Hoover H-Wash 500 HD4149AMBCB Freestanding Washer Dryer, Large Capacity, 14 kg/9 kg Load, 1400 rpm, Black [Energy Class C]
KEY FEATURES
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ACTIVE CAREThe new ACTIVE CARE technology, through a perfect mix of water and detergent, guarantees the maximum care of your clothes, at a 30°C temperature with a perfect washing performance. | ECO-POWER MOTORThe new-generation Eco-Power Inverter Motor is the most long-lasting and powerful belt technology available in the market. The Brushless Motor is 4 times more durable: reducing vibrations and frictions it extends the machine lifespan and guarantees maximum silence and excellent results for longer. it also adapts the washing action to the load ensuring best results and 60% more efficiency. | ALL IN ONEThe All In One 59 Minutes programme is ideal when you need your washing done in a hurry. This programme allows you to wash a full load of different fabrics together such as cottons, synthetics and mixed fabrics in under an hour. |
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WIFI CONNECTEDEnhance your washing performance with the new hOn App that allows you to check the status of your appliance, receive an end of cycle notification and access more than 40 additional cycles. | AUTO-CAREAn advanced algorithm calculates and auto-sets the most suitable programme adapting detergent, water and time according to fibers and load, guaranteeing improved efficiency with no waste. | CARE QUICK WASH CYCLESSaving without compromising! This new programme can be used to obtain excellent results while saving water, energy, detergent and time. |
| Weight: | 75 kg |
| Dimensions: | 67 x 60 x 89 cm; 75 Kilograms |
| Brand: | Hoover |
| Colour: | Black |
| Colour: | Black |
There is one major issue though (if you have kids) and that is that the child lock that you activate by pressing a button combo can be disengaged just by rotating the dial to the ‘off’ position and then put on any other setting and the child lock no longer is in place. Not great! I think the child lock should prevent the dial from moving until it is disengaged otherwise what is the point?
Otherwise this is a brilliant unit and highly recommended.
The 1600 spin is pretty crazy, even with a perfectly level installation the machine will move about a bit and it’s a little noisy, I’m going to try the 1000 setting tomorrow to see what it’s like.
After the 1600 spin has finished the clothes will be stuck to the drum, so you’ll need to open the door and sort it out, but you’re better off taking the washing out of the machine and shaking it before drying anyway, it’ll dry quicker.
I did a 2 hour low heat drying session and one or two of the t-shirts that I washed weren’t COMPLETELY dry, but dry enough to be completely dry after hanging on a chair for a bit. When I do jeans or other heavy items I’ll try 3 hours drying time.
Very happy with my purchase, much better than my nearly 20 year old washer dryer that had packed in lol
Love the black gloss look. Just what I needed as old washer broke.
For me this washer is perfect, I personally love loading my app to see a list of lots of different programms and options to chose from (I’m useless at laundry so this is excellent for me) I could understand how this might be a detracter for some with a traditional washer and prefer dialling in the settings manually. This is particularly challenging since the physical buttons are a little finicky. If you are wanting a smart washer this is an excellent choice, easy to maintain, very quiet and overall an excellent experience.
The appliance was really easy to install and setting up the Wi-Fi connection was really simple, following the instructions it only took 10 minutes. I was eager to try out the machine and as a family of 4 who are very active I can always count on there being sufficient wash loads available to load up. The 10kg capacity in the washing function is very practical and the huge choice of programmes available on the app means there is a wash cycle for any situation. The machine is so quiet when it is running that you can barely hear it.
Using the app I am able to have control over the machine and change to a spin cycle or change to the dryer function. There are many programmes to choose from when drying and I have made use of the refresh cycle when the clothes off the washing line just need a little extra effort to get them completely dry as we move into the autumn months.
Overall I would really recommend this appliance to those with a busy family life who need some control over their washer and also anyone for whom space is precious in their home.
