washer and dryers

[stevie]

I am considering getting a new clothes washer and dryer and I'm looking at the front loaders for the energy savings. When I purchase, I'll probably get the extended warranty to 5 years.

I have looked at various brands. At this point, the Bosch washer/dryer from Lowes seems to be the best price. The Lowes 5 year warranty (actually 4 years added on) is $140.

I kind of ruled out Maytag Neptune because of reliability; also understand there was a class action lawsuit against the Neptunes.

Sears Kenmore might be OK, but 5 year warranty costs are pretty high. Kenmore reliability seems to be good.

For some reason, I haven't seen too many Whirlpool front loaders. I wasn't sure about the LG brand; Home Depot sells them. I don't know how reliable LG is. The Sears salesman said that GE washers/dryers are made by LG.

Does anyone have experience with the Bosch brand? The Bosch front load washer and dryer at Lowes both had stainless steel drums. I have noticed that most front load washers have stainless drums, but not all dryers.

Is it really worth the extra costs associated with front load washers? In about a year, our household will just be my wife and I, so I'm not sure we really need a front load washer. Maybe a conventional top loader will do for us.

Thanks for any replies and/or opinions.

[cafukahn]

Bosch is very big in Europe and considered an excellent brand for most of their products. I have heard they more costly to fix and to get parts for in the US.

[Appliance Repair Aid]

Hi,

These may help...

jeff. Appliance Repair Aid

[trader4]

I think it's very questionable if the energy savings of a front loader will justify the difference in cost, which is considerable. A family of two isn't going to use it that much. The main savings is in the amount of hot water used and that depends on what your cost of heating water is.

The other advantage that front loaders are supposed to have. The most interesting one is that they are supposed to clean better. Just looking at how they work, I would think that is likely true, as the clothes are constantly moved around more. For that reason, I might consider one next time, however I also don't really have any complaints about how clean the clothes come out of my top loader either. :)

[jah213]

I have a Sears Kenmore front loader (for the record, it's almost 5 years old and has been completely trouble-free so far). Front loaders definitely get clothes cleaner. They are also much gentler on your clothes, which results in not only fewer snags and tears in the wash, but less fading (surfaces aren't roughed up as much). As a result, there is probably some savings in clothes over the long run. They use much less water and accommodate much larger loads, so the water savings is not only on hot water but on amount used, which could represent significant savings if you do a lot of laundry and pay for your water. They also run much more quietly, which might be a factor if your laundry room is near your living areas.

However, they also use HE (high efficiency) detergents which, in my market at least, are not as common (3 brands), rarely go on sale, and don't come in the jumbo money-saving sizes. And, as pointed out, there is a sizeable difference in initial cost.

Balancing everything, I like the front loader enough that I will probably never buy another top loader.

Jo Ann

[hallerb]

the costs saved in water, fuel to heat water and sewage will never equal the upfront costs:( Plus front loaders are less friendly to load and unload, often require a extra cost pedastal, and even with the extended warranty at 5 years repair costs can be @#$ how old is your present washer and dryer?

whats repair costs been for them?

I have a bosch DISHWASHER, quet cleans great and has broke down twice in 3 years both requiring expensive parts replacement:( Bosch dishwashers are rated dead last for reability by consumer reports....dont know about their clothes washers

LG has a interesting unit its a washer dryer combo. load clothes, push button they come back washed and dried, no moving of stuff from one machine to another. Very convenient but I have never talked to a owner

The push to energy saving appliances is wonderful if its at least close to being cost effective. Sadly front loaders arent there yet:(

EXCEPT for the marketing department... rather than spending 700 bucks for a laundry pair they get 2 or 3 times that out of you, and higher cost products usually have bigger profit margins, let alone the downstream income on parts and service once the warranty expires....

for the manufacturer its wonderful!

sears has some top load no agitator models that use less water you might investigate that.....

let us know what you finally select i am curious...

[Mark]

Just bought a new clothes washer...bought a Fisher and Paykel which is made in New Zealand. Good thing about this one is that it uses about the same amount of water as a front loader, and when it spins, it spins at 1000 RPM where as other top loaders spin at approx. 600 RPM. The clothes come out of the spin cycle pretty dry. And, what used to take an hour of dryer time now takes less than 40 minutes. Take a look at this washer before you drop money on a Bosch....still using the same old Maytag dryer.

Mark

[Art]

I bought a Maytag Neptune front loader washer 8 years ago. We used it 5 years then gave it to my parents when they moved to the area. We bought a Kenmore Whirlpool front loader to replace it. It is slightly bigger and that is why we bought it. We wash a king size comforter often.

I see one model of the Maytag Neptune front loaders selling for around $650 at Lowes and Home Depot. The one we gave to my parents only broke once in 8 years so at $650 I would definitely buy it again now. We paid about $1000 when we bought it. I would not be too concerned about the repair issue. Like I said we had only one repair in 8 years. Some people had mildew problems and some had control panel and door lock problems. Those issues were all redesigned long ago and most people who complained to Maytag got theirs upgraded for free. We did. The lawsuit actually screwed things up for people. It set cut off dates for the free upgrades.

The first Kenmore Whirlpool washer we had was replaced by Sears because of a bad welding job at the factory and bad pump. They are very vibration prone and if you don't have a strong floor, forget it.

At the cost of repairs these days, I am now buying appliances at Lowes because of their cheap 4 year service agreements.

[stevie]

i should mention that my present washer & dryer are 22 years old. they are maytags and still running ok.

service on these units has been minimal, but i don't believe that will be the case with present day maytags.

my thinking (which might be flawed) was to sell my present machines while they still work ok. it would be difficult to sell them if they had problems. then use what money received from old machines to apply to new ones.

several sales persons have said that present day machines will last about

whats repair costs been for them?

I have a bosch DISHWASHER, quet cleans great and has broke down twice in 3 years both requiring expensive parts replacement:( Bosch dishwashers are rated dead last for reability by consumer reports....dont know about their clothes washers

LG has a interesting unit its a washer dryer combo. load clothes, push button they come back washed and dried, no moving of stuff from one machine to another. Very convenient but I have never talked to a owner

The push to energy saving appliances is wonderful if its at least close to being cost effective. Sadly front loaders arent there yet:(

EXCEPT for the marketing department... rather than spending 700 bucks for a laundry pair they get 2 or 3 times that out of you, and higher cost products usually have bigger profit margins, let alone the downstream income on parts and service once the warranty expires....

for the manufacturer its wonderful!

sears has some top load no agitator models that use less water you might investigate that.....

let us know what you finally select i am curious...

[motsbc]

One of the more important aspects of buying laundry equipment is checking the length of warranty. Some manufacturers are lessening their warranty length on parts such as transmissions and motors and pushing extended warranties. If you're considering a front load washer, first ensure that your laundry room floor is rigid enough to handle the higher spin speed and horizontal force that a front load distributes. Foreign machines are fine but first check with repair shops to verify that you will be able to get factory authorized service for in warranty problems. Also check on parts availability. It's no fun to wait a month or more for hard to get parts. Haire is terrible for this.