First of all, are choose and chose hard words for anyone else? I actually just had to google to figure out which one was the past tense. Anyhow, when we moved in to our new house, we had to buy a washer and dryer right away. I wrote this pros and cons post while trying to decide on a front loader or top loader washer a few months ago. And well, I just realized I never spilled the beans about what we decided to do about that whole debacle. So, without further ado, we got a front loader! There were 2 main reasons we chose a front loader: 1) We found an awesome open box deal at Best Buy 2) We want to stack ’em up. You can’t stack a top loader for obvious reasons. Here’s the open box deal we scored:
If you notice, the washer and dryer are different brands, but they happen to be very similar dark grey graphite color. So, the washer is an LG and the dryer is a Samsung. Some people would probably hate that, but I’ll take an awesome deal over matchy matchy any day! And reason #2 for buying a front loader is that we want to stack ’em up. Our washer/ dryer connections are in our garage, and there is a perfect place for stacking. See how nice it would be to have them right on top of each other in this little nook:
Currently, the dryer is about 3 steps away on the other side of that open door in the pic above. Kind of annoying to drag and drop clean wash on the crusty garage floor when switching from washer to dryer, but that is how it is for now. Stacking is proving to be a little trickier than we first thought since it involves moving the air vent and gas connections to the other side of the door. (We have a gas dryer.) And we have a stone house, so that means you have to cut through stone. Yikesy mama. Back to the front loader, after 4 + months, I really like it! If I had any complaints it would be that the regular cycle takes too long. But, I guess it does it get my clothes super clean, so I can’t really complain.
I also love the hand wash/wool cycle on the washer. So far, it’s allowed me to skip a trip to the dry cleaner. Although, that makes me have to iron more and I’m not a fan of ironing.
As for the dryer, probably my favorite feature is that it does not have a set amount of time to dry, the dryer determines dry time based on load size and weight. Oh and it also sings a little tune to you when it’s done. I like that. To be honest, I have not tried all of the fancy setting like sanitize or wool. I’m in Texas after all, no wool for me right now.
Our open box deal cost $1,439 for both the washer and the dryer. That’s a savings of $1,530 of f of the original sticker prices! Pretty fancy, huh? See:
There you have it, our oh so exciting washer and dryer debacle is solves! Oh one last thing, we had issues with the install of our washer so this is just a word to the wise. If your washer is installed and then you go to use it and it jumps around and turns in circles that means they installation dudes left your transit bolts on your machine. That’s bad. Call and have them come remove the bolts ASAP and your washer will be fine. Or remove them yourself, Andy removed our bolts. Don’t use your washer until they are removed, it will mess up your floor! Transit bolts or shipping bolts are installed to keep the tub from moving around during shipping, but they need to be removed before use. Here’s the washer position after a cycle of jumping and spinning:
Anyone else just bought a washer and dryer? Are you a front loader or a top loader kinda gal? Here’s the pros and cons of top loaders and front loaders, in case you’re in the market. Did you have installation issues? Are you washer and dryer stacked? Have you ever had to cut a new dryer vent hole? Through stone? I’d love to hear… really! Any suggestions or blog posts would be much appreciated!
Comments & Reviews
The other thing to consider is the size of your doorways, stairs/hallway (if going through a hallway or up or down stairs).
We bought our house in June and moved in in July when our lease for our apartment ran out but it didn’t come with a W&D (But it did come with a dishwasher YAY! It was my first time ever using one and even though it seems from the 1970s or ’80s it still works perfect.). (About 23 3/4 inchs at the smallest point) Unfortunately we live on a small side street where the house are the same basic layout as the numbered street next to us but smaller. Both the doors to the house, width of the staurcase and the laundry room in the basement are really small . We only had one option in brands and that’s SpeedQueen. Yhey make commmercial style W+D’s for home use that can be disassembled. but you can’t get them at say a Home Depot or Lowes. We had to find an authorized dealer and there were 2 and they only sold the top loaders.
