Description
What the WM3555HVA is and where it fits
This is the graphite steel version of LG’s 24 inch compact combination unit: a single machine that washes and dries in one drum, 2.4 cubic feet in capacity, weighing 161 pounds. Twenty four inches is narrow enough to fit under a counter or into a closet where nothing else will go, and the ventless design means no duct and no exterior wall is required. What a buyer gives up is capacity. Two and a half cubic feet is roughly half a mainstream front loader, and the drying stage works with less than that because clothes need air space to tumble. The audience is a studio apartment, a condominium, a boat or a second laundry point.
Living with it day to day
The cycle split tells the honest story about this machine: thirteen wash cycles and one drying cycle. It is a properly specified compact washer with a drying function attached, rather than two machines in one, and expectations should be set accordingly. The drum is stainless steel and the specification lists fourteen option cycles alongside the wash programs, so the washing side is well equipped. A combined wash and dry run on a compact combination unit takes a long time, and the format is at its best for a household that runs one small load a day rather than several.
One difference from the white version of the same machine is worth flagging, because it changes daily use. This listing describes a single compartment dispenser with automatic dosing, where the white WM3555HWA is listed with a four tray dispenser. Automatic dosing means the machine measures detergent from a reservoir per load, which is a genuinely useful feature on a low water machine where overdosing causes residue, but the two listings cannot both be right about the same appliance and the arrangement should be confirmed from LG’s own specification sheet. LG publishes no decibel rating.
Controls and connected features
The controller is described as touch, and this is a Wi-Fi enabled machine on LG’s ThinQ platform with what LG calls Built-In Intelligence: an AI fabric sensor that detects fabric texture and load size and sets the wash accordingly. On a compact combination unit running very long combined cycles, a phone notification when the load finishes is more useful than it would be on a fast standalone washer, because there is a genuine chance of forgetting a machine that has been running for three hours.
The usual qualification applies and is worth stating: washing and drying run from the machine’s own control board and complete with no network, so losing the app or the platform costs notifications and remote start rather than function. Automatic dosing, if it depends on app configuration for detergent type, is the feature most likely to be affected by a platform change, and that is worth confirming before treating it as permanent. Buyers comparing combination approaches should look at the heat pump LG WM6998HBA and the 120 volt GE PFQ97HSPVDS, both of which take a different approach to drying.
Running cost and upkeep
No electrical specification is published. The fuel type is recorded as electric and a power cord is among the included components, but no voltage, no amperage and no circuit requirement appears anywhere. That cannot be assumed on a compact combination unit, because machines in this class exist in both ordinary outlet and dedicated circuit forms depending on how the heater and the drying stage are designed. LG’s installation manual is the authority and the existing outlet should be checked against it before ordering. There is no venting requirement and no gas connection, which is the whole point of the ventless design, but a drain connection is required and a drain hose is supplied.
A wrench is included, which is a small detail that tells a buyer something useful: shipping bolts have to be removed before the machine is run, and a front loading appliance operated with its transit bolts still fitted will damage itself. That wrench should not go in a drawer unused. No annual energy or water consumption figure is published in this listing, and no IMEF or IWF appears, so running cost cannot be calculated here. Upkeep is the compact combination unit routine and it matters more than on a full size machine, because a small sealed drum used for both wet washing and warm drying has nowhere to dry out: leave the door ajar between cycles, wipe the gasket, run a tub clean cycle on schedule, and clean the lint and condenser path periodically. The other machines in this format are covered under all in one combination washers and dryers, alongside the full size Samsung WD53DBA900HZ.
Highlights
- Just 24 inches wide, so it fits where no other laundry appliance will.
- Washes and dries in one drum with no venting duct and no exterior wall needed.
- Thirteen wash cycles and fourteen option cycles on the washing side.
- Automatic detergent dosing, which prevents the overdosing low water machines suffer from.
- Stainless steel drum and a touch control panel with ThinQ connectivity.
- Wrench, power cord and drain hose are all supplied.
Things To Consider
- Only one drying cycle is listed against thirteen wash cycles.
- The dispenser is described differently here than on the white version of the same machine.
- No electrical specification is published, which cannot be assumed on a compact combo.
- Stated dimensions differ from those given for the white model of the same appliance.
- No annual energy or water figure, IMEF or IWF is published.
- Transit bolts must be removed with the supplied wrench before first use.
Who it is not for
A family cannot run its laundry through a 2.4 cubic foot drum that also has to dry it. Anyone with space and hookups for two machines will get faster laundry and cheaper repairs from a separate washer and dryer. Households that need laundry finished quickly should avoid the compact combination format entirely, since it is the slowest way to do a load in a modern home. And anyone choosing between the two color versions of this machine should get the dispenser arrangement confirmed first, because the two listings describe it differently.
