Washers & Dryers (1 Viewer)

[MikeAlletto]

Whirlpool.

My brother has a front loading washer and thinks its great, but I think they are too expensive.

I'm all for things that don't have digital controls for washers and driers. Just think how much more expensive it would be to fix a digital button as opposed to replacing a mechanical dial on one of these.

 

[Shane Martin]

I currently along with several of my family members and friends have a Maytag and I can't for the life of me not recommend them. If their reliability has gone to the way of the do-do bird then I haven't seen evidence of it yet.

Most of the folks that I know that have owned Maytags have had them for 10 yrs + if not longer which is about 3x as long as I can say our previous set(GE lasted).

With Washers and Dryers and like everything else IMHO You do indeed get what you pay for.

FWIW, We paid ~$900 for our set which included the Atlantis series Washer with Stainless steel inerds as well as a front loading dryer(we couldn't justify the extra funds for a front loading washer).

 

[Cary_H]

I suggest that the lifespans of today's washers and dryers is due to "economic decisions" made by the manufacturers. If they were to continue producing units of increasing levels of reliability over the years they'd simply put themselves out of business. Why sell each family one set that lasts them a lifetime when they can sell you three sets over the same time period?
The numbers of years of use being put up in this thread prove this point. The Speed Queen washer in my family hung in 30 years before it was retired. The dryer has seen the half century mark come and go and runs just fine. Granted, the kids left long ago, but it provided for a family of 5 for the better part of two decades with a capacity nowhere near that of today's units.
In my books, the key to getting the most out of today's washers and dryers is to avoid overloading them. Strive to minimize the length and numbers of bends in ductwork on dryers and keep it as lint-free as you can. Install conventional metal duct over plastic flex duct where possible. The flex is far more restictive.

 

[Philip Hamm]

I just got a matching set of Frigidaires with a front loading washer. I did my research with Consumer Reports mostly. Some basic advice that I followed and would pass along from CR and my own preferences:

* Get a front load washer. Don't even consider top loaders. Look at the EnergyGuide! Front loaders use less water, less energy, are quieter, and are much easier on your clothes. Plus you can watch your clothes spin around like at the laundromat!
* Make sure you get a dryer with a moisture sensor. Why pay to heat up dry clothes? Many models will turn off automatically when the clothes are dry. It works great!
* Personally I'm not a fan of electronic gizmos and a million wash cycles. There's only a limited amount of stuff a washer or dryer can do; complicated electronics are useless bells and whistles on them IMO.

My matching Frigidaire set with front loading washer were around $1000 at Lowe's. If you move, you can get a 10% off coupon in the post office moving kit.

 

[Sebastian]

If you want the best go with Maytag. Kenmore and Whirlpool make great products too, just not as good as Maytag.
I have a Kitchen Aid and have had no issues.

 

[Tim Markley]

I bought a pair of Frigidaires (Gallery) with front loading washer and gas dryer 4 years ago. They've both worked great and I couldn't be happier with them. I don't think that I'd ever buy a top loading washer again. You use less water, less power and less detergent with the front loader. I think that the Frigidaires are actually made by Kenmore If I'm not mistaken.

 

[Chas_T]

I've always had good luck with Maytag (15 years no problems) and Kenmore (parents have had theirs forever) when it comes to washers and dryers.

 

[Philip Hamm]

Sears does not manufacture anything, Kenmore appliances are always OEMed by someone else. In this case, the Kenmore would be made by Frigidaire, not vice versa. I'm pretty sure the Kenmore refrigerator in my old townhouse was 99% exactly the same as the Whirlpool Gold Fridge in my new house.

 

[Walt N]

I have the Kenmore/GE/Frigidaire front loading washer and dryer as well. They're the basic Kenmore models, and I paid a little over 1K for both while they were on sale. Lots of usable features, stainless steel drums in both the washer and the dryer, and I couldn't be happier with the performance. I wouldn't own another top loader after this because it does a great job, is easy on clothes, it's very quiet, and you can take a shower while it's running as it uses so little water.

Consumer Reports sure seems to like these units. I wouldn't trust them to pick my speakers for me, but they seem to know their washers.

 

[andrew markworthy]

We've just been buying a washer (well, washer-drier actually, there isn't room for two appliances as we need to fit in a dish washer as well). I hope the following helps:

(a) up-market machines tend to be quieter, have a larger capacity and loads of extra specialist programmes.

(b) do you *honestly* need a slightly quieter machine, a larger capacity and specialist programmes?

(c) washing machines have a horrible tendancy to break down, no matter how expensive (in fact, we're found that the more gizmos a machine has, the higher the probability of a breakdown). We bought the cheapest that didn't actually look shabby, bought a five year fully comprehensive warranty (including new machine free if the old one is irrepairable; and that also entitles us to 20 per cent off a new machine in 5 years' time), so we know that come what may we will have a working machine. Total cost of cheap machine + full warranty = well under half the price of a top market machine. Regarding washing and drying, so far it's worked just fine.

 

[Tim Markley]

Gotcha. I knew it was something like that. That picture looks like mine except that mine has the controls on the front so that the top is totally flat.

 

[Philip Hamm]

Andrew, you are getting clean clothes for sure, and probably paid a good deal less than my entry level front loader. However, I'm paying a lot less money for water and water heating, as well as drying. So yours was less expensive to buy initially but mine is less expensive to operate. Overall which is more expensive is probably a wash (pun - ha ha ha).