LG WashCombo vs. GE Profile heat pump washer-dryers compared, 10 reasons to get either
Over the past few months, a new type of washer-dryer combo has emerged on the scene in North America (Yes, Europe and Asia have had great, tiny heat pump tech for decades). These new big combo units from GE Profile UltraFast PFQ97HSPVDS and now LG WashCombo WM6998HBA (introduced at CES) are now on the market.
I’ve had the GE Profile for 2 weeks, and the LG is on the way for testing head-to-head, but for now, I want to tell you about all of the ways both of these things are amazing, and energy savings is just the tip of the iceberg…
There is a revolution in all-in-one washer-dryers happening right now. Gone are the days of the tiny, 5-hour all-in-ones and we now officially have 2 large efficient heat pump washer-dryer combos to choose from. These are both ventless, take 2 hours to wash and dry, only require a 120V outlet and are loaded to the gills with fantastic technology.
Both of them are compared below but first, here are 10 reasons to get either one of them.
1. Energy Efficiency
Heat pump technology pulls heat from the air and also separates water from the air which makes it perfect for the application of drying clothing. Ventless all-in-one washer-dryers have existed on the market for a long time but have always been too small (for Americans), taken forever to run a cycle, and have boiled clothes, reducing fabric and elastic lifespan. These new machines are standard size and have 4.8-5 cubic feet of capacity.
The energy efficiency adds a lot of other benefits that might not be obvious. You can also make it function as a washer only or dryer only, so you can throw wet mittens in there, or wash delicates you want to hang dry
2. Saving a 240V outlet / space in your breaker box
Both the LG and the GE Profile only require a single 120V outlet, replacing the need for the additional 240V outlet of most stand-alone dryers add to the 120V on most washers.
The freed-up 240V space in the breaker box is perfect timing for those people replacing their pollution-spewing oil/gas heaters with heat pumps/geothermal or adding an electric vehicle outlet or two in their garage. This will likely save many people from the costly expense of having to upgrade their electrical service and/or breaker box for these additions. In fact, upgrading service/breaker boxes cost can often be less than the whole $2000-$2500 price of the washer/dryer upgrade!
For those people who currently have their washer and dryer in their garage, you could imagine simply removing the dryer, replacing the washer with the combo and plugging the car into the now-unused outlet. Maybe a new foldable ebike fits in your newfound space?
For new homes, fewer 240V breakers/outlets/wire runs are going to save cost and complexity.
3. No need for ductwork or air pumps, saves space
Because the machine is self-contained, it doesn’t need a duct or an air pump to move the hot, moist air out of the unit. That has a lot of add-on effects. Less energy to move the air, less lint-cleaning, and, in turn, fewer lint fires.
That also means you can put these machines just about anywhere where there is water and drain hose access. Building houses will now be easier without having to build separate venting spaces.
I can imagine a future where these live inside a walk-in closet in smaller homes, alleviating the need for clothes ever to leave the closet unless worn.
Since the combo units have the same footprint as a typical front-load washer or dryer, you split your floor space requirement in half.
Or if you stack the previous washer and dryer, you can now fold clothes on top of the washer-dryer combo.
Building Washer/dryer units in the middle of the house, away from exterior walls where venting was previously required, will now be possible
Also, if the ducts are long, a dryer will heat up a space for better or worse. In places like Texas, Arizona, and Florida, that’s extra heat for your AC to offset.
4. No longer have to move clothes from washer to dryer
Pretty self explanitory but already in the first weeks of use this has become a game changer. You no longer have to babysit laundry loads or wake up late at night to move laundry from one machine to another. Depending on the type of laundry, which the machine senses, a full cycle can take anywhere from 90 minutes to 2.5 hours. But mostly, it is like charging your car: You put a load in at night and wake up done, with clean, dry clothes.
5. Ventless means lower home heating/cooling costs
Maybe the biggest unsung advantage to heat pump dryers is that they aren’t pumping air out of the home. This is called negative pressure, and it is normalized as air is sucked through holes in your home from the outside, whether that’s windows, under door seals or holes in the insulation. If you live in a temperate climate and leave your screen door open all year, that’s not a big deal. But if you have an HVAC system running, it is going to run a lot harder to offset the outside air temperature being sucked in.
