Need new dryer advice (common laundry room dryer)

[davey7]

So I need some advice on a dryer issue. I share a laundry room in my building and one of our dryers, a Kenmore (the punier of the two dryers, I think the other is a commercial Speed Queen), is in need of repair vs. replacement. It's never really worked as well as the other and the repair is almost as much as replacement and we (the board) is mulling a new dryer.

So my question is, what would be good for us? It needs to be powerful, simple, durable, capacious and gas. Obviously a vintage or other dryer (i.e. something quirky) is out of the question. We don't charge for laundry, i.e. no coin boxes and about a third of the building has in-unit laundry.

I should get some pictures, though it's nothing impressive as a laundry facility.

 

[maytagbear]

You answered your own question, I think---

Go for another Speed Queen.

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[ptcruiser51]

At THD

Over the years I sold a number of commercial GE models (gas & electric) to landlords and frathouses (! if you can believe that!) No one ever came back to me with a complaint.  Maytag did make them but for some reason they did not make them available to THD.  The GE's ran about $550 in gas.  In the condo where I rented last winter they had a Whirlpool dryer w/coinslide.  It seemed sturdy and did a good job.

 

[davey7]

I think the better dryer is actually a Whirlpool, it's the older washer that is a Speed Queen, the newer one is a Whirlpool, which does a rather nice job.

And thanks for the advice!

 

[tecnopolis]

I would just sugest getting a good preowned dryer off of craigslist or perhaps an appliance repair shop. Dryers are fairly reliable devices provided they aren't the fancy kind with digital contols. All the appliances advertised in the photo below come with a 60 day warranty and free delivery. Just my 2 cents..

 

[whirlykenmore78]

Wascomat!

The new Wascomat Crossover Professional washers and dryers are AMAZING!  They would be a very good bet for a common laundry room.

WK78

 

[combo52]

Best Dryer For Heavy Use

SQ would probably be the best bet these days, diffidently skip any GE, Frigidaire, LG or Samsung for heavy use by many different people, current WP or MT dryers would be the next best bet.

 

[dustin92]

I would recommend a Kenmore or Whirlpool with the top mounted lint filter. Over the years we have had 4 of them, one being gas, and all were simple, fast, and reliable. As far as dryers go, quiet as well, 3 out of the 4 we had were well used and only the worst was objectionably noisy, probably due to worn out rollers. I don't recommend GE or Frigidaire at all because the ones we had over the years (2 of them) had terrible lint buildup and got extremely hot, we had clothes damaged in both, one was bought brand new. Speed Queen is also an excellent choice, but the most expensive.