New Groovy Washing Machine
- Thread starter samclem
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ladelfina
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The extra cost of the machine is due to its rarity in the US market, nothing more. In Europe, 99% of the washers are front-load (or top-load like the machine samclem describes, which still has the drum rotating perpendicularly to the floor, rather than parallel to it). They are not "upscale" by any stretch of the imagination. They work with gravity to move the clothes around, instead of relying on brute force. They enjoy all the energy/water/detergent savings mentioned. There are American-style 'agitator' models on the market here, but they cost far more (again, due to higher energy costs and thus low demand / low production).
What you can't get here is a gas dryer (one or two models maybe, that cost around $1500), though gas is cheaper per load than electric drying. Everyone instead has laundry strung out in their living room.
What you can't get here is a gas dryer (one or two models maybe, that cost around $1500), though gas is cheaper per load than electric drying. Everyone instead has laundry strung out in their living room.
Spouse drew the line at that energy-saving proposal. Best I could do was a hanging rack on the back of the garage's side-exit door.ladelfina said:
Chevron's Oahu propane-refining plant has just gone on the blink for an extended period and we're facing a propane shortage. Propane-carrying ships are on the way but it's still gonna put a crimp in a lot of utility bills.
cute fuzzy bunny
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Detergent costs for a top loader run about 15c-32c a load depending on whether you're using uncle bobs super duper laundry detergent or tide.
About 90 top loader loads for a $15 jug of costco's tide equivalent. By my front loader usage, the same jug gets me roughly 450 loads of laundry. $50-60 bucks a year in savings. My washer does a load for half of the electric usage that Nords top loader does, so at my numbers thats saving me about $20 a year in electricity. I'll go out on a low limb and say its saving me $10 a year in water. So $80-90 a year in direct material cost savings.
I paid a few hundred bucks for costco jeans, short, sweat shirts and tee shirts...my basic wardrobe. Everything that I bought 5-6 years ago is still perfectly usable if I havent stained or ripped it. Annual wardrobe cost since going to ER: zero.
Oh yeah, and I can put WAY more stuff in this than a top loader. About 9 pairs of jeans or a california king comforter all fit easily. So I'm doing fewer loads. Didnt even factor that into the calcs.
About 90 top loader loads for a $15 jug of costco's tide equivalent. By my front loader usage, the same jug gets me roughly 450 loads of laundry. $50-60 bucks a year in savings. My washer does a load for half of the electric usage that Nords top loader does, so at my numbers thats saving me about $20 a year in electricity. I'll go out on a low limb and say its saving me $10 a year in water. So $80-90 a year in direct material cost savings.
I paid a few hundred bucks for costco jeans, short, sweat shirts and tee shirts...my basic wardrobe. Everything that I bought 5-6 years ago is still perfectly usable if I havent stained or ripped it. Annual wardrobe cost since going to ER: zero.
Oh yeah, and I can put WAY more stuff in this than a top loader. About 9 pairs of jeans or a california king comforter all fit easily. So I'm doing fewer loads. Didnt even factor that into the calcs.
MasterBlaster
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different models aside, I wonder if the price of the tumblers won't come down as time goes on. When I looked a couple of years ago they werer all over $1000. Now you can get em' for ~$500 or so.
Like VCR/CD/DVD players I'll bet that next time I need one ( a washer) that the tumblers are competitive in price.
Brat
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Nords said:
Thanks for the heads-up. We left-coast propane users will check our tanks before our suppliers get hit with an availability crunch and jack-up prices.
MasterBlaster
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Didn't Hawaii have some mandatory pricing caps on gasoline based on mainland prices?
From what I heard that may lead to shortages.
I wonder if propane is under the same sort of rules.
When the price gets too low... then they suddenly go on the blink.
Maybe there's a connection there. And you heard it here first !
From what I heard that may lead to shortages.
I wonder if propane is under the same sort of rules.
When the price gets too low... then they suddenly go on the blink.
Maybe there's a connection there. And you heard it here first !
Hawaii's always had a consipracy theory with the oil indusry. The gas cap law has been in effect for several months now, and it inspires a lot of customer arbitrage.MasterBlaster said:
On Wednesday the five sample wholesale prices of the west coast are examined and next week's gas price is determined-- the cap will go up by four cents or down by six cents or whatever.
On Thursday the gas stations are either jammed or deserted. Nothing in between.
I don't think gas prices here will ever get "too low", but the gas cap law has been touted as effectively reducing local prices after the Katrina scare blew over. In the past, the consipiracy pundits would have us believe that the price was raised for Katrina and never lowered again.
cute fuzzy bunny
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Turns out the kenmore front loaders with the small window and the controls on top are made by a different manufacturer than the kenmore front loaders with the small window and the controls on the front.
Whirlpool for me. GE for you.
Which means I probably have some years of smooth sailing. Which is a bummer because I'd love a larger washing machine. This is sort of like when the tv blows up...i'm fairly happy about that...
Whirlpool for me. GE for you.
