Turns out dryers are pretty simple and mostly all decent. It’s the washers that are more complex and you should choose wisely.
I spent like 4 days looking at videos about dryers anyway. It’s like, the most exciting thing to happen this month.
At least my clothes come out dry in one cycle now.
Dryers are super easy to fix as well. You rarely need a new dryer. I know people like to have matching appliances, but if you don’t care just replace your washer as the dryer will last a lot longer.
I skipped the dryer and got a drying rack instead. Hanging my laundry ranks very high on my preferred list of chores - it’s very relaxing to hang it all in the most efficient manner imaginable and then taking them down a day or so later when they are dry and folding them. Makes for some high quality podcast listening time. Plus, I get to save on wear on the clothes, on energy for not using a dryer and in winter I get some free humidification to counteract the dry air. Win/win/win/win.
Speed Queen for washers. Don’t fall for gimmicks.
Edit: originally, I recommended Roper, but it seems the empire has fallen. If you can find an old one, and you’re in need, go for it.
Roper is just Whirlpool now. Their current machines are rebadges of low end Amanas, which are in turn rebadges of low end Whirlpools. Compare the Roper RED4516 with the Amana NED4655EW.
As a matter of fact, compare their parts diagrams.
They’re the same machine. But the Amana has a lower MSRP. Define gimmick how you like and make of that what you will.
Whirlpool makes everything: Themselves, Maytag, Amana, JennAir, KitchenAid, Gladiator, Roper. Even Affresh cleaning products are made by Whirlpool. It’s Whirlpool all the way down. Speed Queen (Alliance Laundry) is at least still independent.
I didn’t know that about Roper, thanks. I guess my main point was just keep it simple. Little musical tunes and shit are just distractions from the fact that you spent 4x what you should have on what’s essentially a wet bucket in a box.
I think the basic models from the lower brands are probably pretty solid- less flash but less to go wrong and economically repairable.
We got a Speed Queen washer and dryer and are happy with them. I’ve also heard that Maytag Commercial is decent but don’t have experience with them myself.
I will say, the Speed Queen appliances have needed someone to come out to service them (something happened with the washer that I can’t recall, and the heating element on the dryer drooped and shorted and then fell apart), but at least the warranty is long enough and there haven’t been any issues with the repair technicians. That’s all I really want - a device that if (when) it has an issue, it’s worth repairing.
The heat pump all-in-one washer / dryers are compelling. A friend has one (I believe it’s LG but may be GE) and he loves it except that one of the pumps fails almost yearly and he has to replace it. I guess he would rather do that than admit defeat and the pump is relatively cheap. Maybe he saves enough time washing and drying his family’s clothes overnight while he sleeps that it’s worth a multi-hour annual surgery.
There’s not much real world time savings to be had with the all-in-one machines except for the potential (or perhaps inevitable) gap between remembering to shovel your laundry from the washer to the dryer. If your life works like mine where you’re doing something else and not paying attention to the laundry machines – riding motorcycles, wrenching on engines, taking obsessively detailed pictures of pocketknives – that slack time can indeed be significant.
The major thing is that the heat pump dryers, including the ones in the all-in-ones, are significantly more energy efficient than a traditional resistive element dryer. Like, up to 70%. (Mind you, “up to” includes a fairly wide range depending on which two models you’re comparing.) You can do your own math but figure that a traditional full sized electric dryer probably uses about 5 kWh per cycle. If you live in one of those trendy areas of the country where electricity is north of 40 cents per kWh, chopping whatever it is you use in half might be appealing.
My next one will be a used commercial washer
If you have any friends that work in assisted living facilities, you may check with them. So many times people pass on and leave appliances behind.
Brilliant! Thanks
But I can play Skyrim on THIS one!
Rhyno you’re looking at your fridge again
let me tell you all about heat pump dryers …
What about them?
They’re the ones that actually have a good reason to be more expensive (because they’re much more efficient).
They are way more efficient and they don’t need a vent !
I just did the same 2 weeks ago! Only difference is i spent about 15 minutes and picked 2 new ones online and got them delivered and hooked up 2 days later. I couldn’t resist when we saw costco had a samsung dryer marked down to $375 which is normally over 1k. I think it’s because it was a color they didn’t make anymore so my win i guess! Best deal I’ve ever found. The washer we just got low-end but different brand then the one we had because it only lasted 5 years. Since we brought 2 items it was another $100 off. Costco was the best since the prices were mostly the same but cost nothing extra for delivery, parts, hookup, and takeaway. I agree, we didn’t care about them matching either so it worked out.
I would literally rather buy a random used washer/dryer pair off Craigslist than a Samsung at any price.
(Source: previously owned a Samsung washer and dryer. Still do, technically, because I salvaged the motors and bearings after they failed just out of warranty due to blatant planned obsolescence.)
My last pair was GE. They both started failing around 4 years but we dealt with the issues for another year until the dryer just stopped moving. I feel like 5 years is our average so if I get that I’ll be ok I guess. I think it’s because my wife is crazy when it comes to clothes and have 2 kids so there’s literally a load to 2 loads every day, and it gets a lot of use compared to others. I remember when it was just myself I did 2 loads a week!
I feel like 5 years is our average so if I get that I’ll be ok I guess. I think it’s because my wife is crazy when it comes to clothes and have 2 kids so there’s literally a load to 2 loads every day
Five years is absolutely unacceptably short, even with two loads a day. Everyone should have much higher expectations than that!
Honestly, I may be doing that soon myself. Our Samsung gas dryer of ~9 years decided to stop working over the weekend. We suspect it’s either the thermistor or belt, but I’m not readily comfy (yet) with ripping the unit open.
Our Samsung dryer quit after five years. This was last summer. Tearing into it and replacing everything was pretty easy. The whole replacement kit for our dryer was $30-40 on amazon
Yeah I’m really tempted to try, but my roomies aren’t too keen on my attempt. We already have a repair scheduled for the weekend. Maybe they’ll be able to educate me during the process.
