Washers and dryers - I have no idea what to buy

[Uraniun235]

I'm looking to move out in the next couple of weeks, and I'll need a washer and dryer. I don't know anything about what makes a good washer and dryer, what to look for, what to avoid, etc. Dryers seem relatively straightforward (electric or gas) although if I'm wrong, please let me know! It's washers that really intimidate me.

I think these are the big questions in my mind right now:


New vs Used: How well do used washers and dryers work out? It looks like I could save a pile of money by picking up a used set on Craigslist, but I don't know what the usual lifetime of these appliances are, or what I would look for to make sure I'm not being ripped off.


Front-loading vs Top-loading: Which is best? Wikipedia goes into top-loaders being supposedly less maintenance-intensive yet way less efficient, although my mother has a front-loader and I don't think she's ever had any maintenance issues with it... but I know that anecdotal evidence can be misleading.


Brands: Are there brand names to avoid or to seek out?


Of course, please feel free to tell me anything else about washers and dryers that I either haven't considered, or is just plain interesting.

[TrailerParkJawa]

I think an important consideration is what is your budget? How much are you willing to pay for a washer/dyer? What is your space limitations? Do you have a closet where you need a combo unit or a have to stack two front loaders? Or do you have a space large enough for the units to sit side by side?

If you have a big budget and want quiet then Elextrolux is an option. I was house sitting for a friend and she has an Electrolux washer. I was shocked at how quiet it is. I couldnt hear it when I stepped more than 5' feet away. But its expensive, I think it was $1400.

I paid $1000 for a combo unit from Sears, its quite noisy, has an annoying buzzer you can't turn off but was within my budget at the time.

Are you going to pay for water? Then a front loader might be a good way to save on water. Don't care about water, then go for top loaders cause they are cheaper.

[Uraniun235]

I have enough space to set two units side-by-side, so I don't need to get a combo unit or to stack on top of each other.

I'm pretty sure the landlord pays water, so water efficiency doesn't directly impact my wallet.


The budget thing is sort of hard to answer. If I'm really better off getting a new unit, then I'm willing to drop $1000 on a washer to make it happen, but it's not like I want to spend $1000 on a washer. If I can get away with less than half that for a used model off of CL then I'd love to do that and save the money for use on other, more fun things.

[ClownPrinceofCrime]

I use a top loader when I'm at home, and a front loader when at college. The front loader is easier to use I feel, especially with regards to loading and unloading (depending on your height a top loader is more inconvenient to empty after the wash). Also, if you want to conserve water, front loaders use less water, I believe.

[TimothyC]

Front Loaders:

The good - Less Water, less soap (but you should use the HE stuff, which is more expensive). A good set will last you up to 15 years or so. You can put them on pedestals to make it easier to get stuff in and out. Steam Washers and Dryers are available, letting you do less in the way of ironing. They tend to run faster (the Electrolux sets can do full Cycle drying in about 20 minutes). GE makes the set of pedestals that have an automatic soap dispenser built in. LG has a nice device, that uses a remote display to tell you how long your washer and dryer have left.

The Bad - Cost. Front Loaders can go for 600 to 1500 per piece, plus extras (Pedestals et all). When something goes wrong, it tends to be expensive. Oh and don't forget to take out those shipping pins, or you'll have a thousand dollar piece of junk from day one, and no-one will cover the repairs needed.


Top Loaders:

The Good - Cost. Top loaders top out at about 700 a peice. Less expensive to fix

The Bad - More wear on the clothes than a front loader, more water, more soap.

[Master of Cards]

Washers rust out a lot faster then dryers wear out, so dryers from a matched set last longer.

[Eldalote]

I only have experience with a frontloader, since toploaders are pretty much non-existent over here.

Mine has an energy label A; It uses very little water and electricity, gets the stuff clean good, and I've never had problems with it.
I paid.... 370 euros for it I think.
The brand is "Candy", pretty unfamilliar brand name, but it works perfectly.

My views on dryers: If you have a massive budget to spend on it and the space, go for it. I think they are pretty much useless though, I have the space and theoretically the budget, but I haven't thought about buying one once.
I have a 5 euro rack, which I hang in the bathroom, and everything is dry a few hours later.

I can see that for people who have to do more than one wash a day, It's very useful, but if you've got less than one a day...

[Feil]

I'd suggest buying used. A quick look at Craigslist suggests that you should be able to get both of them for under 300 dollars total. Absolutely buy a dryer used if you're buying a dryer: they last a long time. If you live by yourself, though, I don't see why you'd want one.

Even if your washing machine lasts 1/7 as long as it would have if you buy new, if you buy the machine at 100 dollars, you haven't lost any money.

[Dahak]

I really don't know why front-loaders are so expensive over the pond...
They start at around 300 € here, and are even slightly cheaper than the few top-loaders you can get (though I really don't know anyone who has a top-loader).

[Glocksman]

I have enough space to set two units side-by-side, so I don't need to get a combo unit or to stack on top of each other.

I'm pretty sure the landlord pays water, so water efficiency doesn't directly impact my wallet.

In a lot of areas, water is paid by the landlord because a lot of municipal water systems file liens against the property owner, not the renter, for unpaid water bills.

Given the cost disparity between top and front loader units unless water is hella scarce or expensive where you are, I wouldn't really worry about water usage.

I have an inexpensive Frigidaire washer and dryer set that cost less than $700 brand new 8 years ago and have had no problem out of them whatsoever.

