Should I buy an integrated or a freestanding washing machine?

The choice is usually presented as an aesthetic one, and it partly is. But integrated machines differ from freestanding ones in several practical ways that only become obvious once the machine is behind a door, and every one of them is a downside. It is still a reasonable choice — just make it knowing what it costs.

What you'll need

• The kitchen layout
• The door aperture and hinge side
• The unit door weight, for the hinge kit (optional)

Step by step

1. Accept the capacity penalty.An integrated machine sits inside a carcass, so the drum is smaller for the same 600mm opening. Integrated capacities top out lower than freestanding ones — commonly 7 to 8kg where freestanding reaches 10 or more.
2. Expect a smaller field of choice and a higher price.Far fewer models are made, so competition is thinner and prices are higher for equivalent specification. You will also have less choice on spin speed and noise, which are the two things worth choosing on.
3. Think about noise properly.A cupboard door does muffle the sound, but a machine bolted to a unit transmits vibration into the carcass and the worktop, which can make the whole run of units resonate. Whether it ends up quieter depends entirely on how well it is fitted.
4. Consider servicing before you consider looks.Cleaning the pump filter, checking a hose or getting an engineer to a fault all mean unscrewing the machine from the carcass and drawing it out past a fitted door. It is a twenty-minute job every time instead of a two-minute one.
5. Check the plumbing and the socket are still reachable.Behind an integrated machine, the tap, the waste and the socket all disappear. Make sure the isolating valve can be reached without dismantling the run, and get a switched spur fitted somewhere accessible if the socket cannot be.
6. Confirm the door kit matches the machine and the door.Integrated machines use a sliding-hinge or fixed-door system, and the two are not interchangeable. The unit door has a weight limit; a heavy solid door on a sliding hinge system will not stay aligned.
7. Weigh a semi-integrated compromise.Some designs put the controls on show above a decor door. It solves the practical problem of not being able to see the display without opening a cupboard, at the cost of the seamless look that was the point.
8. Decide what you are actually buying.If an unbroken run of doors is important to how the kitchen works for you, that is worth money and there is nothing wrong with paying it. If it is not, freestanding gives you a bigger, cheaper, better-specified and far more serviceable machine.

Tips

• If you go integrated, put the pump filter clean in the calendar. It is the maintenance job people skip precisely because it is awkward, and skipping it is what causes the sudden mid-cycle failure.
• Leave the machine's own feet properly adjusted even inside a carcass. Fitters sometimes rely on the surrounding units to stop movement, which transmits every spin into the kitchen.
• A tall plinth or a shallow carcass can leave the machine unable to be drawn straight out. Check that it will come out before it goes in.

Common mistakes

• Assuming an integrated machine is quieter — The door muffles airborne noise, but a machine fixed into a unit run couples its vibration into the whole kitchen. Fitting quality decides the outcome, not the door.
• Losing access to the water and power isolation — A leak is the one situation where you need the tap and the socket immediately. If both are buried behind a fixed machine, you have designed out your own emergency stop.

Questions people ask