Which compact stackable to buy?

[lnp515]

Help! I live in an apt. and can accommodate only a stackable washer and (ventless) dryer. Have had the Bosch combo since 2000 but each of the washer and the dryer has been on its last legs for a year or 2. Now the washer has stopped and given high cost of prior repairs, and multiple maladies, I think better to replace at this point.

Differences in cost not great among the brands -- but despite a lot of online research can't find any way to evaluate which brand to get: Bosch, Ariston (more pricy Bosch?), Malber, Eurotech?

The Bosch w/d I have seemed to last about 5 yrs each and for approx. $1000 each, hoping for a longer life span!

Any reviews/help would be very much appreciated. Thanks.

 

[toggleswitch]

Do you have 220v avaialable?
What amperage?

If you are limited to 110v, a standard full-sized 27" x 27" Frigidaire dryer with ELECTRONIC dryness controls (and the controls located in the front) can be stacked. It can also easily be converted to 110v., at little to no cost. Of course, it will still take forever-and-a-day to dry and you may have to put it in a room with a window and a window fan to pull out the humidity.

 

[tcox6912]

Ariston

Don't get the Ariston set! We put them in a new condo project (22 units). Washers did fine, but the dryers quickly started with problems ... increased noise, decreased performance and an even harder time getting service. After the fifth one, we decided to pull them out and put the combo machines instead. Sold the 5 washers and "gave" the dryers away. Hope this helps you. Todd

 

[nmaineman36]

If you want to spend the money on a good compact set then I would go with a Miele system. Depending on how much room you have to play with I would go with the Miele's...you cant go wrong.

 

[passatdoc]

stacking Frigidaires

I have a standard set of Frigidaires in a stacked configuration, in my garage. The area intended for the washer has a 32" concrete-filled steel pipe embedded in the concrete slab floor of the garage. It's called a bollard and is required by county building code to stop a runaway car from taking out the water heater, washer and dryer, and furnace, all of which are located in an alcove on the rear wall of the garage. You "can" cut and remove the bollard, but if you try to sell the house, you could fail building inspection if the bollard is missing, requiring you to install a new one.

The bollard would have blocked the door of a FL, even on a pedestal. The house was built in 1988 when there were no FLs designed for the US market, so the contractors had no idea they were blocking the door of a future FL.

To work around the problem, I stacked a pair of Frigidaires and put a folding table where the washer used to be. The arrangement is great and makes better use of what was previously unutilized vertical space along the garage wall. Because the units stayed with the traditional 36" height, rather than growing 2-3 inches like LG and Duet, the top of the stack is only six feet tall, easy enough for most to reach the controls.

However, I have a dryer vent. I am using my machines in an area was that "supposed" to be the laundry area. To my knowledge, there is no ventless condenser style Frigidaire dryer.

Note: the control panels in this photo appear to be gray, vs. white for the rest of the machine, as if the machines are two-tone gray and white. It just looks that way because of the camera flash (the control panel face is plastic, the rest of the front is steel), but both sections are a matching white.

Frigidaire sells the stacking bracket for about $20. That is a nice feature should someone's needs change (perhaps they move and now want the machines stacked rather than side by side). Unless the pumped up charges for the pedestals, the stacking bracket was a surprise: it was reasonably priced. Of course, you have to use their matching dryer to use the pedestal....in my case, only my washer had broken, but the existing gas dryer could not be stacked on top of a new FL washer. I gave the gas dryer to a neighbor who wanted to get rid of his electric dryer to save money (in our area, drying with gas costs half of the cost to dry with electricity). I took his electric dryer from him and thus had two machines to donate to Salvation Army for a tax receipt.