Which means I probably have some years of smooth sailing. Which is a bummer because I'd love a larger washing machine. This is sort of like when the tv blows up...i'm fairly happy about that...
CFB,
Glad to hear you may get some more good years out of your machine.
GE sells one like my (dead) Kenmore, but I believe it was actually manufactured by Frigidaire (in Canada). To make it more confusing, the OEM spare parts are labelled as "Electrolux" (a Swedish company). A suspicious person would think the manufacturer is trying to hide the true origin of these machines.
As you pointed out, there are some major problems with some of the washers out there (the Neptunes, the Duets, the Calypso-- all big-buck machines that either tear up clothes, fail prematurely, leak, etc). Its just remarkable that (as far as I can tell) no major manufacturer has designed a washing machine with an emphasis on longevity and efficiency. This is a clothes washer--there's no cuting-edge technology required, just solid engineering progressive refining. I think shoppers concentrate on the appearance of the cabinet, the # of different wash cycles, and the initial cost.
I'm going to listen to the soothing sound of my new washer until I calm down again.
samclem
Glad to hear you may get some more good years out of your machine.
GE sells one like my (dead) Kenmore, but I believe it was actually manufactured by Frigidaire (in Canada). To make it more confusing, the OEM spare parts are labelled as "Electrolux" (a Swedish company). A suspicious person would think the manufacturer is trying to hide the true origin of these machines.
As you pointed out, there are some major problems with some of the washers out there (the Neptunes, the Duets, the Calypso-- all big-buck machines that either tear up clothes, fail prematurely, leak, etc). Its just remarkable that (as far as I can tell) no major manufacturer has designed a washing machine with an emphasis on longevity and efficiency. This is a clothes washer--there's no cuting-edge technology required, just solid engineering progressive refining. I think shoppers concentrate on the appearance of the cabinet, the # of different wash cycles, and the initial cost.
I'm going to listen to the soothing sound of my new washer until I calm down again.
samclem
cute fuzzy bunny
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Electrolux owns Fridgidaire...or maybe its the other way around...
There are some nice tables that show who made kenmores, based on the first 3 digits of the product manufacture. A quick google will get them.
There are some nice tables that show who made kenmores, based on the first 3 digits of the product manufacture. A quick google will get them.
MasterBlaster
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Washing machine nirvana....
We were over at the mall yesterday for lunch on a rainy Saturday. After lunch I strolled by the Sears appliance department. They had my (top loader Whirlpool) washing machine on sale for more than $100 more than I had paid for it. Plus they wanted another $60 for delivery. That would come out to (after tax) at right around $200 more than I paid or just under 70 percent more. I guess someone has to pay for all of that advertising.
I guess that's why I never bought an appliance from Sears.
I did ask the sales woman what she thought of my washer. Her comment was that Whirlpools are good but here's a much better one over here that'll last far longer (for twice the price). I think I'll just stick with what I've got. When it fails in 8 years or so I'll just buy another.
One thing I did notice though. The local water utility is giving $100 rebates for the front loader machines cause' they use less water. With that rebate the cheaper front loaders are almost price competitive with the top loaders. At least that's the case at Sears.
We were over at the mall yesterday for lunch on a rainy Saturday. After lunch I strolled by the Sears appliance department. They had my (top loader Whirlpool) washing machine on sale for more than $100 more than I had paid for it. Plus they wanted another $60 for delivery. That would come out to (after tax) at right around $200 more than I paid or just under 70 percent more. I guess someone has to pay for all of that advertising.
I guess that's why I never bought an appliance from Sears.
I did ask the sales woman what she thought of my washer. Her comment was that Whirlpools are good but here's a much better one over here that'll last far longer (for twice the price). I think I'll just stick with what I've got. When it fails in 8 years or so I'll just buy another.
One thing I did notice though. The local water utility is giving $100 rebates for the front loader machines cause' they use less water. With that rebate the cheaper front loaders are almost price competitive with the top loaders. At least that's the case at Sears.
cute fuzzy bunny
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
PG&E always has rebates for front loaders...usually in the $75 range. However, some counties or towns also offer rebates on top of the pg&e ones.
Edit: Austin TX has $100 rebates going, The so cals upper San Gabriel valley Municipal Water District is offering a $275 rebate.
Sears has a funny closeout section that occasionally has a deal in it, but you have to look at it regularly and grab what you see, as anything good is gone in a blink...
This is different from the 'clearance center' you see on their web site...
http://tinyurl.com/hamgn
The longer stuff sits there, the cheaper it gets.
again, had to reduce the size of his URL
Edit: Austin TX has $100 rebates going, The so cals upper San Gabriel valley Municipal Water District is offering a $275 rebate.
Sears has a funny closeout section that occasionally has a deal in it, but you have to look at it regularly and grab what you see, as anything good is gone in a blink...
This is different from the 'clearance center' you see on their web site...
http://tinyurl.com/hamgn
The longer stuff sits there, the cheaper it gets.
again, had to reduce the size of his URL
