Best dryer to go along with front load washer

[lordkenmore]

Someone has asked me for advice about a dryer. A few months back, she bought a Samsung front load washer. Now, she wants a new dryer to go along with it.

Apparently, matching the brand isn't important. Just getting something with capacity that matches the new washer. And that will be acceptably reliable. And I'm sure the buyer views this as "the cheaper the better."

Finally, I think it would be nice if the dryer were made in the US.

So...what are the current dryer preferences?

 

[appnut]

GET a 29" Maytag or Whirlpool (the one with the lit filter on the top. These are 7.0 cu. ft. drums.

 

[mrfixit]

I just got one of the Maytag version of that dryer a coulpe of weeks ago at the Home Depot sale. For $250 delivered I couldn't be happier.
There was no problem drying a queen sized down comforter in it.

 

[combo52]

BEST DRYERS FOR THE MONEY

Great advice from all the above, there is little reason to but an expensive hi tech machine if you are trying to be practical and don't have money to burn.

 

[3beltwesty]

Just getting something with capacity that matches the new wa

Here with a new 4.2 cuft LG washer WM2510HWA I still use the old 1976 Westinghouse dryer.

The sales guys/gals at *every single* washer store I went to 2 months ago said: "getting something with capacity that matches the new washer".

In reality my newer FL washer extracts so well that the small dryer here is NOT the bottleneck, and NEVER has been.

With the new FL washer that is refilled with another load #3 of wash, the old dryer is already done with load #2 and been done already for well over 1/2 hour; or longer.

Thus here my old small dryer could really handle probably two modern FL washers output.

My conclusion is that comment of "matching the dryer to the washers capacity" is pure marketing to sell new dryers.

 

[lordkenmore]

Thanks for the advice so far!

I forwarded on the basic info about Whirlpool. Problem is, the person considering this says she wants more than 7 cubic feet. Don't ask me why...

So...what now? Do I suggest a Whirlpool dryer matching front load washers? Continue pushing for the basic 29" Whirlpool? Or something else?

 

[lordkenmore]

Thanks for the answers so far!

I've forwarded the info on. Right now, the person shopping insists on larger than 7 cubic feet, but we'll see if that changes. I'll be repeating what I heard above, plus pointing out the research I just completed which shows that many dryers on the market--even ones styled to match front load washers--are 7 cubic feet or less. We'll see what happens...

 

[foraloysius]

Are we talking gas or electric dryers?

 

[lordkenmore]

Are we talking gas or electric dryers?

Sorry, I should have mentioned that before! But it would be electric.

 

[3beltwesty]

example

Here my old FL 1976 westy washer is about 2.5? cubic feet and the LG FL WM2501HV is 4.2 cuft.

The 1976 westinghouse dryer is 3 ?? cubic feet, I am just guessing. It is a standard 27" wide 230 volt electric dryer, 5400 watts.

In washing last weekend a comforter, pillow, 4 bedsheets, 2 pillow covers and a several big towels, The dryer was done before the next washing machine's load was done.

Thus at least for me the dryer is not the bottleneck, the new washer is.

If I wash more than one load of clothes/etc, all the stuff is out of the dryer while I wait on the new FL washer. The higher rpm extract of a modern FL washer means the dryer requires less time to dry stuff.

When I bought the new LG FL 4.2 machine, the sales guys all said I would be back soon to buy a dryer, since they have to be "matched".

It reality by old 1976 dryer here could handle two modern FL machines, since *I* do not fill the washer completely full. This is in a area where the humidity is high and I get 65 inches of rain per year.

With the old 3 belt 1976 washer and 1976 dryer; if one washed 4 to 5 pairs of bluejeans then the dryer was the bottleneck. A 2nd load of white clothes would be washed in 42 minutes, and dryer still drying those blue jeans.

Now with a modern FL washer, the cycle times are usually longer, but the clothes are way dryer due to the way higher extract rpm. The old beast is about 1/2 the extract rpm of the new machine.

If one has huge family, and washes gobs of comforters, pillows and a dozen blue jeans, a matched dryer means one never ever ever has the dryer as the bottleneck. It also gives the salesman a nice spif/commission too, and makes your laundry room more modern.

I actually was very shocked how dry a modern FL washer extracts clothes. Here the old dryer has never been a bottleneck over the last 2 months of usage, even when I washed a mess of big stuff too.

A larger dryer means with big stuff that the objects probably will be mixed better than when a small guy is stuffed full.

Here it might sound odd, but I would buy another washer before I got a new big dryer. ie have two modern FL washers and my old dryer! That would save me *MY* time. Once I get my old 1976 washer going again. I sort of will have that settup, with its used more for small stuff.

 

[passatdoc]

make sure it has a moisture sensor

By "matching dryer", does she mean one that matches a FL, or is a dryer with a rear control panel acceptable if the same color?

One thing I would insist on is a moisture sensor. My 1997 GE gas dryer did not have one. Sometimes clothes were dried to a crisp, sometimes the cycle finished and they were still damp. It was a mess. I replaced it with a Frigidaire gas dryer (matches 2140 washer) with a sensor, and what a difference. Cycle finishes ahead of time if load is light and clothes are dry. Conversely, a heavy load takes longer but at least dryer doesn't shut off with still-damp clothes. I don't know if moisture sensor is now standard on all dryers that match TL's, but I think it's an essential feature, particular with clothes that have been spun damp-dry in a FL. I think my old GE just ran on a timer.