So far I’ve started all my washes from the app. I thought it might be something where the novelty would quickly wear off, but I’ve actually found it really useful. Not only does the app let you choose extra programmes that you can’t set from the machine itself, but it also gives you a fairly detailed description of each programme so you don’t have to guess what it does from the name. It also tells you how environmentally friendly your chosen programme and options are, in terms of electricity and water use. There are definitely some bugs in the app, and some of the user interface could be a bit more intuitive, but overall it’s a surprisingly useful way of controlling the machine, and I’ll definitely carry on using it.
I was hoping this machine would be quite a bit quieter than my old one, but it’s probably about the same – it’s not particularly quiet, but it’s not unbearably noisy either. Most of the noise seems to come from the pump, which turns on at several stages in both the washing and drying cycles. It seems quite stable at even the highest spin speed, causing just a bit of vibration.
There are a number of ways you can tweak the washing cycle on the hOn application, using either pre-built cycles or you can make your own. You can set a time-delay on the start of the wash, and I can see that being useful for setting up a wash late at night to start first thing in the morning. The app kept me informed with an estimated completion time for the wash, and once the cycle had finished I got a notification and was asked if I wanted to use the “refresh touch” option, to keep the clothes fresh in case I couldn’t unload it immediately. Everything came out clean, needing only a little drying. There are different drying setting for pre-ironing, putting away in a cupboard and extreme – I’ll explore those more to see what works best. I’ve done a couple of washes so far, and they’ve been quieter than my old machine (which was too noisy to be next to during a wash) and as far as I can tell from my smart meter, they’ve used less energy too. After the first couple of days, it’s a thumbs up!
Some additional comments after exploring smart features – There is an option to set a washing cycle by taking a photo of your washing piled in front of the machine, but unfortunately you need about 2m of distance between the machine and your phone to frame it properly, so I couldn’t test it. Another cool thing is that you can scan washing labels to build a clothing library, and configure your wash cycle using this.
For the money (I bought on sale), it’s seems ok so far. It’s not the easiest to use but that could be me as a pose to the machine. Also, can’t seem to find a short wash cycle but again that may be user error.
Does the job and for a budget machine it’s fine.
The washing machine is quiet, fast and effective. You can only really hear it when the spin cycle is on, which is limited to last 5-10mins of the wash. Note, you will need to ensure that it is properly levelled to ensure you get it to be as silent as this (I.e. no vibrations).
The machine has a good selection of wash times, offering a quick 14min, 30min, 44min for smaller loads. I always just used the 44min wash and maybe have the machine half full/5kg – does it great.
My clothes always come out very clean and smelling lovely, even at 30 degrees.
As part of new legislation (UK), manufacturers need to provide a warranty for parts for up to 10years.
Bad points:
The fitters were hopeless, I had to direct them how to connect it up (which involves connecting the hand screw water supply, the push fit waste pipe, and plugging into the wall). It’s really not that hard, save yourself the 20 and do it yourself. Also, they didn’t level it and I was left with a rattling machine.
If you have a wooden/laminate/unfixed floor like I do, expect vibrations/rattling of everything in the room. This can be minimised by levelling the machine properly, but you’ll want to invest in some rubber vibration feet (3-5). Mine is practically silent now with no vibrations.
The drying can take quite a long time, and I don’t think it would be useful for big items like lots of heavy towels. It’ll do the trick for underpants/socks/nylons etc. as long as you don’t overload it. I mean, it would dry towels, but it would take probably >3 hours and your salary on electric bills.
My honest opinion:
If you need it to be functioning as a dryer as much as a washing machine, it’s not for you. But if you’re like me and want a good washing machine with the added option of drying small things once in a while (for the price of a washer) then it’s great.
I bought this for an absolute steal on prime day (380 including fitting/removal of old machine) – just FYI if it may sway your decision on buying.
I’m pleased with the washer dryer, it looks good and does a good job.