Removing 150 cubic feet of air per minute from a home is essentially like opening a door for outside-temperature air to be drawn in. Multiply that times a 45-minute cycle, and you’re replacing most of the air in a home over the course of a wash. That’s going to be expensive, particularly in very hot and very cold climates.
6. Gentler on clothes
Since clothing is not being superheated, the process is much gentler on clothing, meaning that you can leave many line-dry-only clothes in the dryer cycle. It also means clothes will last longer and need to be replaced less often. As mentioned previously, there is less lint to clean and catch fire.
7. Quieter running
Because there isn’t air blowing out of the unit, heat pump combos are typically much quieter than the resistance heat equivalents, which means they can operate much easier at night or adjacent to bedrooms without waking up occupants.
8. Long term cost savings
The LG is currently $1000 off at $2000, and the GE Profile is about $2500, depending on discounts. That is significantly more than most standalone units but on par with higher-end combinations of washer + dryer. The cost saving is pretty incredible, however. Each wash-dry cycle is under 1 kWh. That means, depending on where you live, each load will typically cost anywhere from 7-20 cents per load or less. Compare that to a typical resistance dryer, which will use between 2-6kW to dry for about an hour or around 4 times that amount for the dryer alone.
(Many variables are here, so I’m doing my math with numbers in the middle.)
Then, if you live in hot or cold climates (or both!), you have to consider all of that heated air you are sending right out of your house. That air loss creates negative pressure in your home, which then is filled with air from outside via small holes in the house or under doorways (or around that dryer vent). Your HVAC system then has to heat or cool that air again. For me, this is a huge added cost in the summer and winter, where our HVAC costs are high. I figure I’m going to save about $1.80 per load overall, and we do roughly 1 load per day for a family of 4.
That’s a conservative $700/year in savings and a mere 3-year payback timeline.
9. Easier/take advantage of time-of-use rates,
Because this is an all-in-one, the washer cycle immediately leads to drying without having to move the laundry from machine to machine. That’s not only easier, but it allows the whole cycle to be done during a night when rates are the lowest.
You put dirty clothes in at night, it runs when the rates are lowest, and you have clean dry clothes waiting for you in the morning.
10. IRA Federal, state and local rebates
Depending where you live, there may be heat pump dryer rebates available to qualified buyers. As with most government programs, the rebates aren’t straightforward but up to $840 Federal money might be available soon.
In Vermont where I currently live, there is another $400 rebate available.
Right there, I’ve reduced the initial up front price in half before I start saving money on energy bills.
11. Bonus: Smart detergent/fabric softener dispenser
Not really heat pump or energy related but both of the units have this and it is really, really cool. The smart dispenser allows you to fill up the reservoirs with detergent or fabric softener for something like 20 loads and it disperses the right amount of each depending on load size. That’s going to save time and overfilling resources and therefor some more money. I love it.
Also, you will have to change from dryer sheets to fabric softener. But the dispenser makes sure you don’t forget.
Also both of these machines have apps which seem like more trouble than they are worth but I’ll let you know after a few months of use.
Downsides
While the upsides of the heat pump washer-dryer combo are plentiful, there are still some downsides.
- The biggest difference is that after a 2 hour cycle, clothes still feel mildly damp and they come out a little more wrinkled than a typical dryer. One option is to continue to run the dry portion for additiona “extra dry”. But in reality, pulling the laundry out and giving it a single “big shake” seems to magically complete the last 1% of drying and the outside air seems to grab up the last of the wetness. It certainly takes some getting used to. Clothes feel dry when worn.
- Because the heat pump doesn’t get quite as hot as the resistance dryer, it doesn’t have the same ability to sterilize clothing in the same way a hot resistance dryer does. I haven’t yet found this to be a problem but it is something to consider. GE touts mold resistant materials in its product literature.
- If you have to rapid-fire a ton of laundry, the 2-hour cycle will take longer than having both washer and dryer running at the same time. For our family, this is pretty rare but if it isn’t, a second unit could be purchased or a legacy washer dryer could be kept around to speed up these laundry marathons.
