Front Loader or Top Loader & Why

[Lonestar]

Re: Front Loader or Top Loader & Why

1. Many dittos what Texasbird said.

2. Be sure that if you do get a front loader that you have enough room. In Texas basements are extremely rare and laundry / utility rooms are generally sized for the traditional top loader. To get a front loader that will fit in small spaces will require getting a baby one and you are probably use to a large capacity. Builders have addressed that in newer homes.

3. Kenmore / Whirlpool, GE, Fisher Paykel, and probably others have top loaders with no agitators that are the same concept as front loader except they are top loaders (extreme low water use, cleaner cloths, spin up to around 900 RPM so cloths are nearly dry when the cycle is complete).

4. Beware of the Korean and Japanese brands. They look good, work good, but like any washer and dryer they will need service at some point. The parts are extremely expensive and they are not stocked. So a problem will result in longer down time for the equipment.

[SixPac]

Re: Front Loader or Top Loader & Why

During WWII we lived with my GrandParents while Daddy was in Europe. GrandMother had a top loader. It was black, cast iron, and had a fire underneath it. The agitator was a wood paddle. I don't think that a front loader was an option at that time.

[Salprint]

Re: Front Loader or Top Loader & Why

Chuck, we bought LG washer and dryer front loaders just before we sold our house. They were awful. Very quiet, very efficient, but if you don't do maintainence on them once a week your clothes will smell like mildew. You have to run bleach & hot water once a week to keep this from happening. Maybe since we bought them they have figured out this problem, but when I contacted LG they said "you should have read the manual about the maintainence before you bought them". We even had to drain the hoses after each wash to keep this from happening before the week was out. After looking into it further I found that there was a class action suit against LG for this very problem. So my recommendation is to go with a front loader because they are much more efficient, but ask a lot of questions and search online for class action suits on whatever model you decide you want. There were others besides LG that were being sued.
Buyer Beware!!!!!!

[JAB02LHS]

Re: Front Loader or Top Loader & Why

If you go for a top loader try not to have a pencil in your brest pocket. If it falls in its hard to get out. That also goes for false teeth

NHAYAHTLME

[Lonestar]

Re: Front Loader or Top Loader & Why

Chuck – I re-read you post and I take it that the question is front VS top load for the brand is already determined. We purchased the GE Profile top load washer / front load dryer about a year ago. While talking to a mom & pop shop who have been in business for 40 years they steered us away from the GE Harmony due to the above average troubles their repair people were having with them. To get a tub the size the wife said was required prohibited a front loaders for all of them with a tub of that size were too deep for the space we had. The GE Profile utilizes the DC motor and transmission developed by Fisher Paykal and has something like 40% fewer parts verses a traditional AC motor and transmission. The Profile has all the expected features such balancing, like front loaders it is extremely quiet, and it spins so fast stuff comes out nearly dry. When we first got it a spent a lot of time looking in the window to see how the thing worked – washers have come a long way.

Last weekend I stuffed the approx 17’ car cover off my 69 GTO into the washer, selected the comforter setting, and hit the button. The washer handled this huge load like it was washing only five T-shirts and the car cover came out so dry it took only about 15 mins in the dryer for the cover to be ready to go back on the car. I did all this while my wife was shipping for I am sure she would have had a cow if she knew I put a car cover in the washer.

[FUN X 3]

Re: Front Loader or Top Loader & Why

But we make our washer and dryers last at least 20 years before replacing.

The ones we just replaced we bought new in 1983 for our townhouse, we moved them with us when we moved to our current house in 1987. It's amazing how long these things can last, we had very few problems.

I did all this while my wife was shipping for I am sure she would have had a cow if she knew I put a car cover in the washer.

LOL! I hear ya! I get in trouble for washing dark socks and white underwear together, so I don't even venture near the laundry machines anymore.

[MikeB]

Re: Front Loader or Top Loader & Why

3. On a Front Load Washer, even at End of Wash Cycle, the Door Lock can fail to release (even on Maytag Neptunes) locking your wet clothes inside.

We have front loaders (Kenmore/Whirlpool) on stands and loved them. Then, the door lock malfunctioned two days ago and will not lock preventing us from using the machine. I was able to get it to lock last night and my wife has washed two loads but I still think I'll need a service call to replace the door lock mechanism because there may be an intermittent short. The washer will not start its cycle unless the door is locked via the door lock mechanism. We were getting error code "F dl"

Clothes come out very clean on ours and it is very quiet (except for spin cycle when it sounds like a jet engine starting).

[Bird03]

Re: Front Loader or Top Loader & Why

GE's Neiman Marcus model:

[FUN X 3]

Re: Front Loader or Top Loader & Why

Where are the etched wings?