With longer wash times and drier clothes emerging from the FL washer, the dryer is no longer the bottleneck in the laundry process.

 

[appnut]

I don't know if moisture sensor is now standard on all

No. There are two similar Maytags. both with the 7.0 cu. ft. drum. the less expensive of the two has the older type of auto dry where it measures the temperature of the exhaust heat to help determine how dry a load is (and shuts the timer on & off as the heat source goes off and on, respectively). the bit more expensive model has an electronic sensor inside the drum which actually touches the garments and ehlpds determine the degree of dryness, that's the model I recommend. I believe all the dryers which are mates to the frontload wawhers have 7.3 cu. ft. and larger. all have the lint filter in the door area. And are usually only 27" wide to correspond with washer width, thus the stackability. The larger cu. ft. is achieved by the drum being deeper because the back bulkhead is farther back in the cabinet. With the 29" dryers with the lint screen on top upper right of machine, the drum isn't as deeep but may still have a bit larger diameter because of the cabinet width being greater.

 

[mrfixit]

There are two similar Maytags. both with the 7.0 cu. ft. dr

I have been surprised at how effective the less expensive temperature controlled cycle has been on my Maytag. I usually set it slightly to the less dry side of the efficency setting, and things have been coming out just right.

I think whirlpool has been using this type of cycle for decades, and would expect it to be trouble free.

Time will tell.

 

[passatdoc]

My Frig 4114 dryer (matches 2140 washer) is unfortunately only 5.7 cu ft and thus not very roomy, though large enough to dry a full load from the 3.5 cu ft washer. And it does stack perfectly on top of 2140. The base is 27 x 27", not any deeper.

I think their philosophy was that there was a market for washers/dryers that were no deeper than 27": people with built-in or closet installations, and people with laundry room doors with tight clearances. Newer, higher capacity machines (including the new Frigidaires) are often four inches deeper (31" deep instead of 27") which must explain at least part of the capacity increases. In my situation, there is room for deeper machines because I have them in the garage. Other people might have issues with tight door clearances.

If I had a choice, I'd get a machine with a moisture sensor. It really works well (at least on mine). No more overdried or damp clothes.

 

[DADoES]

 
Temperature-controlled auto dry works well enough when the machine is installed/run in a normal room temperature environment.  True moisture-sensing auto dry is much better if the dryer is used in an unheated/uncooled area such as a garage, which can throw temperature-controlled auto dry off-kilter.

 

[3beltwesty]

Gas, Electric costs etc

With my 1976 electric Westinghouse "Heavy Duty" dryer, it just has two thermostats.

(1)The High one always has its contact closed, and only opens when a gross over temperature/failure occurs. ie the lower temp guy fails closed. This prevents a fire.

(2) The Low temp thermostat on mine is the cycling/control thermostat that is in the exit tube. Mine is at something like 145 or 155 F in the open switch condition. It recloses probably somewhere between 10 to 15 F lower.

Thus when an electric dryer like mine is filled with a mess of damp clothes, the element runs at 5400 watts and is always on. Then when the exit/exhaust temp rises to 145 F the element turns off. Once the clothes are starting to dry out a good bit, the temperature rises in the drum to where the element is cycling on and off. Since water going to vapor requires a lot of heat ( about 1000 BTU per pound of water ) ; it takes time to vaporize the soggy blue jeans's water if there is a poor extract.

With this old electric dryer there is a low setting too, here the element has one side tied to hot, one to neutral and one gets just 1/4 the power, ie about 1400 watts instead of 5400. One gets a tad more than 1/4 since the element is not glowing and its resistance is a tad less. This setting is for delicate stuff, and was rarely used before I got the new FL washer recently. Today I sometimes use it for T-shirts and shirts, where I want more fluffing and less heat.

Using an electric dryer is dumb *IF* one has massive amounts of clothes to dry. One spends about twice the money on heating, since using gas is cheaper for heating than electricity. With electric one has the basic only 1/3 efficiency of a power plant's thermal cycle. The benefit is not 3, more like 2 to 2.5 since one has moisture and losses in the home dryer.

Here the dumb "auto-dry" setting of the dumb 1976 electric dryer works well with the new LG WM2501HV FL washer.

I really do enough washing to justify a gas dryer. A typical load with mine is dry in less than 30 to 45 minutes, and the 5400 watt element was cycling during the bulk of the time. A normal load measured draw of my stuff is only 1 to 2 KWhr, about 3 with a giant rarer load. The average load of mine costs 25 to 30 cents to dry. With gas I could cut this in half; ie save 15 cents per load. If I did 4 loads a week, this saves my 60 cents; or roughly 30 bucks per year.

If one has a big family and does alot of washing, a gas dryer makes more sense

 

[appnut]

Even though my Fridgemore only spins about 850 or 900 rpms max, ever since I got it October, 2006, I have not used high temp on my Maytage Dependable Care dryer. What used to be dried on high is now dried on medium (towels, sheets, ...) and low dries everything else.