Haven’t managed to get it linked to my WIFI yet but you don’t really need to. Only down side is it is pretty noisy on the max spin cycle and the press buttons on the front are a bit reluctant to work some times. Still a good machine for the price.
Capacity and washing/drying ability:
The main feature of this washer dryer is it’s (at time of writing) unmatched capacity – 14kg washing and 9kg drying. This is accomplished partly via sheer size – the unit is extremely deep and the drum fills almost the entire body. I think I can literally fit twice as many clothes inside it as my previous 6kg wash 5kg dry washer dryer. The size is also backed up by washing/drying ability, as I have frequently filled the (giant) drum to 2/3rds or more capacity with heavily soiled and thick clothes, which have emerged both totally clean and also dry throughout, even on the quicker washing modes designed for lightly soiled clothes. Since these loads are so big I often use two washing pods instead of just one, and the manual recomends this for larger loads.
Some examples of what I can wash & dry in a single load with no issues:
– King sized sheet, duvet cover, two pillow cases, and two medium-large towels. This mostly filled the drum, and took about 7 hours total including 5+ hours drying time.
– Three pairs of trousers including a pair of thick cotton joggers, two buttoned shirts, a thick jumper, 3 t-shirts, 3 sets of running shorts, 7 pairs of socks, and 7 boxers. This all fit with plenty of space to spare and washed and dried using the ’59-minute’ wash setting in about 3-4 hours total.
Note that some of the more aggressive washing cycles (particularly the cotton cycle) take an extremely long time – approx 3 hours for washing alone, with lots of very loud spinning. However I have found the faster mixed washing cycles (such as the ’59-minute wash’) do the job just as well in a third of the time, even with fairly heavily soiled clothes.
Controls/UI:
The controls on the front of the machine are quite complex and not initially user friendly, requring studying the manual in depth to learn the meaning of all the different symbols etc. Once this is done it becomes a minor but noticable annoyance, as you often need to do lots of cyling through options with touch-sensitive buttons to get all the settings right.
This is mitigated by the accompaniying app however, which after a rocky setup (which probably took me 1-2 hours of faff and trouble-shooting) made it a breeze to set up a few custom programmes to use repeatedly as well as coming with dozens of built in programmes for all kinds of washing loads. The optional notifications when a cycle finishes are also useful.
Noise:
I am overall impressed by the quietness of the unit, with it typically being inaudible through a closed door. The one exception to this is the higher spin speeds (1600 and 1200 rpm) which get quite loud, and have a somewhat annoying high pitched tone. Using the 800 (or lower) speed gets rid of this issue completely however, so I would be happy to e.g. have this installed in kitchen.
Reliability/customer service:
Due to an error by the amazon technician installing the unit (they did not level it correctly) after about a week of use the drying funcationality of our unit failed. After a call to the hoover-candy service line about this (only needing to wait ~5 minutes on hold) I was connected to a friendly and helpful UK-based support person, who after asking for details of the issue was able to arrange for a technician to be send out within a week to look at the issue – dispite this happening over the Christmas break during peak Covid.
The technician was knowledgable and came prepared, and ended up being able to diagnose and fix the issue using a spare part they had brought along (it turns out due to the unlevel installation a fan used when drying clothes had come loose and gotten damaged, and needed to be replaced).
Despite having an issue with our unit, I do not think this was the fault of the unit, and I was overall extremely impressed with their customer service to fix it so efficently.
Conclusion:
While I will need to wait and see what the long-term reliability of the unit is before I can draw firm conclusions about it, I am currently very impressed by it’s performance and strongly recomended it. The main downsides are it’s noisy high spin settings and confusing controls, but I think these are strongly outweighed by it’s incredible capacity and washing/drying capability and the high quality of customer support.
While it is quite expensive compared to most washer-dryers, if you are regularly frustrated by your unit’s low capacity or poor drying ability I think it is worth the extra cost.