymore also, I cannot reach of open/close the window. With one unit combo, that will not be a problem. I love Bosch though. LG also get good reviews, but it does run on 110 and it takes longer to dry clothes. Also, the load should be smaller as the drum is 2.3 for both washing and drying so you can only load 1/2 of the drum if you want your wash to go into drying cycle right away. I may not have a problem with it because I hang dry a log of my clothes, but I will be sad to see the Bosches go.

@ingashops - good luck with the new set. It's not always easy to choose the right one for your space and needs.

Thank you both for your thoughtful and thorough responses. I am also a one-person household, which is why I'm interested in a compact set. I don't need a lot of features or a million settings. I want reliable machines that will get my clothes clean quietly and in a reasonable amount of time. I was considering the new Miele W1/T1, but all the wonderful attributes are negated by what seem to be exceedingly long (for me) wash and dry cycles. Unfortunately, patience isn't one of my strengths.

Miele will get your clothes clean. A good washing cycle takes longer. Condensed drying (ventless) also takes longer but it’s better for your clothes. If you want quick cycle, buy a traditional vented dryer no need to splurge on Miele then. Traditional vented dryers are ok with sheets and towels but they are harsh on clothes, fade and shrink clothes. Condensed drying is more gentle but does take longer.

Thank you, again. Based all the comments posted here, I'm leaning toward the Bosch set. I have read some reports about condenser dryers increasing heat and humidity in the laundry area. Given your experiences, do you think this is likely to be an issue?

I do not think that the increased humidity is an issue. Right now, I have my Bosch set in the closed off area and when I dry clothes, I open the door - problem solved - humidity evaporates to the rest of the house - which is nice in the winter because it is so dry here. In the summer, it maybe a bit more humid. When the dryer is not operating, you can close the area door again - no humidity. Also, my advice, after you done washing clothes, wipe the washer gasket dry or at lease semi-dry and propped the washer door slightly open when you leave. This is what you need to do with any front-loading washers, not just Bosch. There is no other way around it. if you keep the door tightly closed, you may experience some mildew smell. The gasket on the front-loading machines is tight intentionally so that the water is sealed when the clothes is being washed. Therefore, it needs extra care - needs to be dry and vented. Good luck!

Hello , rococogurl, by the way, I did find the clothes gets dried faster than 2 hours - 45-50 minutes total The sensors do not adjust right away. It is a bit misleading. I also noticed that i had to put in additional 20 minutes after the cycle was done as the clothes was not very dry. I took out a few things that I did not want to over-dry and added additional time for the rest of them. That seemed to work. In addition, for some reason, the washer shrank my sweater on "warm" and a white cotton t-shirt on "hot" setting. These are old items and I washed them before. I am not sure why it did it. Perhaps, it is because of the spinning cycle. I did not dry these items, just washed them. So, I will call customer service to ask them what is up with that. And, also, I have noticed that the bleach is not allowed into the washer - verboten! What can we use instead? I have no idea. And what do you use to cycle and clean the washer other than the Bosch tablets they sell? Is there any other safe products. I have not yet exchanged that set for LG combo. Still undecided for another week. So far, I like it. I wish it had a better fit into the space where it is.

I don't use bleach. If I need whitening I use oxyclean for the prewash.

Haven't cleaned my machine but it calls for using the Drum Clean setting with no product. I'm familiar with that from my Miele and I know the drum on that one was like new after 2 years of use.

Sorry about your shrinkage. Hasn't happened to me. I washed a new cotton knit nightgown on hot (even though label said cold) and it was fine.

That’s what I would think. I have always washed the same sweater in warm and it was fine. I had this sweater for 3 years. The white t-shirt also should not shrink in hot. It’s 100% cotton! Bosch told me my water maybe set to higher temperature in the water heater or the cold water may not turned on completely that is why the water is getting hotter than necessary. So i checked that. It seems to be ok. So I am not sure why the water is getting warmer.

