Washer/Dryer Recommendations

[rolodetective]

Speed Queen....stretch to afford it if you have to. Not only will it last 25 years, it will provide a superior wash, every wash, for all of those years. Full tub water fill, old school agitator upright and a 24 minute (normal) wash cycle.

I paid $791 out the door for mine which included delivery to my basement, installation and removal of my old unit. I never set foot in the store as I knew exactly what I wanted. I called on a Monday, paid for it over the phone and we were doing laundry in the new machine on Tuesday.

It replaced a whirlpool piece of **** that was an under-performing, water spritzing, frisbee agitator, that was a piece of **** since the day it rolled off the assembly line.

Anymore....home grade stuff is garbage. Gotta go as close to commercial as you can find.

Speed Queen, Ricar, viking, sub zero those are some of the top performing, longest lasting brands most people have never heard of because they haven't seen a commercial for them or seen them in Home Depot. Don't be afraid to spend 30-50% more if it will outlast/outperform the other "mainstream" brands by 5-10 times.

 

[EvilElmo]

DO NOT get the high efficiency top load units. I bought a Maytag Bravos XL this past summer. Highly rated and got it because it would handle bedding like a champ. No center agitator. I've pulled out loads where there were actually dry spots on the clothes, and when we wash bedding, there's soap residue on the comforter if we don't do the deep water wash and extra rinse. Even then, it'll sometimes leave residue.

This. 1000 times this. I have the same washer and it is a steaming pile of monkey ****. Not even 4 years old and I've already had to replace the drive shaft and bearings (NOT covered by the warranty after year 1), and the washer is very poorly designed. Here's a list of the flaws I've found so far:
1. If you have too much water pressure in your supply lines the incoming water spray will overshoot the funnel it's supposed to drop into, leaving you with a nice puddle on the floor as it runs down the outside of the tub and inside of the body. I have to keep my supply valves half closed.
2. Very fragile drive system. Squeaks like crazy, even after I replaced the entire drive shaft and bearings.
3. It never fully drains. There is ALWAYS water sitting in the tub, which will ultimately grow mold. Yes we keep the lid open unless it's actually running. It smells to the point where I have to open it up and clean it out every few months. Would you want your clothes getting cleaned in this:
[video=youtube;hNL2CBnQw4M]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNL2CBnQw4M[/video]

This is the first and LAST maytag POS I'll ever own. And now that Maytag is owned by Whirlpool they share designs, so do yourself a favor and avoid Whirlpool too. I know I will.

For that matter I'd recommend you avoid any and all "high efficiency" washers across the board. They're just like "low flow" toilets - neither one uses enough water to get the job done.

 

[dusty88]

Speed Queen....stretch to afford it if you have to. Not only will it last 25 years, it will provide a superior wash, every wash, for all of those years. Full tub water fill, old school agitator upright and a 24 minute (normal) wash cycle.

You can also get a front-loader from SQ but I think you have to go into their commercial line, which costs even more. We may do that when our current cheap washer craps out. I do really like a front-loading design especially for large loads. And I intend to have the next one last through my retirement years, so I figure I want the height.
The other thing I don't like about a traditional top loader is that if you ever do have a flood (ours was a frozen drain pipe, but I remember years ago when my mom's washer simply malfunctioned and kept filling) you get big floods. Is there any kind of part on a Speed Queen to help reduce the chance of flooding (obviously they could do nothing about the situation we had where it was overflowing at the drain pipe)?

I paid $791 out the door for mine which included delivery to my basement, installation and removal of my old unit. I never set foot in the store as I knew exactly what I wanted. I called on a Monday, paid for it over the phone and we were doing laundry in the new machine on Tuesday.

that's pretty much what I did with the dryer. I knew our next replacements would be Speed Queen, and Crawfordsville has a dealer. I went online and picked their best consumer model and just ordered it. I would have liked the height of a front loader or commercial size, but we are going to put it on a wooden pedestal later when we redo the laundry room.

Anymore....home grade stuff is garbage. Gotta go as close to commercial as you can find.

Speed Queen, Ricar, viking, sub zero those are some of the top performing, longest lasting brands most people have never heard of because they haven't seen a commercial for them or seen them in Home Depot. Don't be afraid to spend 30-50% more if it will outlast/outperform the other "mainstream" brands by 5-10 times.

Yes I've been really disgusted the last few years with appliance durability. I question the wisdom of "efficiency" and "energy star" ratings of appliances. Sure, the power savings help pay for the replacement but what is happening to our theoretical global energy savings when we have to remanufacture something every 7 years that used to last 25 years or more? That's not to mention food loss when refrigeration units break, water damage from leaks or floods, time and cost of shopping and delivering, etc.

We've went through 3 Bosch dishwashers. You can buy FEATURES at the typical home stores but not durability. We currently have a Meile sitting in the store waiting to install when our kitchen reno is finished. We are hoping it can prove better than the others.

I ordered a used Wolf range. I'm not sure stoves are made as poorly as other appliances... but I wanted the high BTUs on the burners as cooking is a high priority for us. I bought it at about half of new price; Wolf has been making the same model for over 10 years.

For a refrigerator, I stayed with the new home-store "junk". However, I wasn't willing to pay big bucks for the new features knowing they wouldn't last. I bought a Whirlpool that looks nice on the outside, has fairly cheap plastic shelves and I won't cry so much if/when it quits. We are making a point of keeping our meat in the deep freeze because if it ever quits working suddenly the cost of the food lost can be significant. I couldn't find a SubZero or similar model for anything less than $7K, even used. And they were all the "counter depth" which is less capacity than we wanted. If this frig lasts less than 10 years though we may search out something better next time.

On a related note: did you know that faucets sold at the box stores aren't the same parts as the faucets sold at plumbing supply stores? We have a Delta shower system that is 10 years old and needs several new parts. Delta has a lifetime guarantee, but they aren't making that style anymore. If they can't get us the parts, and they don't make a new one that is similar, we have to change the tile to make it fit correctly. Fortunately, I saved some of the tile but apparently the attitude is just "oh well just retile your whole shower every so often"

Anyway, two different friends of mine happen to be in the plumbing distributing business (in other states, so they have no skin in my game). They told me that a faucet sold at the box store may look the same and even have the same name. But the model numbers and internal parts are somewhat different. So had we bought the Delta at a plumbing dealer it probably wouldn't be wearing out.
So I just paid twice the "box price" for our new kitchen faucet at Lee Supply. As a bonus, I told the rep about the situation with our Delta shower system. Delta has been "OK" but difficult going through emails and 800 numbers. She promised to talk to her rep and see if he could find a solution easy to change out (we did not buy the Delta from them, but if they do well by us we may go back as we continue our home renovations).

 

[DeadeyeChrista'sdad]

I ran my heaviest quilt through the roper the other day. It did a good job, and still had room to spare. The old whirlpool just could not wash that quilt. Except for the softener dispenser cheapness, I'm pretty pleased. So far.