After reading about the mold/mildew issues with the front loaders I still wanted one because the ONLY thing I liked about the laundromat was watching the clothes swish around in the machines.
All in all though I am happy with my “old style” machines, they are great and are super quick at washing and drying, and get things really clean. What I really do like though is that the warranties on these are great because are are commercial laundromat machines (Not having a coin slot is the only difference) and I expect it to last a good long time.
We even had a 1/4 inch to spare as the minimum size it could fit through was 23 1/2 inches.
Glad you are happy with it.Sounds like a great deal!! I didn’t want all the bells and whistles because the repairman I spoke to said fixing them is quite expensive. He said HF were not all they are cracked up to be either and to go with the basic top loader (comes with delicate for hand washing).
My boyfriend and I had to replace our “laundry center” (ya know, the “spork” of the laundry world top loader washer with front loader dryer) after the washer started spewing oil all over our clothes. It’s like a game of Tetris in the 1/2 bath where we have ours so we had to really look hard for what was going to work in there sizewise. Even most of the front loader’s doors would hit the toilet in front and yikes, we couldn’t fit a dryer with a vent even!
After actual weeks of research, we ultimately ended up springing for the LG stackable with VENTLESS condensing dryer – I have never been happier. Those appliances put a smile on my face every time I hear the little song at the end of the cycle. I thought the ventless would take forever but honestly it isn’t a problem at all and our clothes are SO clean afterwards. Highly recommend these!!
I had no idea there was such a thing as ventless dryers! Good to know!
I know your post is old but for other people reading, They only make ventless dryers in electric models as the exhaust from the gas has to leave the house other wise carbon monoxide or actual combustable gas can build up. So if you want a gas dryer you have to have a vent or have one installed properly.
If you don’t have that or don’t have the money to have a vent installed you have to have an electric dryer.
After reading the first sentence I was should “yes, yes, yes!” in my head. I’m an english teacher and I still struggle with those words. As for matchy matchy versus good deal, I currently have a lovely, fairly new front loading washing machine and a crappy, old, non-energy efficient dryer. Price and necessity are more important to me than pretty and matching.
I love our front loaders!! The clothes come out super clean and I use so much less detergent. I also love the hand wash feature and still have to learn the other cool features lol Perfect for any stains on my toddler (and my husband’s) clothes haha Good luck with the stacking! Wish it was easier for ya :/
Blessings,
Jacy
http://www.jacyleepulford.com
Oops. Forgot to add: We were told that to stack you have to use the same make and model. So for us we had to get a matching set, versus a dryer that was cheaper and a different model.. Hope that makes sense!
We bought a stackable Kenmore set back in February. Best thing ever. My only concern with yours is that can you really stack the two different brands? We had to buy Kenmore stacker kit, to allow them to securely stack. My guess would be buy the kit for the washer ( since its on the bottom, and the bracket goes onto that first, then slide washer into bracket) and then hope the dryer’s feet line up!
I think we are actually going to build our own stacking kit 🙂 Those kits are expensive!
My parents have a front loader and I LOVE it! If i ever have my own place that can have a washer and dryer (curse you tiny apartment!) I would totally get one. Theirs is almost 10 years old and they do so much more now! And I LOVE how samsungs sing when they are done. It makes me happy!
We bought a washer/dryer during a president’s day sale at a super deep discount. We needed something that would stack, but the pre-stacked options are pretty bad quality and small, so we opted for individual units and a stacking kit. Something you need to check is what kind of hookup you have for the dryer. We needed a gas dryer, which costs extra and needs to be installed by a plumber…which costs even more. But….I think you did the right thing in buying front loading- they save water, which is a total plus. Yay, welcome to the washer/dryer owning community 😉
Yea, we have gas! Stacking is going to be a big project! High five to saving water 🙂
The only bad thing I have heard about front loaders (until I read your post on the pros & cons) is that they do not wash cloth diapers very well. But, if you don’t have babes in cloth diapers, I guess that would not matter! I do like the look of the front loader, but until the diapers are done, I’m sticking with a top loader.
Good to know! I wonder why that is?