How we decide what fits.
No guesswork, no guarantees. Every number on this site comes from a manufacturer spec sheet or a major retailer's spec table, and the fit math is a plain published-spec check you could redo by hand.
One function checks six things.
The fit finder runs the same check against every unit. Each constraint is a drawing, not a paragraph — open a card for the detail.
A unit fits an axis when its body is inside your dimension minus the clearance you keep. Short by a hair (≤1 in spare) reads tight, not fits.
Dimension detail
We compare body width, depth, and height against the closet numbers you enter, subtracting your requested clearance on each axis. The tightest axis is what the verdict is named after — e.g. "taller than the space by 1.4 in".
Give a door-frame width and the unit's body must clear it to physically get into the room.
Door-frame detail
A unit can fit the closet and still not make it through the doorway or a hallway turn. When the body is wider than the frame you give us, we flag the pinch point before you buy.
If a unit's door-open depth exceeds your closet depth, we flag that you'll load it with the room door open — it doesn't fail the fit.
Door-swing detail
Front-loaders need arc room for the round door and a person to reach in. We surface the swing so a tight-but-fits unit doesn't surprise you on laundry day.
A 240V unit needs a 240V circuit. A 120V unit passes on either outlet.
Power detail
The two receptacles look different for a reason: a standard 120V duplex won't run a 240V vented dryer. Ventless and 120V units are the flexible ones when all you have is a normal wall outlet.
A vented unit needs an exhaust duct. Ventless (condenser / heat-pump) and all-in-one combos pass when you can't vent.
Venting detail
No wall to duct through is the most common blocker in apartments. Condenser and heat-pump dryers close the loop internally and drain the moisture, so they need no hole in the wall.
Units needing a permanent drain fail if you have none. Portables that use a faucet adapter are marked separately.
Drain detail
A standpipe or a laundry sink both work for a permanent hookup. With no drain at all, only a portable that fills and empties at the faucet is realistic — and we tag those so it's clear.
The CLF Score, in the open.
A computed rating over published facts — not editorial opinion. The exact weights, the formula, and every unit's component breakdown are below; re-run the arithmetic yourself and you'll land on the same number. The score is recomputed from the data on every build, and our release gate fails if the published numbers drift from a fresh recompute.
The formula
Weighted blend of four sub-scores
CLF = weighted average of the available sub-scores, each 0-100, with weights Fit Flexibility 0.30, Owner Satisfaction 0.30, Running Cost 0.20, Coverage 0.20. Sub-scores whose source facts are not published are dropped and the remaining weights are renormalized to sum to 1.
| Sub-score | Weight |
|---|---|
| Fit Flexibility | 30% |
| Owner Satisfaction | 30% |
| Running Cost | 20% |
| Coverage (warranty) | 20% |
When a sub-score's facts aren't published (no retailer ratings collected, no EnergyGuide figure, no warranty terms), that sub-score is dropped and the remaining weights are renormalized — a unit is never penalized with a made-up number, and never scored on data that doesn't exist.
What each sub-score measures
Four concerns, published facts only
- Fit Flexibility
- Power flexibility (a standard 120V outlet beats needing a 240V circuit), venting (ventless beats needing a duct), body width against a standard closet opening, and capacity per square foot of floor space. Always computable from the core spec fields, so every unit gets a score.
- Owner Satisfaction
- The count-weighted average star rating across the retailer listings we collected for the unit — each rating line source-locked with an access date — scaled to 0-100.
- Running Cost
- The published estimated annual kWh from the official EnergyGuide label or energystar.gov listing, normalized across the catalog (lower kWh scores higher), plus a small Energy Star certification bump.
- Coverage (warranty)
- Manufacturer warranty terms: parts years, labor years, and a bonus for published extended component coverage (e.g. longer motor or drum terms).
Per-unit breakdown — every component behind every score
| Unit | CLF | Fit Flexibility | Owner Satisfaction | Running Cost | Coverage (warranty) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LG WM1455HWA | 93.5 | 85.9 | n/a | 98.5 | 100.0 |
| Splendide WDC7200XCD | 91.3 | 96.7 | 100.0 | n/a | 70.0 |
| Electrolux ELFW4222AW | 86.6 | 83.5 | 91.8 | 100.0 | 70.0 |
| GE GFW148SSMWW | 85.5 | 83.1 | 88.6 | 100.0 | 70.0 |
| LG DLHC1455W | 82.5 | 81.4 | n/a | 96.5 | 70.0 |
| LG WM3555HWA | 82.5 | 83.4 | n/a | 93.5 | 70.0 |
| GE GFQ14ESSNWW | 81.9 | 80.6 | 82.0 | 95.4 | 70.0 |
| Bosch WQB245B0UC | 81.8 | 81.0 | 79.6 | 98.2 | 70.0 |
| Miele WXD160WCS | 81.4 | 82.1 | 71.6 | n/a | 95.0 |
| BLACK+DECKER BPWM09W | 80.7 | 77.3 | 91.2 | n/a | 70.0 |
| Bosch WGA14400UC | 80.0 | 67.4 | 85.8 | 100.0 | 70.0 |
| Magic Chef MCSCWD27W5 | 79.5 | 85.8 | n/a | n/a | 70.0 |
| GE GFT14ESSMWW | 78.1 | 81.8 | 87.0 | 67.4 | 70.0 |
| Electrolux ELFE4222AW | 78.0 | 82.5 | 85.8 | 67.4 | 70.0 |
| Miele TWB120WP | 73.7 | 97.8 | 52.0 | n/a | 70.0 |
| Whirlpool WET4024HW | 72.7 | 42.5 | 86.4 | 100.0 | 70.0 |
| Samsung WH46DBH500EV | 70.4 | 51.0 | n/a | 100.0 | 70.0 |
| LG WM6998HBA | 67.6 | 83.2 | n/a | 41.8 | 70.0 |
| LG WKEX200HWA | 52.0 | 51.4 | n/a | 5.0 | 100.0 |
| GE GUD27ESSMWW | 47.1 | 47.1 | n/a | n/a | n/a |
"n/a" means the underlying facts aren't published or collected yet; those columns carry zero weight for that unit.
Where the numbers come from
Every dimension, voltage, venting, and drain spec traces to a source record with a URL, access date, and verbatim excerpt. Of 88 sources behind the 20 live units, 49 are manufacturer spec sheets; the rest are major-retailer spec tables used as corroboration. The same fit function powers the "does it fit your space" check on every unit page — one source of truth.
What this is not
A published-spec lookup, not an installation guide and not a guarantee. Real installs vary by vent run, water-line position, and how a crew reads a doorway. Clearance figures are manufacturer minimums — confirm the exact opening, door path, and hookups before you buy, and mind the return window.
Keeping it current
SKUs turn over on roughly one-to-three-year cycles. We re-verify specs and merchant links on a cadence; discontinued models keep their reference page but drop out of the finder.
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