Only downsides I’ve encountered yet are that front loaders cost more to buy, but in the long run, they’ll save money in water and energy and longer-;asting clothes, and that you can’t pop in that one sock that snuck away when you were sorting the laundry once the cycle has started. The “HE” detergent specifically formulated for front loaders never seems to go on sale.
So, you just have to keep track of the socks, and live with buying the somewhat more expensive detergent.
Advantages? Lots! Mine’s quiet. Really quiet. It uses less water than a top load. It gets clothes much dryer (extra high-speed extraction spin) so less dry time (less electricity to run the dryer!) is needed. It’s less rough on clothes, so they last longer. It gets clothes cleaner.
And this is with a relatively basic $600 Kenmore. Frankly, I’m not sure your laundry will come out significantly better if you cough up an extra thousand dollars for the new He4t machines in their snazzy colors. (And what will you do in five years, when terra cotta is oh-so-2005?) I looked at one a couple days ago, and ye gads, a veritable plethora of lights, menus and buttons! I’ll wager that 99.9% of the time, these machines are run with the “just wash the darn shirts, OK?” “quick wash” cycle.
Front load wash - less water, washes more clothes per load, less drying time.
No experiences with dishwashers yet.
Of course, you don’t care if I have no experience with dishwashers - you asked about fridges :smack:
We have a freezer on the bottom, fridge on top. It’s a pain…we got a very good deal on this one and I thought it would be handy - if you have kids it would be great for popsicles, etc that they could reach. However, for adults, usually gets stuffed full and it’s difficult to sort around stuff.
If I was doing it again, I would get a side by side fridge/freezer .
Clothes washers and dryers: I’m gonna add in my vote for Kenmore. They’re good quality, and last forever. Your Sears store will have a whole range of options for each machine; unless you wash a lot of stuff requiring special treatment, their second- or third-cheapest washer and dryer should have all the features you need. That’ll run you $600 for the set, give or take.
Refrigerators: We bought an Amana when we moved into our first house, 11 years ago. We still love it. As a result, though, we haven’t shopped for a fridge any time recently; they may or may not be a good brand now. Get thee to a library and check out what Consumer Reports has to say about refrigerators.
Features that we like about our fridge:
- Easily adjustable/removable shelves.
- Fairly wide shelves in the door.
- Meat drawer with adjustable temp.
- Produce drawers with adjustable humidity.
As always, decide which features you are likely to consider important, then see how cheaply you can get those features.
Chest freezers: you didn’t ask about these, but get one if you’ve got somewhere to put it. Sears has a decent selection of these, too; they’re not terribly expensive; should be able to get a small one for ~$200. This allows you to buy meats, frozen foods, etc. in bulk when they’re cheap, and it also cuts down on how often you have to go grocery-shopping, which is a big plus. A few months ago, when Giant had boneless, skinless chicken breasts on sale in the large economy pack for $2/lb., I bought several packs, did the residual trimming of fat and gristle, then put them into freezer bags with about 1.5 lbs. of chicken per bag. Now when we want to cook a chicken recipe, we just go to the freezer, and pull out and thaw a bag. Extra freezer capacity is wonderful.
Well, we’ve used it.
The other downside to front load washers is that they take a lot more time to go through a wash cycle than top loaders…but since the clothes take that long to dry anyway, it isn’t a huge deal.
Wow - you guys have been really helpful. I just popped back in and was happy to see so much great advice.
The thing about the big bottom freezer drawer sounds like it would be perfect for her kids - I"m just wondering if the clutter would driver her crazy. Plus her two year old already likes to open the fridge and pull stuff out so with that drawer he might be in hog-heaven! RTFirefly - never heard of a fridge with a meat drawer with temp thing – that rocks. And you’re right, Consumer Reports is always a good call. I
The frontloader washer still seem like the way to go based on what I"m hearing. I don’t ever stop during a load so that doesn’t bother me, if it’s true that you cannot open them during a cycle. About the cost of them - I don’t mind that and don’t think they will either as long as it’s a worthwhile investment. I tend to like higher-end appliances anyway AS LONG as they’re a good brand, and yeah, Kenmore is so reliable right? I think so and sounds like some of you do too. As for the snazzy colors, personally I would get Pacific Blue if I got the HE4ts and I think my sister is in love with them ever since I sent her the link to a picture of them. I read a good review on Epinions which also pretty much sold her.
This rules! I think we’ll all go and just look at a bunch of Fridges and washer-dryers esp the he4t. Would love to see the color in person.