Inga, Regarding the issue you are having with the sweater and t-shirt. You may want to check if the hot and cold water hoses are reversed. This type of problem generally occurs if the hoses are reversed.

Roco, The timed dry on the Bosch dryer is usually used just for touching up the laundry to finish drying if they were still slightly damp. There are usually 2 heaters elements in a Bosch dryer, a high heat and a low heat. In the Auto cycles the high heat is mainly used at the beginning of the cycle and then it switches to lower heat towards the end of the cycle. In timed dry only the low heat element is used. The reason for the time dry is that if the clothes are already dry to a certain point the sensors have trouble measuring the remaining moisture content. The Auto dry is based on the sensors and an algorithm to dry to the selection you chose on the control. The timed dry is just time and low heat.

Hi Jarvis, I did check the hoses. They seem to be fine, not switched. I also checked the water heater setting. It’s set to 130F, so that should not be a problem. I have a technician coming to check. I think maybe sweater should be washed in cold instead of warm. I don’t know about t-shirts. I like to wash white cotton t-shirts in hot water. I will ask him.

Hi Jakvis, great to have an explanation on the dryer, thanks so much. I do know there is a low setting as I use it for nightgowns and some of my lingerie. I have found, on my machine, that I can set either the default high heat on timed dry, or low heat.

The default cycles work when the dryer has a full load. Otherwise, seems to me it's six of one and half a dozen of the other -- either used timed dry until the load is dry which can require resetting -- or use the default cycle and then timed dry. Resetting either way. But I do prefer that to overly hot, over dried clothes.

There is a Quick 40 cycle which I'm about to try also. 40 minutes is more or less average drying time for smaller loads, so perhaps that's why it's there.

Been using the set for about a month now and I'm very pleased with it.

Meanwhile, need to buy waranties for the pair soon. The washer is a no-brainer. What about the dryer?

Hi rococogurl, I found the same thing - the default settings assume that you have a full load and display how long it would take to dry it if you put say "only towels" and "towels" setting. My towels came out really dry and I had 1/2 load.

But if you do not have a full-load, the dryer adjusts the time in the end but does not tell you in the beginning how long is the true time to dry. So, I found adding time with the Timed Dry when the load is not dry enough for me, or pulling out some clothes if I don't want it to dry more.

I have another development on this front. I found a small puddle of water under my dryer once I pulled out the shelve from the stacking kit. The water was there from the last week drying cycle so it damaged slightly the pull-out shelve. I wiped the water off, ran another drying cycle today, and found more water! Not so good. I was wondering whether you had a similar experience with the drier.

Inga,

Did the installer hook up the drain hose to the dryer?

Absolutely no issues with the dryer. And I have noticed noise from the dryer drain hose, would check to see that’s properly and tightly installed. Also, has the condenser filter been cleaned? Is it in priperly. Some water can come from there if not.

Yes, it was a condenser. it appears to be that I cleaned the condenser and did not close it tightly. I think the water was leaking from it. The condenser had so much lint for only being used for 3 weeks! It definitely needs to be cleaned once a month.

update - I am leaving my Bosch machines and not exchanging them for LG. Everyone who I talked to told me that it would be a step down if I change Bosch for LG. Bosch machines are great if you learn how to use them.

The Bosch technician explained to me different cycles and told me that the timed-dry really gets the clothes bone-dry because it uses a heater. The regular cycles do not do this and leave the clothes lightly damp. If you like your clothes or sheets to be DRY, add timed-dry after the regular cycle is done. This allows you to remove the items you do not want to be DRY and leave only those that need extra drying time. And, if you have an expensive pair of jeans or an item with a lot of spandex or synthetic material that is just the right fit for you, was it inside-out, hang it on the rack and don't put it into the dryer! Or, if you want to, you can put it into the Bosch dryer and set the dryer cycle on DAMP, remove the item, and hang it on the rack to complete the drying. Trust me, it works. I have some clothes that I love 5-6 years old - still look like new. Enjoy your machines!