New warsher and dryer

[Dave Lehnert]

Need a new set. What are the deal with the new front load units everyone is buying? What is a good brand to look at to start my search?

[Jim Becker]

Front loader use less water and when placed at the right height are easier on the back. One down-side is that they don't have quite the capacity as a "really big" top loader.

I started with Consumer Reports, despite knowing what I wanted for our new laundry room in the addition...and also ended up with them. LG SteamWasher and LG SteamDryer. Both have been excellent in performance and the washer has about the largest capacity of a front loader available. The special spin mode for wood floors reduces vibration during the spin cycle, too.

[Paul Downes]

You might also check out Staber washing machines. We bought one a # of years ago and liked it pretty well. It is completely homeowner repairable. It is a top-loader horizontal drum machine. They use about 1/4 of the soap ( low sudsing) and a third of the water that a regular washer uses. I think we bought ours through Big Frog Mountain.

[Eric Larsen]

My wife wants to install a commercial Wascomat washer/dryer. Lord knows why, but that's what she wants.


http://www.wascomat.net/docs/sect03/inst_wwashers.jsp

[Pat Germain]

Be aware the old name brands aren't what they used to be. I've heard horror stories about recent Maytag and Whirlpool purchases. Those brands served me well in the past, but they have changed hands and you just can't tell these days.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

And yet Pat....we bought new Maytags 2 years ago and the wife couldn't be happier......I think it's like everything else. I don't buy the bottom end or top end of a product line.

[Ken Garlock]

We bought the Whirlpool Duet washer/dryer pair when we moved into our new house back in the fall of 2002. It has worked without a problem since the installation. However I did replace the door pull on the washer last month. I bought the handle at the dealer, and installed it in less than 5 minutes.

The washer uses Tide HE(high efficiency) detergent. And now that it is now 2X strength, it only takes about 1/4 cup to wash a load. :eek:

Take a look at the Whirlpool website (http://www.whirlpool.com/custserv/other_sites.jsp), it is parent company to nearly all the household appliance names of years past.

[Tom Godley]

Of the old US brands - those made by Whirlpool normally are higher rated than GE. Whirlpool also owns Maytag - and the Maytags built today are Whirlpools not the other way around :( A few companies make most of them.

The front loaders use less water, and the agitation systems allow you to use less detergent - all good things. They cost more that the top loaders - often more than three times.

I have both types and to be honest I really can not tell the difference in the results. My sister swears that in a front loader she needs to double rince her bath towels?? Some complain about the vibration in some front loaders when placed on second floor laundry rooms ?? Mine is fine - but it is in the basement. With the amount of laundry we do the water savings is minimal compared to other activities around the house.

The one thing I will advise is that the front load washers take longer to finish a cycle -- the Bosch up to 90 Min !! This can slow things down when you are in hurry.

[Michael Weber]

We bought the Maytag front loaders before they were purchased by Whirlpool. Worked well while it lasted. After about 4 years the single bearing in the rear of the washer drum failed. Turned out this was a common problem and basic flaw in the design. Too much stress for one bearing. Not sure if other brands have this problem. Oddly, the failed bearing was not replaceable. One had to buy the whole drum assembly. I replaced with a decent top loader for less. The dryer that came with the set is still working fine after many years.

[Ken Garlock]

Of the old US brands - those made by Whirlpool normally are higher rated than GE. .....

The one thing I will advise is that the front load washers take longer to finish a cycle -- the Bosch up to 90 Min !! This can slow things down when you are in hurry.

Tom, I agree that GE appliances create a very strong intense low pressure area. (they suck). :p

The time spent doing a laundry cycle is a function of the machine setting. We use 'normal/casual' and it takes 40 minutes. If you crank it up to 'sanitary' it can take around an hour and a half.
OHOH, our Bosch dishwasher will take from 110 to 125 minutes to complete a cycle. IT is quiet and the dishes are clean, that is something we could not say about our previous Whirlpool DW.:)

IMO if you sister needs an additional rinse cycle, she is using too much detergent. Our Duet will just quit running with a readout of 'SUD' when it thinks there is too much soap being used. We just restart the cycle from the beginning without any additional detergent, and everything is OK.