- These bad boys are heavy! The GE Profile is north of 300lbs and will require multiple people to get it upstairs.
- It is no fun to jump in a pile of 99% dry, lukewarm clothing like it is the warm clothes from a traditional dryer. Kids of the future won’t ever get to experience that joy but also won’t know the burns from metal snaps and zippers. (The GE Profile has a cooling down period at the end of the cycle that could be skipped for that enjoyment.)
So which of these 2 is the better pick? I aim to find out over the next few months when I will have both of the in my house at the same time. But for now, let’s look at the differences on paper:
Size:
We weren’t aware of LG’s entry to the market last month when we opted to purchase the GE Profile. It was delivered a few weeks ago and the initial washes have been within expectations. The “moistness” at the end of a cycle thing is real and it does take getting used to.
But now that we are looking at the LG WashCombo, it seems to meet our needs better.
One of the biggest issues is that we have some cabinetry in our laundry room which would have to be removed for the taller GE Profile model. While both units have the same footprint, the GE is 7.7 inches out of typical washer/dryer height spec. Now that might be good for repairs as the heat pump unit is seperate from the washer unit.
Also the LG’s opening is higher up for ergonomic reasons and it has its own water heating unit.
As for lint, GE Profile requires you to clean the lint catcher after every 5 washes, vs LG which requires you to do it after every wash. However, LG’s cleaning process is much easier and doesn’t involve a vacuum cleaner.
LG’s is a direct drive vs. GE Profile which is a belt drive and has someone who has replaced dryer belts, I’m a direct drive fan. LG’s also has a built-in water heater which seems like a big plus if it can eliminate running a hot water line.
Electrek’s take
It always happens. I was looking at the GE Profile for months and finally bit the bullet when we had a washer leak. Then between ordering and arrival, LG shows off their new model that seems a little better for a price $500 less than what I paid.
The GE Profile has been solid in the week we’ve had it but I’m really looking forward to the LG WashCombo to see if it will be our Forever Washer Dryer.
Buy both at Best Buy here: GE Profile (Haier), LG WashCombo WM6998HBA
Some videos for the GE Profile:
Some videos I’ve found on the LG:
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Elon Musk isn’t happy about Trump passing the Big Beautiful Bill and killing off the $7,500 EV tax credit – but there’s a lot more bad news for Tesla baked into the BBB. We’ve got all that and more on today’s budget-busting episode of Quick Charge!
We also present ongoing coverage of the 2025 Electrek Formula Sun Grand Prix and dive into some two wheeled reports on the new electric Honda Ruckus e:Zoomer, the latest BMW electric two-wheeler, and more!
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Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisors to help you every step of the way. Get started here.
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Environment
FERC: Solar + wind made up 96% of new US power generating capacity in first third of 2025
Solar and wind accounted for almost 96% of new US electrical generating capacity added in the first third of 2025. In April, solar provided 87% of new capacity, making it the 20th consecutive month solar has taken the lead, according to data belatedly posted on July 1 by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and reviewed by the SUN DAY Campaign.
Solar’s new generating capacity in April 2025 and YTD
In its latest monthly “Energy Infrastructure Update” report (with data through April 30, 2025), FERC says 50 “units” of solar totaling 2,284 megawatts (MW) were placed into service in April, accounting for 86.7% of all new generating capacity added during the month.
In addition, the 9,451 MW of solar added during the first four months of 2025 was 77.7% of the new generation placed into service.
Solar has now been the largest source of new generating capacity added each month for 20 consecutive months, from September 2023 to April 2025.
Solar + wind were >95% of new capacity in 1st third of 2025
Between January and April 2025, new wind provided 2,183 MW of capacity additions, accounting for 18.0% of new additions in the first third.
In the same period, the combination of solar and wind was 95.7% of new capacity while natural gas (511 MW) provided just 4.2%; the remaining 0.1% came from oil (11 MW).
Solar + wind are >22% of US utility-scale generating capacity
The installed capacities of solar (11.0%) and wind (11.8%) are now each more than a tenth of the US total. Together, they make up almost one-fourth (22.8%) of the US’s total available installed utility-scale generating capacity.
