Ken, I am so happy for you! I love blue also and turquoise. I love GE dryers. Our next door neighbor had the dryer that matched Gloria Swanson's washer and that was the dryer I got to use the most. I, too like the heavy porcelain drums in GEs. I have both a GE and a KitchenAid in the line and the GE is so much quieter when things are tumbling in the drum. I know the diameter is smaller, but I think the gauge of the steel has something to do with it also and steel that is to be porcelainized has to be heavier. For a full load, it is quite dramatic to see how the air is pulled through the load. When you first start it, the air that is blowing out is cooled by the damp clothes, then once the clothes are heated up, the air coming out is warmed nicely. While the speed is roughly the same, the WP design blows more of the heated air past the clothes initially. For smaller loads, the WP design is often better because small loads tend to follow the circumference of the drum.
My mom always kept covers over our washer & dryer, too.
Yes, we are fortunate that our treasures are other people's cast-offs.
