Introduction

Despite the fact that we don't really have much of a market for combination units like this one—at least not at present—its size alone increases the likelihood of Haier transitioning machines of its kind into the American market at some point in the future. It may not be the most elegant of Haier's products, but it had enough interesting features to keep our focus. Since most consumers here are used to buying units separately, however, the company would have to come up with a clever way to market the price: even though it breaks down to about $1200 for a washer and dryer each, even the most logical consumers are bound to suffer some sticker shock with a number that high.

Front

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The white washer/dryer has an opaque door with a recessed handle. If nothing else, the uniform white finish makes it recede somewhat into the background. American models tend to have colored or metal highlights that draw focus to a washer or dryer, something that not every consumer may want.

Controls

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This is the biggest positive feature about the Gaea 80 1427, and you can read more about how the controls work in our Usability section. The majority of the controls are handled using a touchscreen that pops out vibrantly from the rest of the appliance; it's very easy to read and quite gentle on the eyes.

Drawer

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Interior

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The interior drum is finished with stainless steel, a mark of good production. Stainless drums don't flake or rust, a problem which can occur on enamel models.

The inside of the sanitizer drawer was rather bland, but then, it's not something anyone would ever have to look at that often. It looks more or less like the inside of an oven, grey with a bit of a texture to it.

Sides

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Back

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Electricity Use

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Cost Per Wash

Yearly Running Cost

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Detergent Dispenser

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Washer Door

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The door itself was fine as far as opening and closing it were concerned, but we had some trouble actually finding the handle. The door sticks out a bit from the interior frame, which means the whole door could essentially work as a handle grip. It took us a bit to get used to this, as there's no clear indication when the door is shut as to which way it opens. It's more or less a design issue rather than a problem with functionality, thankfully, meaning the more time we spent with the product, the less trouble we had with it.

Ease of Use

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As with any combination unit, you have to be careful about how much clothing you throw in from the start. This device can apparently wash 8 kilograms, or just under 18 pounds, without a problem, and dry 5 kilograms, or roughly 11 pounds per load. It's a problem that has to be dealt with on every combination unit, so don't begrudge the Haier too much. What we want to focus on is the sanitizer drawer.

There's a pull-out compartment under the main washer/dryer drum—sort of like where you would find a broiler on certain ovens—that can be used to remove odors from garments that don't hold up well to regular machine washing and drying. The examples we were given involved stinky shoes or suit jackets smelling of smoke: just stick the offending material in the drawer, activate the appropriate function on the touch pad, and your clothes will come out smelling fresh and ready to wear again. Now, as far as what's actually happening to clothes...we're not sure. Promotional material says that it releases "a shower of negative ions", but whether that involves the use of heat, steam, or some other chemical, biological, or electrical reaction remains just a bit shaky. The machine itself was very much a low-priority item among all the others featured at Haier's display area, but the principal behind the drawer is a good one. Cleaning—or at least removing odors from—delicate items like suit jackets and exercise garments by using this drawer is a cheap and effective way to make clothes ready for another outing without having to spend tons of money on dry cleaning.

Controls

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The Power and Start buttons are an absolute pain in the neck to use...or to be more accurate, a pain in the finger. These buttons are operated using two thin metal strips. We couldn't figure out just how they worked, and no one could tell us—whether we were supposed to brush the strip in a certain direction, hold our finger on it, or push down, turning the machine on was basically a crap shoot. It took a solid minute of standing there with our hands on the darn thing to make it work, and it wasn't just us: the people from Haier had to do the same thing.

Conclusion

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What's clear to us is that the Gaea 80 1427 is a product with a great deal of potential. The sanitizing drawer is a very novel idea, and a potentially cheaper alternative to time-consuming trips to the dry cleaners or pricey and disposable Dryel bags. If they can figure out how to improve the power button, the touch screen could be a very nice feature; it's being experimented with by other manufacturer's, though, so Haier will have to pick up the pace to hold their own in that regard. This could all be moot as far as American consumers are concerned, though, as Haier hasn't made a huge move to enter our market just yet. As with so many other fields of technical and aesthetic innovation, we'll simply have to wait and see what happens.

Specs

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