Did I make the smart choice?

[qualin]

Hello everyone. I'd like to apologize in advance for the long post, but it has been a bit of a journey for me, but I thought I'd share it with you all.

I've decided to get rid of my 2004-vintage GE Profile WPRE6280 (Canadian Model, comes with cycles in French) Top Loader and replace it with a front loader instead. The machine works fine, except it makes a "Crunk Crunk Crunk" noise when it's agitating. It is worse with cold water than with hot water and eventually goes away after about 5-10 minutes of agitation. It happens again when the rinse cycle starts, but goes away after a minute. I suspect it is the tub brake or a something to do with the suspension. (Maybe something needs oiling?)

I've decided I'd like something I can shove a double comforter into and not have to worry about the agitator ripping everything up. (As much as I like the wash action of top loaders.) Not to mention, 180 Litres of water per load doesn't do wonders for the utilities bill or the water heater....

So, I knew I wanted something with a high-quality commercial-grade build, yet had a support network in case something broke. My budget for the washer was around $1500-$2000.

My contenders were (In no particular order - Note, Model #'s are Canadian!):
- Samsung WF520ABP
- LG WM3875HVCA
- Miele IntelliQ 100
- Huebsch ZFN50R (Equivalent to the Speed Queen AFN50R)

I'm not even considering GE/Whirlpool/Frigidaire/Kenmore... There are a lot of videos out there on youtube with people complaining about bearing failures, corroded and broken spiders, electronic malfunctions, etc.

It seemed to me that the Samsung and LG washers had a lot of bells and whistles, but realistically, we probably wouldn't use a lot of them. The Powerfoam option for the Samsung seemed like a good idea, but it seems like a gimmick and since we have very hard water here, I bet it would fail within a year or two anyway. The LG looked nice and had interesting wash action (ie. 1/2 turns) but seemed as gimmicky as the Samsung to some degree.

Miele washers are horrendously expensive in comparison to everything else on the market. The salesperson insisted that Miele had the highest quality of any washer ever made and he highly recommended it for the reliability. This was the only washer which actually exceeded my budget. (Note it's not even the high end one!)

Then I saw this video on youtube:

I noticed the washers in the background and thought, "I MUST HAVE ONE!". After doing some research, I found Huebsch's website. The attached PDF sold me even moreso. It seems almost absolutely disgusting to me to use a washing machine with a plastic tub, after all, would you use a plastic toilet?

I was kind of amazed at the PDF. (Included below) It appears they are comparing their front load washers to a Whirlpool washer. The salesguy at the store I bought it from (They also sell commercial laundry equipment) mentioned that they use the exact same components in their home laundry as they do in their commercial laundry.

I also figure, if they can run special "Slime" through their machines, they must also be able to use conventional detergent without everything clogging up, buggering up and so forth. (I've always used regular detergent in commercial machines in laundromats, how would this be any different?) I once had a salesperson tell me that if I used non-HE detergent, it would mess up the bearings on the machine. (WTF?)

So, Last week I ordered the Huebsch. I haven't seen any negative reviews other than people complaining about the spin speed or the capacity. There are the some videos on youtube of really noisy Speed Queens, but those appear to be used commercially anyway.

Everything I've read seems to indicate that these washers should last just as long as the Miele, if not longer. (Would you believe that for a $2000 washer, The US Miele still has a plastic outer tub, but they're metal in Europe? That surprised me!) I'm guessing why the Huebsch is $300 cheaper is because it doesn't have as much computer electronics in it, if any at all. It was a little short of $1900 all in, As opposed to the Miele which would have been a little short of $2200.

I guess now, there's two things I'm wondering about,
- The Huebsch only has a 1000 RPM spin speed, while everyone else offers 1200 or even 1400 RPM. Why is that? My only guess is that the lower spin speed is there to protect the machine and to reduce the wear and tear on the bearings. Either that, or they designed the machine to make laundromat owners richer by forcing people to spend more on the dryers.
- The Huebsch offers a modest 3.3 cu.ft capacity, While Samsung and LG are offering 5.0 and 4.8 cu.ft of washtub capacities. Now, my GE (I believe) has a 4.1 cu.ft capacity, but they should both hold as much laundry per load, right? My guess is that the reason why they sell their machine with the smaller tub is because of durability. Maybe they expected that for commercial use, the machine must fit in a standard washing machine sized space, but be durable enough for commercial use?

