Are these new Roper or new Whirlpool dryers any good? Which is better?

[ea56]

If cost is not important get the new Whirlpool that you were considering at Lowes and be done with it.

 

 It will be new with no one else’s dirt in or on it, under warranty, and large enough for any of your needs.  It should also give you at least 10 years of service, with little to no trouble.  Dryers, especially a basic one like this Whirlpool have little to go wrong with them.  And the repairs are not that difficult or costly, unlike a washing machine.

 

Eddie

 

[murando531]

Just go with a new machine. Dryers have not changed in design in the past 30-40 years; and the whole "HE appliances don't work as well" misconception aside, there are no "HE" dryers, unless you get into condensor-heat pump models, which are still not very mainstream even today. The only thing that has really changed with dryers of all brands is having more electronic control and sensors, which are much better at reading moisture level than the simple thermistors in old machines, so you're going to get much more consistent drying without having damp or scorched crisp loads.

Not to mention that for a person or family to actually take care of an appliance and keep it cleaned inside and out is very rare in our world, so with a used machine you're going to have other people's dirt and lint buildup to have to dismantle and clean out if you don't want to risk fire.

 

[DADoES]

Energy-Saving Dryers

 
A few "HE" or "high-efficiency" dryers have an energy-saver function or cycle that initially heats to the target temperature, then throttles back to a lower temperature after the heat (element or gas burner) cycles off for the first time during the cycle.  It may save some energy but also increases the drying time.

There's a Samsung or LG (don't recall which) of which I read mention recently that runs for 45 mins without heat for some "air" drying before turning on the heat.

 

[yogitunes]

in all honesty....

if you dont have transportation to bring one home....

and dont have knowledge/experience to service/clean-up a used one...

and are worried about availability of parts....

and note, there are members here, myself included, who have jumped states to grab a machine, or had it shipped from across the country.....

your best bet, save yourself the headache and purchase a new one!

 

[appnut]

Glenn, I know for sure LG dryers do that no heat 45 minute sequence before turning on the heat as their way of being energy saving. No thanks, I'd prefer Whirlpool's approach for their dryers that do have an energy saver mode on their Normal Cycle.

 

[appnut]

Ct I agree with others, go get the new dryer. And the Whirlpool one. Very nicely featured. Looks like it's on close-out--"while supplies last".

 

[ea56]

I had one of those LG dryers, what a piece of crap!  The only way that I found I could get high heat and dry a load in a reasonable amount of time was to use the timed dry cycle, bypassing the moister sensor for auto dry.  

 

The first load I dried in it on the Normal/Cotton cycle took 90 freakin minutes, because of the “Energy Saving” setting of this cycle, and on top of that ridiculous cold air, no heat portion of the cycle the highest heat it would use on any preset cycle was Med.  WTH!  How about some GD sanity saving!

 

Eddie

 

[qsd-dan]

Would you buy one of these old dryers or one the new

I'd personally buy the older one, it's much better built.

The final answer:

If you're handy with tools and have diagnostic skills, buy the old dryer, tear it down, clean/rebuild, and enjoy the fruits of your labor. Just be on the lookout for a spare timer on ebay since they are NLA at this age. If you just want the damn thing to work (for a little while, anyway), purchase a new dryer.

 

[ct]

The buy new consensus won. Just bought the Whirlpool dryer - will go with the 18 year old Kenmore washer.....Thanks everyone for your help and advice.

 

[littlegreeny]

LG Dryer

My sister in law has a new LG dryer. It operates just like any traditional dryer provided the Energy Saver option is not enabled. Then the clothes are dried quickly and thoroughly.

 

[ea56]

On the LG dryer I had Energy Saver wasn’t an option and only deactivated when using timed dry.  Perhaps they realized the mistake this was and gave the user the option to turn it off on all cycles if they choose.

 

Eddie

 

[good-shepherd]

Dryers not changed in design in the past 30-40 yrs.

Build quality of the current 29 inch WP dryers (and most other appliances) has changed drastically compared to models built 30-40 or even 20 years ago.

Every cost cutting measure possible while still maintaining a somewhat reasonable service life has been done.

Thats how they get a $500-700 price point with todays inflation rate.