The LG1495BD is a beast of a washing machine, with a huge 12kg wash capacity. That may exceed the average wash load of most households, but it means you can easily do a week's load of washing in one go, plus you've got the capacity for large items, such as a king-size duvet.
This model also has a direct-drive motor, which turns the drum without a belt. It should be more reliable, quieter and more efficient. Top this off with steam for refreshing clothes and reducing ironing effort and the F1495BD looks like a great all-round machine.
POWER AND WATER USAGE
The benefits of the direct-drive motor can be seen from the low energy usage in both the Cotton 30C and Cotton 40C cycles we used to test. At 30C we measured just 0.37kW of power, while water was kept to just 42L. With a spin speed of 1,400rpm our clothes came out holding just over 1kg of water, which is impressive. We calculated a wash cost of 17p, which is low for 3kg of washing.
We saw similar results from the 40C wash, which used just 0.4kW of power and 44L. Again, our test clothing was comparatively dry, retaining just over 1kg of water. We calculated that this was cost 18p, which again is excellent.
A direct-drive drum is efficient and more reliable than a belt-driven one
Turning that big drum and performing a more complicated wash cycle soon puts the running costs up, as we found out when we ran the 40C EasyCare cycle. Water usage increased slightly to 56L, but power went up to 1.34kW. We calculated a running cost of 21p per cycle, which is quite a bit higher than for the Cotton cycles.
While those cycle costs let us see how efficient the washing machine is and how changing modes affects the cost, it's through yearly running costs that we can compare different washing machines. To arrive at our figures we use the information on the EU Energy Label (see how we test washing machines for more information).
We worked out that this machine costs £63.90 for high usage, £47.93 for medium usage and £31.95 for low usage. For a 12kg machine this is fairly expensive and you can save even more on running costs by switching down to an 8kg washing machine.