Moreover, at least 25-30% of US solar capacity is in small-scale (e.g., rooftop) systems that are not reflected in FERC’s data. Including that additional solar capacity would bring the share provided by solar + wind to more than a quarter of the US total.
With the inclusion of hydropower (7.7%), biomass (1.1%), and geothermal (0.3%), renewables currently claim a 31.8% share of total US utility-scale generating capacity. If small-scale solar capacity is included, renewables are now about one-third of total US generating capacity.
Solar is on track to become No. 2 source of US generating capacity
FERC reports that net “high probability” additions of solar between May 2025 and April 2028 total 90,158 MW – an amount almost four times the forecast net “high probability” additions for wind (22,793 MW), the second-fastest growing resource. Notably, both three-year projections are higher than those provided just a month earlier.
FERC also foresees net growth for hydropower (596 MW) and geothermal (92 MW) but a decrease of 123 MW in biomass capacity.
Taken together, the net new “high probability” capacity additions by all renewable energy sources over the next three years – i.e., the bulk of the Trump administration’s remaining time in office – would total 113,516 MW.
FERC doesn’t include any nuclear capacity in its three-year forecast, while coal and oil are projected to contract by 24,373 MW and 1,915 MW, respectively. Natural gas capacity would expand by 5,730 MW.
Thus, adjusting for the different capacity factors of gas (59.7%), wind (34.3%), and utility-scale solar (23.4%), electricity generated by the projected new solar capacity to be added in the coming three years should be at least six times greater than that produced by the new natural gas capacity, while the electrical output by new wind capacity would be more than double that by gas.
If FERC’s current “high probability” additions materialize, by May 1, 2028, solar will account for one-sixth (16.6%) of US installed utility-scale generating capacity. Wind would provide an additional one-eighth (12.6%) of the total. That would make each greater than coal (12.2%) and substantially more than nuclear power or hydropower (7.3% and 7.2%, respectively).
In fact, assuming current growth rates continue, the installed capacity of utility-scale solar is likely to surpass that of either coal or wind within two years, placing solar in second place for installed generating capacity, behind only natural gas.
Renewables + small-scale solar may overtake natural gas within 3 years
The mix of all utility-scale (ie, >1 MW) renewables is now adding about two percentage points each year to its share of generating capacity. At that pace, by May 1, 2028, renewables would account for 37.7% of total available installed utility-scale generating capacity – rapidly approaching that of natural gas (40.1%). Solar and wind would constitute more than three-quarters of installed renewable energy capacity. If those trend lines continue, utility-scale renewable energy capacity should surpass that of natural gas in 2029 or sooner.
However, as noted, FERC’s data do not account for the capacity of small-scale solar systems. If that’s factored in, within three years, total US solar capacity could exceed 300 GW. In turn, the mix of all renewables would then be about 40% of total installed capacity while the share of natural gas would drop to about 38%.
Moreover, FERC reports that there may actually be as much as 224,426 MW of net new solar additions in the current three-year pipeline in addition to 69,530 MW of new wind, 9,072 MW of new hydropower, 202 MW of new geothermal, and 39 MW of new biomass. By contrast, net new natural gas capacity potentially in the three-year pipeline totals just 26,818 MW. Consequently, renewables’ share could be even greater by mid-spring 2028.
“The Trump Administration’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ … poses a clear threat to solar and wind in the years to come,” noted the SUN DAY Campaign’s executive director, Ken Bossong. “Nonetheless, FERC’s latest data and forecasts suggest cleaner and lower-cost renewable energy sources may still dominate and surpass nuclear power, coal, and natural gas.”
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Tesla has been forced to reimburse a customer’s Full Self-Driving package after an arbitrator determined that the automaker failed to deliver it.
Tesla has been promising its car owners that every vehicle it has built since 2016 has all the hardware capable of unsupervised self-driving.
The automaker has been selling a “Full Self-Driving” (FSD) package that is supposed to deliver this unsupervised self-driving capability through over-the-air software updates.