[JohnT Fitzgerald]

We took the plunge into front-loaders a few years ago, and got the Kenmore Elite washer and dryer (similair to the Whirlpool Duet). Overall we're very pleased.

They use less water and also less detergent. Also, I tend to believe that they're "easier" on the clothes. It also seems as though it's easier to get clothes "clean", especially in larger loads. It has a lot of different wash options, and while we do use some of them, we use no where near all of them. With the optional pedestals, they're at "just the right height". If they were in the basement instead of the 1st floor, I would have just built a platform for them - otherwise they'd be much too low.

The cons: they spin FAST, so make sure it's leveled properly otherwise it'll shake the house. Once adjusted, ours is silky smooth. Also, we had a bad washing machine - apparently this and similair whirlpools had issues with the controller board. After fighting with Sears for 4 weeks for a replacement part (they had a shortage of replacement boards because of all the problems they were having - go figure!), I managed to get someone at Sears to commit to replace the machine. A new one was delivered 2 days later, and it's been perfect ever since. Also - it's limited in right-hand or left-hand doors. for us, it was preferable to have the dryer on the left and washer on the right but the door configuration prevented it (and I couldn't find any kit to make it possible), so it took some creative piping and ducting.

[Jerome Hanby]

My wife and I researched this subject to death and ended up with the Tromm model units from LG. Bouncing back and forth between HD, HH Greg, and Best Buy, we got Best Buy to give us the best price, about $2200 including the pedestals and remote monitor (it's using a power-line modem, so you may have to trial and error to find an outlet that shares a leg with the washer).

The washer uses very little in the way of consumables (common for all front loaders, I imagine) and does an amazing job cleaning. The dryer is drys clothes so quickly, that my old routine of loading the dryer then working two hours in the shop is shot.

We've had them about six months, so I can't speak directly about long term reliability, but we've been so impressed with LG that we are looking seriously at their refrigerators (we're so unimpressed with our current Samsung fridge that we dismissed the Samsung washer and dryers out of hand)

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Need a new set. What are the deal with the new front load units everyone is buying? What is a good brand to look at to start my search?

I got a Bosch. If the Dryer Vent were on the other side I'd have got a Melie.

So think about how you want toe doors to open.
I like 'em to swing in the opposite direction from each other so stuff from the washer goes right over to the dryer. without having to pas it over the dryer or washer door. It's a straight shot.

I think they colluded to have one company do one and the other do the flip side. They have reversible dryer doors but now on the washers.

So far I like the Bosch really well.
The washer spins at something like 1200 RPM as silent as you please and the cloths come out nearly dry.
The amount of soap and bleach you use is like less than 1/4 what a top loader might use.

[Bob Rufener]

We bought a Fisher Paykel washer a number of years ago and my wife is very happy with it. Not a lot of moving parts and it spins the clothes very well. Almost sounds like it is going to take off out of the laundry room it spins so fast.

[Tom Godley]

I have a house in the city -- when I bought the place -- it had a old Maytag washer that Moses used on the ark and a cheap GE electric dryer -- both not quite right

I was going to replace them -- but decided to wait because I was going to do some remodeling and I did not want the new ones to get destroyed by the contractors. I went to the parts store bought some belts and clips and a new coil for the dryer --- that was five years ago.

For some reason I just can not get excited about washer/ dryers or want to spend 2k on them -- now tires -- lets talk tires :)

[Kyle Kraft]

If you have some spare time, try Googling "duet washer bearing failure". PM me if you would like a personal story on this.

[Jim Becker]

Well, Tom, do I have a DEAL for you for the new place in the country if you're looking for (inexpensive) laundry gear...LOL (I have extras)

[Dave Verstraete]

Dave
Tell your wife that the new washer/dryer set is for her birthday and that you would like her to get you a new planer with a spiral head for your birthday.

That should elicit a reply!!

[Tom Godley]

Jim thats funny -- I brought the old stuff up to the "country". Those old Maytag units are heavy!

But i may be interested :)


TAG

[Dave Lehnert]

Thanks!

A lot of good info.

[Greg Just]

Ask about mold problems with the front loaders when you are shopping. With some, the water doesn't drain properly from the large rubber gasket that seals against the front door. I have a Kenmore and it has been a problem