The LG WashTower is all over social media, inspiring countless people, including celebrities like Drew Berrymore, to reconfigure or even completely renovate their laundry spaces.
But is it right for your home?
In this review, we’ll show you what makes the WashTower unique, how it saves you space, and what are the 3 different WashTower models and their best features.
And if you stick around until the end, we’ll give you one major reason you might want to steer clear of the WashTower altogether.
So, what is the new LG WashTower?
The WashTower is an all in one laundry unit that features a washer with a dryer stacked on top.
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Traditional Stackable Washer Dryer vs. Wash Tower
You may be wondering what’s so special about this setup?
People have been stacking front load washers and dryers for years. Just about every manufacturer nowadays sells an optional stacking kit that lets you bolt the dryer on top of the washer.
Stacking is a great option. For some a stacked laundry pair might be the only option, especially if you just have a laundry closet.
But for others a stacked pair frees up valuable floor space to be able to add extra storage.
However, the main issue has always been accessibility. With the dryer on top, the controls become unreachable unless you’re very tall.
With stacked pairs the controls can be as high as 6 ½” feet from the ground. And reaching into the back of the dryer to pull out your finished clothes can be nearly impossible without a step stool.
Also at nearly 80” tall, stacked pairs can be very difficult to fit underneath door frames for installation.
Accessible Control Panel + Dryer
The WashTower gives you all the space saving benefits of a stacked washer and dryer, without any of the cons.
The WashTower features a shared control panel in the middle that brings the washer and dryer controls into convenient reach.
Since there’s only one control panel to worry about, this reduces the total height of the stacked pair to about 74” allowing it to more easily fit into tighter laundry closets.
And with the shared control panel, the washer and dryer can easily communicate with each other.
So if you run a bedding cycle on the washer, the unit will automatically know to pre-select the bedding option when you start the dryer.
In addition to the height savings from only having one control panel, LG was able to shave a few inches from the bottom of the dryer to move the dryer door into a more accessible position letting you reach all the way into the back without a step stool.
Design Flaws
While LG has done a lot of great things with the WashTower, we do have a few gripes with the design.
For starters, the doors on the washer and dryer are not reversible, and have a hinge on the left side, so they open from right to left.
This is fine if your hookups are in the middle or left side of your laundry room, however if they’re against the right side wall, it makes it much harder to access and load your laundry.
This may completely preclude some people from getting this setup.
Also, the dryer is a vented, meaning the dryer vents to the outside, which is the norm for most units this size, but nonetheless unfortunate if you live in an apartment.
Apartment dwellers in big cities stand to gain the most from the space savings benefits of the WashTower, but usually dryers in apartments are ventless and don’t have a way to vent outside, so you might be out of luck.
More Space
Once you install the WashTower, you might be asking yourself, what can I do with all this extra space?
LG has some great ideas to get you started.
With a stacked laundry pair, you can pick up space for all sorts of things, like a small closet for hanging clothes, or a convenient pet bath.
Now that you have a better understanding of what makes LG’s WashTower unique, let’s break down the different series available.
Series Overview
LG currently has three different WashTower models available. As you go up in models, you’ll pick up additional features and capacity, but we’ll cover all three so you understand the differences.
WKE100 and WKG101
First up is the WKE100 with electric dryer, or WKG101 with gas dryer, both available in either white or graphite steel.
This entry level WashTower typically retails for about $2000. Keep in mind, prices fluctuate throughout the year.
At 4.5 cu. Ft. the washer is large enough to fit a king size comforter.
All of LG’s WashTowers come with WiFi technology which allows you to start, stop and monitor your laundry remotely using an app.
At my own home we love getting notifications when the wash is done because it let’s us quickly move the laundry into the dryer. This helps us get more laundry done in less time.
There are 6 pre-programmed cycles including normal, bedding, heavy duty, delicates, speed wash and an option to download a cycle from LG, as well as 9 wash options, including an allergen option, sanitize option, and a steam wash.
There is no steam dryer to release wrinkles however, you’ll need to upgrade to the next model for that.
With all those cycles and options it can be overwhelming to pick the right one for your specific load, so LG built smart sensors into the machine to detect the type of fabric you are washing to best clean your clothes.
Another cool technology feature is the download a cycle option. With your smart device, you can download a customized cycle right to your machine.
LG has specialty cycles for just about anything, from carefully cleaning denim to removing stains from sportswear.
The only downside is you can only have one custom cycle downloaded to your machine at a time.
A little convenience feature that might go unnoticed at first is LG’s SmartLearner functionality, which remembers your favorite settings.
For example on my current washer and dryer, I need to select the cycle, and then since I prefer to wash with cold water, every time I need to change the temperature from the default of warm.
LG will remember your preferences so the next time you wash your clothes you don’t need to change the settings to suit your needs.
WKEX200 and WKGX201
Next up is the WKEX200 with electric dryer, or WKGX201 with gas dryer, both available in either white or black steel.
This is LG’s most popular WashTower and goes for about $2299 and carries over all of the same features as the previous, plus you’ll also pick up LG’s TurboWash as well as steam in the dryer which helps to soften fabrics and remove wrinkles.
TurboWash is really impressive and worth the upgrade. It has the power to clean large loads in under 30 minutes.
Unlike some express cycles that are just meant for lightly soiled small loads (like the SpeedWash on the previous model we talked about), TurboWash can handle a full load in a fraction of the time.
To put this into perspective, the normal cycle on most front load washers is at least 50-60 minutes.
WSEX200HNA and WSGX201HNA
And finally we have the LG Studio WSEX200HNA with electric dryer, or WSGX201HNA with gas dryer, only available in a lighter gray color LG calls Noble Steel.
This pair jumps up in price by $500 to about $2799.
With that you’ll mainly just pick up extra capacity. The washer increases in size from 4.5 cu. Ft. to 5 cu. Ft., which is going to let you get more laundry done at one time.
Most washers in this category and size are huge and take about 28” in width or more, but LG has managed to keep the dimensions tight at a standard 27” width, while still giving you this huge internal capacity.
Just watch out for the depth on these models. These are 3” deeper than the previous model we talked about. If you have a tight closet space that may be something you want to consider.
Also if you are like me, my laundry room has pull down stairs to access our attic. My attic stairs literally clear my washer and dryer by about 1 mm. Just something to keep in mind.
Why It Might Not Be For You?
When we recommend a product, we want you to have the full picture before making your decision.
So what’s the one reason why the LG WashTower might not be a good fit for your home?
There’s a lot to like about the new LG WashTower. However it’s biggest strength is also one of the biggest weaknesses in our opinion.
Since the WashTower is one single unit, if either your washer or dryer breaks after a few years, you’ll need to replace the entire unit, not just the part that broke.
Since the WashTower is brand new, we’ll need to see how reliable they are in the long term, but LG is constantly rated as one of the most reliable laundry brands in the world so you should be fine.
Just to be safe you might want to consider an extended warranty to keep yourself protected.
Also, since this is one single unit, it weighs a ton at over 300 lbs. If you are planning to install this yourself you might want to think twice.
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