What do you guys/gals think? I'm expecting it to arrive in 7 weeks from now. (It is on backorder because the front control ones are much more popular)

Opinions? Flames? Suggestions? Did I make a good decision?

http://home.huebsch.com/adv_pdf/aa07-502.pdf

 

[thomasortega]

Absolutelly NOT!

Huensch are very good machines but As far as I know, nothing can be better than a Miele. And with a so small price diference, I'd go for the Miele without thinking twice!

And about the plastic tub, well... Here in my country machines have plastic tubs since 1990 and it was never a problem. They also help keeping temperature and make the machine more silent during the spin.

Also, higher spin speeds can help you save a lot of energy... There are much less water to evaporate in the dryer...

And the bigger drum has nothing to do with the bearings. Specially in a Miele. Bigger loads are less stressfull to the bearings, compared to a small load.

If the Huebsch was much cheaper than the Miele, I'd get it but... with a so small difference, I'd get the Miele.

 

[dj-gabriele]

I wouldn't touch LG and Samsung with a ten meters pole...

But between Miele and Huebsch, I would have chosen the Miele as it (still) offers real quality versus price. Plus it has more flexible controls and more customization options! (And on a personal taste, the styling is much better - Lord may forgive me for putting in the same phrase Miele and style! - compared to the Huebsch)

 

[pierreandreply4]

me in my own toughts i would of stayed with a top loading washer but your making a good choice going with a huebesch washer.

 

[jaxsunst]

I have that model (American Version) Samsung. I love it.

 

[combo52]

BEST FL WASHER

Diffidently get the Huensch if it is the same as the Speed Queen. This is a real commercial grade washer that has an expected life of 25,000 loads, thats 48 years at 10 loads per week.

 

The Mieles are good machines but be prepared to pay for it more than once. The motor alone in many of them will set you back $800.00 + labor charges. Comparing a Miele to a SQ is like comparing a good PU truck to a Mercedes Benz, be prepared for expensive problems, all washers break eventually.

 

[laundromat]

If they are the same as the Speed Queens INCLUDING the 3 year parts and labor warranty, then I'd say go with the Huebsh.If not, I'd hiighly recomend the Miele. I have their Touchtronic model that's about 4 years old that I got at a local used appliance dealer in their trash pile. It needed a new mother board ($750), new rubber feet($140) and a new dispenser tray ($125).Because there was a "clitch: in their system and they took longer than 24 hours they claimed to get back with me, they did the repair, including the parts,FREE.It is among the absolute best washing machines I ever had. I like the many different cycles and the huge capacity.It's extremely quiet and spins a whopping 1400 rpms.It has an interior light, tilted wash tub, touchtronic controls and the bee hive style wash basket.They are the ONLY manufacturer that places a sign on the door saying to leave it ajar when not in use to prevent mold and smell.SOOOOO many people immediately close their front load doors and complain later of the bad smell their clothes come out with.Daaaa!

 

[qualin]

Thanks everyone!

Thanks for letting me know that I won't regret this decision!

Combo52, Interesting that you mentioned rated loads of 25,000.. The Meile site mentioned that their washers were only rated for 10,000 loads.

We're a two person household right now.. so one load every week by the both of us works out to 240 years of rated operation. Wow!

The Pick up Truck analogy is a very good one indeed!

 

[huebschman]

Feedback

Qualin...

I'd love to get your feedback on your new purchase as well as the retail price you paid.

Any pics or vids?

Thanks.

 

[qualin]

Reply to Huebschman

Hello Mr. Huebschman!

Well, I received some good news on Friday, My washer is sitting in British Columbia and should be in Calgary sometime late this upcoming week. This is about 4 weeks earlier than what I expected.

I paid just a hair short of $1900 CDN for the washer. This included freight, GST, Delivery and Setup.

When I receive the washer, I'll probably make a new thread because technically, I already made the choice!

My biggest concern is that it won't have enough capacity to wash my double sized comforter. I'll certainly find out when it gets here because it needs washing! In my GE, this comforter just BARELY fit and it wouldn't really turnover in the tub.. I had to use a large wooden stick to push it down into the tub so I could at least get it to turn over. Winding it around the agitator probably really didn't do it any good either.

In case anyone else thinks that's too expensive, the Miele was $2000, excluding GST, freight, setup and so forth. I was looking at an Asko, but there were a lot of things about their washer didn't really appeal to me. I won't go into that unless someone asks.

It seems to me like if you want a washer that doesn't use plastic paddles in the tub, your options are fairly limited.