My husband and I spent a lot of money this past weekend! We finally bit the bullet and bought a new washing machine and Dryer – High Efficiency models no less.
Not that we can really afford new appliances!
As you might remember our ancient washing machine broke down in August (along with a few other things in the house) much to our dismay. We couldn’t afford to replace the washing machine so we’ve been taking our laundry to a nearby laundromat for the last five months.
Two things happened that caused us to decide to make this big purchase.
One – my husband got a call from the bank last week. Apparently he’d used his banking card at a store that was being investigated for debit card fraud so they’d limited his card and wanted him to come in and get a new card. While he was talking to someone from the bank on the phone he found out that he was pre-approved for a personal line of credit. Since we’d never taken out a line of credit for our house we decided to accept the personal line of credit that the bank was offering. Not really intending to use it, but it’s nice to have just in case something happens like the furnace breaks down or something.
Two – once we had the line of credit we thought – “hey, the stores are all having January clearance sales right now … maybe we should look at washing machines and see if we can get a deal?”
So I spent a few days last week checking out all of the major stores that sell appliances in the Toronto area and did some research on washing machine brands. I eventually found a great deal on an Inglis HE washer and HE dryer set at Leon’s. $999 – can’t beat that price, especially for High Efficiency washers and dryers!
We couldn’t go to the store on Saturday because Chris’ parents were visiting, plus in the morning he helped a friend from work move … so first thing on Sunday we were off to the store. Now usually when a sales person approaches me in a store I start looking around for the nearest exit signs but this time we were interested in talking to the sales people about their washers and dryers – we wanted to find out if they’d had any complaints or returns for the models we were interested in and just as importantly if they had any in stock! LOL
Do any of you have High Efficiency washers or dryers? Front loaders? I know that they can have some problems with mold and mildew growing inside them. That was a turn off when I was looking into buying one, but at least we know about the potential problems and what we can do to help prevent them like keeping the washing machine and soap dispenser open when we’re done with a wash, running a cleaning cycle at least once a month, not always using just cold water to wash our clothes and so on.
Our new washing machine and dryer will be delivered this coming Saturday. I can’t wait! This will actually be the first washing machine and dryer that I’ve ever bought. Our current non-working washing machine and it’s matching dryer came with the house. When we moved in we were told that they were about 35 years old … and we’ve been here for 9 years now so that means our washer and dryer are 43 or 44 years old! Can you believe that? They’re older than my husband and I!
Needless to say I’m sure our old washer and dryer are/we’re energy hogs. I also never found that the washer cleaned all that well and the dryer .. well, sometimes we had to put a load in twice to get it dry so I’m sure it cost us a lot more money to use than our new machines will. HE front load washing machines are supposed to use something like 40% less water and 60% less energy and since the washing machine spins the clothes so much better than a top load washing machine the clothes should dry faster in the dryer.
If you guys have any tips for me about HE front load washing machines and dryers I’d love to hear from you. For example – what’s the best HE laundry detergent to use (keep in mind we have very hard water here in Toronto). Do you use a fabric softener and have you had any problems with it causing residue in the machine or dryer? Any tips like that would be much appreciated.
Now I’m just keeping my fingers crossed that nothing else breaks down. So far so good, but we’ve already had two scares in the last month. On December 20th our furnace started making a really high pitched circular saw sound when it turned on and we had to wait two days for the maintenance guy to come and check it out. It turned out that the bearings needed oiling. Sigh of relief!
Then, last Thursday night after my husband went to bed the TV froze … I thought it was the PVR, but it was the TV because it froze again two more times after I shut the TV off waited a bit and turned it back on … We have DLP HD TV and apparently that TV screen freezing symptom could be a sign that the DM board is failing. Since that night the TV hasn’t acted up at all … but we did take a look at new TV’s when we were in the store buying our washing machine and dryer – just in case! At least we have an idea of what TV models we liked (An LG Plasma or a Panasonic LCD made the top of our list).
I know the death knell is probably ringing for our TV, but I hope that it will keep working for a few more months. Seriously we just can’t afford for any more things to break down!
Anyway .. if you do have an HE front loading washing machine and or HE front loading dryer let me know what you think of it and if you have any tips for using them please do pass them on!
I’m actually on my 3rd set of front loaders (one set went away in a divorce, the other when I sold a house). I’ve loved all three, but my latest from LG are the best.
Just make sure you do NOT put in too much soap! Extra soap means extra suds, even though you have hard water (I had hard water in Phoenix, too, and it’s a little bit hard in New Hampshire). Extra suds will eventually work into the parts of the machine that are not meant to have suds, and when they wash away the lubricants that are meant to keep your machine running well, they wear out. Not covered by warranty, either.
That reminds me, I bought my last set on a one year no interest deal, so I have to write a big fat check now… I’ve had them exactly 11 months today. D’oh!
Congrats on the purchase!
Thanks for your reply James.
Yes I know that extra suds can be bad for the machine – I’ve heard that they can mess with the sensors and make the load run longer than it should. I’ve already purchased HE liquid laundry detergent – Tide, which I’ve found out on the Gardenweb forum “The Laundry Room” might produce too much suds or not rinse out so well if I use the manufacturers recommended dose … so I guess until I finish the two bottles we purchased I’ll only use about half of the recommended dose (like 1 tablespoon or so).
My husband is the one who’s been taking our clothes to the laundromat for the last five months and I know he has a habit of overusing products like laundry detergent so I’m sure we’ve got some detergent still trapped in our clothes … so as I said above I’ll try to use as little as the HE detergent as I can get away with until we get all the old laundry detergent rinsed out.
I thought I might try using vinegar in the fabric softener compartment to soften the water and the clothes (it’s also supposed to brighten clothes too). Have you tried that before? I know vinegar is good for cleaning up hard water stains on taps etc because it breaks up mineral deposits so I’m hoping it will be a good addition to our washing regime.
I might also experiment with using Borax and or Baking Soda when I do the laundry as well as they both soften the water and help whiten whites.
I can’t wait until the new machines arrive sometime tomorrow. The doors on both the washer and dryer have glass windows so I have a feeling I’ll sit and watch a load or two spin around in both machines. LOL I’m also looking forward to washing some things that I couldn’t washing in our old machine like the small pillows on our couch or the smaller dog bed. I have a feeling those new machines will be running from the time they arrive tomorrow until late Sunday evening. LOL
I got an Electrolux machine to wash & dry my clothes. It was functioning good, one day my nephew did something and it got collapsed and now its my doggie house.
That is a great washing machine that one, i have one and its so good. best one i ever had!
do you actually save any more with the energy efficient, given that most of these machines cost a bit more on the pocket?
When they break down, you don’t have any choice but to get a new one.
It sucks when things like this break down. You gotta go out and spend hundreds on a new one.
My wife has used vinegar for stains on occasion, but I’m not exactly sure how well that’s worked, sorry. 🙁
James I’m not sure if vinegar works for stains – it does brighten clothes … probably because it helps soften mineral deposits (good for cleaning hard water deposits in the bathroom and kitchen as well!). It can also work as a fabric softener as well.
I’ve heard that if you make a paste of baking soda and water and rub it on stains it will work as a stain remover.
As you can tell I’m all for cheap fixes that work. 🙂