The Gas vs. Electric dryer issue will depend upon what type of hookup is available in the apartment, so I'd wait until you actually move in before buying one.
It'd suck to buy a gas dryer only to find out that your new digs are all-electric.

[TrailerParkJawa]

If you are renting a place then you might want to consider do you intented to bring the units with you to the next place.
My dad bought a Kenmore Washer/Dryer in 1984 when he was renting an apt and we still have them. If you don't plan to take them with you then mabye stick to a lower budget.

[TheLostVikings]

One thing not mentioned is to look at how much electricity/water they use each time, though obviously this can vary depending on the specific program you run them on. However a general figure should be displayed somewhere, at least the stores where I live have it mentioned. (though in small type and in the middle of the info dump at the bottom)

This is important because when I was having trouble deciding between two washers, one slightly more expensive than the other, the added electricity bill from choosing them "cheaper" one would easily rack up the price difference in just a few years of average use. And that was without adding in the added water usage...

[Falkenhorst]

As for the dryer, be sure if you go with Gas that there is a gas hookup. Otherwise electric dryers usually run on 220, so be sure if you're buying a used one you can get it to plug in with no problems. I would hook you up if you lived around here seeing as I have 2 sets of washers and dryers in my shed.

[Themightytom]

I'd suggest buying used. A quick look at Craigslist suggests that you should be able to get both of them for under 300 dollars total. Absolutely buy a dryer used if you're buying a dryer: they last a long time. If you live by yourself, though, I don't see why you'd want one.

Even if your washing machine lasts 1/7 as long as it would have if you buy new, if you buy the machine at 100 dollars, you haven't lost any money.

Ditto that, the reces...er current economic crisis has created a fricking bonanza, but I would obviously test the washer/ dryer before buying

[Count Chocula]

If you're going to buy used, as cliche as this sounds, look for Maytags that are 10-15 years old. Yes, they really are built that well, just like an Electrolux vacuum will last fricking forever. The water usage issue between front-loading and top-loading is not really an issue, since EVERY washer made since, oh, the Truman administration has a setting for load size which saves water.

Having said that, I'd advise you save for a few months and buy new. The recession also means there are mad appliance sales at retailers. I bought a new Whirlpool washer/dryer combo five years ago at a store called Famous Tate's; they were the year-end closeouts and I got a 30% discount and 6-month eaaassssyyy payment terms. If you buy new, you can get a good 10 or more years out of them before they crap out, which is more than you can say for even a good used set.

[Starglider]

It's a shame Dyson stopped making those washing machines with counter-rotating drums, I liked the design and apparently they were very effective (though there were some teething problems with reliability in the first version). I don't know if they were ever on sale in the US.

[Death from the Sea]

I know my mothers MAYTAG washer and dryer set lasted her 25 years. Yes they were maintained by my father and he did minor repairs over the years, but hey they lasted for 25 years. I have a MAYTAG Performa set that I bought in 2002 for about $700 and they have seen heavy use and only on repair to date with a $30 fix to replace the thermostat on the dryer.

SO my advice is find a used set that is not over 10 years and try that, something like slightly used. say 2 to 5 years old if possible.

[Phantasee]

I can only help you with brands, go for Maytag or Whirlpool. I've bought loads of each in my capacity as a Property Manager for several apartment buildings, and they are reliable as fuck. Pick them up new if you can, there should be loads (heh) on sale because of the real estate market crashing and burning (and by new I include a couple years old, they'll be mint condition if the place was foreclosed like everything else). Try going to a local auction, you can get real steals there (for example, my dad picked up a several thousand dollar welding machine for $150 last month).

[Glocksman]

I can only help you with brands, go for Maytag or Whirlpool. I've bought loads of each in my capacity as a Property Manager for several apartment buildings, and they are reliable as fuck. Pick them up new if you can, there should be loads (heh) on sale because of the real estate market crashing and burning (and by new I include a couple years old, they'll be mint condition if the place was foreclosed like everything else). Try going to a local auction, you can get real steals there (for example, my dad picked up a several thousand dollar welding machine for $150 last month).

The washer/dryer combo that my Grandma bought new back in 1972 (she was a pack hound and we found the receipts after she died) lasted us until 2000 with only one breakdown, and that was the door latch for the dryer.

The 'fix' was to prop a piece of wood against it to hold it shut.

The brand was Sears Kenmore, which IIRC at the time were rebadged Whirlpools.

That said, given the hassle I had to go through (basically it took a mediation request from my state's AG) in order to get Whirlpool to honor the warranty on a window air conditioner a few years ago, I cannot recommend Whirlpool at all.

I do agree that estate auctions are a good source of bargains for almost anything.

My best friend's father in law picked up a 2004 low mileage Ford Taurus for $7800 at an estate sale back in 2006 that still had 3 years/40,000 miles of extended factory warranty left.

He wound up 'loaning' my buddy the money for the car and transferred it over to him.
Larry doesn't like to admit it, but if pressed he'll agree that his father in law basically gave them the car because they've only paid back $2000 of the 'loan' since November 2006.

What's really funny to me is that when Larry and his wife got married back in 1988, she brought over $5000 in savings to the union.
He brought about $2000 in consumer credit debt.

The joke among his sometimes envious friends (myself included) is that he must be hung like a horse* if his naturally frugal wife lets him run up debts like he does.

If you have patience, you can find some really good bargains at estate sales.
Just be ready with cash or check in hand and have a truck ready to haul your loot away.


*or a have really long flexible tounge.