Almost a decade later, Tesla has yet to deliver on its promise, and its claim that the cars’ hardware is capable of self-driving has been proven wrong. Tesla had to update all cars with HW2 and 2.5 computers to HW3 computers.
In January 2025, CEO Elon Musk finally admitted that HW3 also won’t be able to support self-driving and said that Tesla will have to upgrade the computers. 6 months later, Tesla has yet to communicate a plan for retrofits to owners.
Tesla is now attempting to deliver its promise of unsupervised self-driving on HW4 cars, which have been in production since 2023-2024, depending on the model. However, there are still significant doubts about this being possible, as the best available data indicate that Tesla only achieves about 500 miles between critical disengagements with the latest software on the hardware.
The situation is creating a significant liability for Tesla, which already needs to replace computers in millions of vehicles, and it may need to do so in millions more.
On the other hand, many customers are losing faith in Tesla’s ability to deliver on its promise and manage this computer retrofit situation. Some of them have been seeking to be reimbursed for their purchase of the Full Self-Driving package, which Tesla sold from $8,000 to $15,000.
A Tesla owner in Washington managed to get the automaker to reimburse the FSD package, but it wasn’t easy.
The 2021 Model Y was Marc Dobin and his wife’s third Tesla. Due to his wife’s declining mobility, Dobin was intrigued about the FSD package as a potential way to give her more independence. He wrote in a blog post:
But FSD was more than hype for us. The promise of a car that could drive my wife around gave us hope that she’d maintain independence as her motor skills declined. We paid an extra $10,000 for FSD.
Tesla’s FSD quickly disillusioned Dobin. First, he couldn’t even enable it due to Tesla restricting the Beta access through a “safety score” system, something he pointed out was never mentioned in the contract.
Furthermore, the feature required the supervision of a driver at all times, which was not what Tesla sold to customers.
Tesla doesn’t make it easy for customers in the US to seek a refund or to sue Tesla as it forces buyers to go through arbitration through its sales contract.
That didn’t deter Dobin, who happens to be a lawyer with years of experience in arbitration. It took almost a year, but Tesla and Dobin eventually found themselves in arbitration, and it didn’t go well for the automaker:
Almost a year after filing, the evidentiary hearing was held via Zoom. Tesla produced one witness: a Field Technical Specialist who admitted he hadn’t checked what equipment shipped with our car, hadn’t reviewed our driving logs, and didn’t know details about the FSD system installed on our car, if any. He hadn’t spoken to any sales rep we dealt with or reviewed the contract’s integration clause.
There were both a Tesla lawyer and an outside counsel representing Tesla at the hearing, but the witness was not equipped to answer questions.
Dobin wrote:
He was a service technician, not a lawyer or salesperson. But that’s who Tesla brought to the hearing. At the end, I genuinely felt bad for him because Tesla set him up to be a human punching bag—someone unprepared to answer key questions, forced to defend a system he clearly didn’t understand. While I was examining him, a Tesla in-house lawyer sat silently, while the company’s outside counsel tried to soften the blows of the witness’ testimony.
He focused on Tesla’s lack of disclosure regarding the safety score and the fact that the system does not meet the promises made to customers.
The arbitrator sided with Dobin and wrote:
The evidence is persuasive that the feature was not functional, operational, or otherwise available.”
Tesla was forced to reimburse the FSD package $10,000 plus taxes, and pay for the almost $8,000 in arbitration fees.
Since Tesla forces arbitration through its contracts, it is required to cover the cost.
Electrek’s Take
This is interesting. Tesla assigned two lawyers to this case in an attempt to avoid reimbursing $10,000, knowing it would have to cover the expensive arbitration fees – most likely losing tens of thousands of dollars in the process.
It makes no sense to me. Tesla should have a standing offer to reimburse FSD for anyone who requests it until it can actually deliver on its promise of unsupervised self-driving.
That’s the right thing to do, and the fact that Tesla would waste money trying to fight customers requesting a refund is really telling.
Tesla is simply not ready to do the right thing here, and it doesn’t bode well for the computer retrofits and all the other liabilities around Tesla FSD.
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