They also make those “clothes processor” things, which amount to a front-load washer with a dryer function added. You just put your load in there and come back a couple hours later when it is dry. It cannot do as much as separate units, since it has to run two full cycles (wash + dry) with no overlap, and they are very expensive. But it would save even more space than a stack.
My mom has been dealing with a stackable Kenmore model in her new condo [I think this is it]. The dryer gave off very little heat.
After returning from her place as my vacation ends, I see the exact same model here at my complex-at the dumpster & ready to be taken away with trash.
Known as a “washer/dryer” machine in the UK and Europe where it’s more popular. I had one when I lived in the UK and it worked ok for a single person. The dryer performance was not quite up to par with a standalone dryer so drying clothes took longer. I usually line dried my clothes and used the dryer when it was raining.
They wouldn’t have invented a stench covering additive at all, if there were NOT numerous people having odour issues with them. I’m really glad you haven’t had an issue, but pretty clearly enough people have, to spawn a product with sufficient scent to last three months, to address the issue.
I know someone with one who hasn’t ever had an issue, but they are away every year for two months and the whole machine must get a good dry out. But everyone I know with one, leaves the door open all the time. Which is also something I find pretty unappealing.
Am on my third front-loader. First one was Sears crap and died after four years. Next one got left in the house when we sold it and moved but I bought the same (Samsung) when we got here as I love it. No smell. I leave the washer door open until the last dryer-load is done and then close but don’t latch it, and have never had an odor or a problem.
I can see why you want a stack, OP, and I think consulting a plumber is a good start on figuring it out. Let us know how it comes out.
To answer a few further questions:
I do the bulk of the laundry. I expect that will continue to be the case regardless of what we get to replace the current machines. LSL Guy, you asked about stepstools; my wife is not really supposed to use them and generally does not, and she’s only five feet tall (if that), so I agree that reaching into a dryer on top of a washer is probably a losing proposition for her–definitely if it is a toploader washing machine.
We did think about the single washer/dryer machine but the little bit of reading we did about it seemed to bring up the same issues as several of you have noted–low capacity, long time for drying, expensive. So that’s likely going to be out.
Just as another anecdotal point, never had a smell problem with the frontloaders.
The idea about turning the machines to face the main part of the pantry is an interesting one–thanks, SamuelA (at least I think that’s what you were suggesting). The problem there is that the pantry is pretty full with other stuff, and there’s really nowhere else to put those things. Turning the machines would eat up more of that pantry space than I think we can manage. I did find it intriguing, though!
I have a pretty decent relationship with the plumbing company I’ve used for…well, just about all of my homeowning life. Certainly I’ve paid them a decent chunk of money over the years! I think I may give them a call tomorrow or Tuesday and sound them out about what changing the configuration (vent, gas line) might entail. The answer might well be “It depends on your setup, we can send someone over if you’d like,” but you never know, I might get something a little more concrete. It’s interesting to see the differnece in opinion here as to which side the stackable unit would have to go on–one says it would need to be on the side with the current dryer, another on the side with the current washer. Given the position of the shelving in the room, I’d much prefer the side with the dryer…
Thanks again for the responses.
A competent do-it-yourselfer can extend a gas line if they can handle regular water plumbing without creating a flood. Just use the right stuff - black steel pipe and yellow thread tape, check for leaks, and that’s about the extent of it. I’ve run gas lines before - it’s not difficult. Unless labor costs are absurd, there’s no good reason extending a gas line to the other side of a large closet should cost hundreds of dollars.
People get into more problems with dryer vents, really. That flimsy plastic coily stuff has no business being used for dryer vents as its highly corrugated inner surface will catch lint like crazy and it will burn.
It’s not like the door has to be left gaping wide open, just a crack is sufficient in most cases. Second, running a cleaning cycle once a month goes a long way to reducing the potential for the smell. Third, if you leave wet laundry in a dark, wet, warm closed space it will mildew pretty quickly irrespective of whether it is in a top loader or a front loader.
Personally, I like the the fact I can throw a king size duvet into my frontloader and have it clean, which is something I definitely couldn’t do with our old toploader. PLus, it uses a lot less water and soap than the old toploader as well. We’ve used no scent soap since day one and never had issues unless I did something dumb like forgetting it was in there for a day or two.
Okay, I was asked for an update, and here it is.
I did call the plumber. The woman I spoke to said sure, they did this sort of thing with reconfiguring lines in laundry areas all the time, and she’d be glad to send the owner out for an estimate if I wanted. I thanked her and asked if she could give me any kind of a ballpark figure: $250, $1000, more than that? She said, well, every case is different, but it’s almost always more than $250.
That didn;t decide it for us for sure, but the reality is that our budget is limited, and adding an extra few hundred to the cost of the machines seemed difficult to justify regardless of how much of a help the stacked combo would be in terms of space use. Even so, I think we might have had the guy out to the house, the estimate being free and all, except that a day later I pulled some clean, wet clothes out of the washer, tossed them in the dryer, pushed all the right buttons, and…nothing. The thing had finally given up the ghost, and sooner than I had expected.
Given those circumstances, it seemed unwise to continue with the estimate on the ouside chance that it might be $250 or less. The time involved was potentially very long: get the plumber to give the estimate, buy the machines, wait for the rejigging to be done if we decided to go that way, and set up times a week or more after that for delivery and installation…seemed like it would just take too long, with too damn many trips to the laundromat in the meantime. So we went ahead and bought standard machines and they’ll be delivered on Monday, supposedly, and hooked up on Tuesday. Leastways I have my fingers crossed…
Thanks again to all who weighed in. Even if I didn’t ultimately take your advice, I appreciated the suggestions.