Which should you buy?
The UltraFast Combo all-in-one washer and heat pump, or the similarly featured
separate GE 650 series washer and regular dryer?
In this video, you'll learn all the differences in price,
features, and how long each took for washing and drying.
The UltraFast is new and popular,
but stayed the in for two reasons why you might want to consider more basic options.
The washers are the same size at 4.8 cubic feet.
The RPM spin is high at 1,300, so the washers will pre-dry the clothes.
Both have the same 32-load auto dispense releasing the right amount of detergent
at the right time and have good smart functionality through GE.
Smart HQ. So the washers are basically the same.
The dryer is completely different.
650 is a regular 220-volt dryer,
meaning it takes air in, heats up with drying elements and is
vented to the outsides of the back like the dryer you have at home.
The UltraFast is a 110-volt heat pump,
meaning you can place it anywhere with water, a regular outlet, and a drain.
That's it.
Heat pumps recycle air using a compressor and heat exchanger.
They typically dry to lower the temperatures and take longer to dry,
but are far more energy efficient than a regular dryer.
So UltraFast can be placed anywhere:
water, standard power, and a drain while the 650 needs to be
vented through your laundry room with 220-volt power.
Popularity of the UltraFast is never
having to transfer your load from a washer to the dryer like the regular set.
It's great if you get to transfer like me
and have to re-wash or if you want to do your laundry before you go to the office
or before you sleep and have it done in the morning.
It's one and done as their marketing proudly declares.
Clothes and dirty and having them come out dry and clean is pretty cool,
but not always an advantage, as you'll see later in the video.
So the washer is the same,
while the dryer is radically different, so are the prices.
I said normally sold for $2,609.
They did introductory price last July
fourth for $1,999, which coincides nicely with when you should buy appliances.
That is, on a major holiday like July fourth, Black Friday, Memorial Day,
Presidents Day, or Labor Day. The 650 series will fluctuate between 1798
and $2,199 for the washer and the electric dryer.
So the UltraFast will cost $400 to $800 more, usually.
The indicated UltraFast time for colors
was three hours and 25 minutes, but actually took much less time at 251.
The 650 set was 59 minutes in the wash
and 28 minutes in the dry for a total of one hour and 27 minutes.
We'll get into the significance splitting the times a bit later in the video.
For whites, the UltraFast indicated 250, and that's about how long it took.
The set was an hour and nine to wash,
40 minutes to dry for a total of an hour and 49 minutes.
The estimated ultrafast time for bedding
was two hours, 38 minutes, but only took two hours to eight minutes.
But this is one of those cycles
that really depends on how much fabric you're trying to wash.
The 650 was an hour eight to wash and 42 minutes to dry for an hour and a 50 total.
The comfort in the UltraFast indicated
two hours, 12 minutes, but it was 10 minutes quicker.
Still about two hours, but wasn't completely dry.
The 650 was an hour two to wash, 48 minutes to mostly dry like the UltraFast.
It's another 28 minutes to dry completely.
UltraFast is convenient,
seems to wash and dry well, except for the Comforter, which was mostly dry.
It's convenient, as you can set it and forget it.
However, the regular laundry set is much faster, even embedding.
When the washer is done, you can transfer your clothes
from the washer to the dryer and then start another load.
For whites and colors,
you can do more than twice the amount of laundry in the same time.
If you can't vent or don't have
the adequate power, then the UltraFast is the best full size ventless by far.
It also uses less power and is more convenient.
However, the UltraFast versus the regular
set depends on how much laundry you do and when you do your laundry.
About that heat pump technology,
heat pump technology has been around for over 30 years, but in HVAC units.
So you're comparing a regular reliable
washer and dryer against an unproven technology in a dryer.
So that may be a future concern.
Click the link to download our free washer buying guide.
We all know someone who's been talked into buying the wrong appliance.
Don't let that happen to you.
Over a million five people to find the right answers in a Yale guide.
And thanks for watching.