I have a Whirlpool. It's fine and probably has a few more bells and whistles than I need.

Here's one thing I don't like. It has a door that opens down rather than to the side. Since it has a rather large drum, it's a loooong reach to get the socks out of the back, since I have to lean over the open door.

I never bought an appliance from Costco, so I can't help you there. I always go by whatever Consumer Reports says.

Hold on a darn minute. Maybe that there's nothing wrong with your dryer other than it needs a good cleaning out. It should be a yearly practice anyway becauase they can get packed with built up lint and become a fire hazard.
First off look inside the drum and on the back wall you should see an air vent with holes or honeycombed holes, grill etc. and the drum light. Make sure those holes are not completely covered up with lint fuzz. If they are take a pencil or screwdriver etc and poke them clean. That happens quite frequently causing no air circulation in the drum making it take forever to dry and can cause a fire.

The dryer should also be unplugged, and the vent at the back of the machine and the tubing to the wall vent vacuumed out.

Then you have to go outside and check the little vent cap in the wall, look inside and make sure it isn't plugged up with dryed up hard as a rock lint.

Dryers don't usually slow down in their drying capacity. when they break, they stop drying completely.. ie the heater and/or fan stops working altogether.

Thanks PK. I had it cleaned out like that a couple months ago. I found a great washer/dryer repair guy and he's been out a few times since I bought this house with this old Whirlpool set.

Little things like a blown fuse, the drum belt. The reason I've kept it so long is that it is old and therefore doesn't have a lot of bells and whistles. It's a simple old thing - easy to fix, and it works.

It hasn't slowed down - it's just slower than the new ones - or so I've been informed! LOL.

If that's not true then I'd rather not spend the money. But if newer dryers are twice as fast, that means less energy usage, right?

What PK said, and it sounds like you are ready to buy. One thing he didn't mention is that you have a top loader, right? That means it doesn't extract as much water as a front loader so any dryer would finish the job in a shorter time than yours, if they have front loaders too.

Measure your closets, measure how much room you would need for a door to swing open. Look at Costco and Pacific Sales. I bought the cheapest dryer that had the biggest capacity, porcelain/metal top, and a lighted drum. Pretty much all of them have sensors. A nice bell/whistle is that the drum change directions while drying.

Also check the length of your venting....and how it is configured. "They" say no more than 15 feet...and that every right angle in the vent tubing equals 5 feet of straight venting. When I moved into this house the dryer placement and venting was amazing! Since we brought the dryer from the other house, we relocated it and cut back about 20 feet oif venting, actual and that due to right angle turns.
I say keep the dryer....or look for a used one...check estate sales!
Linda C

Also check the length of your venting....and how it is configured. "They" say no more than 15 feet...and that every right angle in the vent tubing equals 5 feet of straight venting. When I moved into this house the dryer placement and venting was amazing! Since we brought the dryer from the other house, we relocated it and cut back about 20 feet oif venting, actual and that due to right angle turns.
I say keep the dryer....or look for a used one...check estate sales!
Linda C

So I really need a new (front-load) washer, not a new dryer?

I'd ask your repair guy, if you trust him, whether you need a new washer. And they don't have to be 'matched' if you do. But I would ask your housekeeper what kind of washers her other clients use - FL pairs have longer wash cycles, shorter dry cycles.

If you do decide to go with dryer alone, don't get a dryer that is matched to a front loader. They don't handle the wetter loads from top loaders as well, IIRC from the Laundry Room forum.

Gina, our dryer stb on tuesday, our new one is coming saturday. We went with the maytag centennel(?). It has a 7.0 load capacity. The 400 model (electric) is on sale at home depot for $360.00 with delivery rebated. We had to go with the 500 model (400 was unavailable in our area) which was $450.00 - seems to be a good basic dryer.

Ah Ha !!! The infamous housekeeper hijinks. You don't need a new dryer or washer at all. Facts are that dryers over the last 10-15 years don't run as hot as the ones of yore. By toning them down saved energy and fabrics and fires but of course it meant longer drying times. Plus I agree that she's probably comparing your dryer to someone who is using a front-load washer which extracts a lot more water in the spin cycle thereby reducing the drying time.
Is it worth replacing a trusty old top loader. I don't think so until it becomes absolutely necessary and your washer does need replacing. Even then you can buy a decent toploader for less than half of most big front loaders, so the savings in energy/water aren't that apparent. I think it all depends on how much laundry you do. If you do lots of loads a weeks then definitely a front loader for your next machine,, if you only do a couple per week then you're not going to realize any savings over the higher purchase price for so long it's debatable.

And also with front loaders is that there seems to be a propensity with them for being smelly. The cause being water and dampness settling into the rubber gasket that surrounds the door opening causing mold etc. The rememdy given by the manufacturers is to run them hot occasionally with some bleach, or to leave the door open etc, clean the basket etc.. Who wants that LOL

I like the old stuff. My GE washer is almost 20 years old now and I'm hoping it lasts forever. I dread buying a new washer from all the break down issues I hear about with the newer models. It's true, they just don't build them as well as they used to.

I agree about older dryers running hotter than newer ones. I thought my new one was a dud because the pink dryer from the 1950's that it replaced got a whole lot hotter. I miss that old dryer. I have picture of it at home that I will post if I can find it.

I'm sticking with top loaders for my next washer. It's what I'm used to and I can throw in the sock that I dropped after the cycle starts.

glad to hear that I'm right in sticking to my guns about a new top loader..Hubby swears that a front loader is the way to go..but Since I discovered they are making new top loaders with the same water reduction features and such..I want to stick with a top loader.(and he doesn't do laundry anyway!)

I need a new set...and when I can pay cash for them I'll get them. Until then I'm wasting a hell of alot of water into my drain field!!! and my dryer is now starting to overheat...thank goodness it won't turn back on when it's to hot. I can't do back to back loads anymore. It's got to cool off before it'll turn back on for the next load.
~I don't dry laundry unless I'm home for the whole cycle.

oh and off topic~ pkguy, did you mention a good not to expensive canister vac..not to long ago..I'm in the market for a new vacuum too. Meile or something like that for under or around $200??

I purchased the Frigidaire "Affinity" washer & dryer a little over a year ago. I love them. The clothes are practically dry coming out of the washer. A load of bath towels dry in 15 minutes, or less. If I remember to pull the pockets out heavy jeans also dry in 15 minutes. No leaks, no standing water, no problems whatsoever.

I love the deep clean cycle. I use it for DH's whites & also for bedding. I also love being able to wash my king-size comforters/quilts at home. My drycleaners was charging me $35 to wash a KS quilt! Down comforters were $25. Now, I can do them myself at home.

We put them on the pedestals & it's so much easier to do laundry it's stupid. Never again do I want to drag heavy wet towels/jeans out of a top loader! There's a LOT of room in the pedestals. I've been able to move all of my cleaning supplies/cleaning clothes, etc. & free up an entire cupboard in the kitchen. I'm storage challenged so that's a big deal, for me.

I purchased this set because they were really my only option that would fit into my laundry closet (bi-fold doors). As it's turned out they were an excellent choice.

/tricia

Here is a link that might be useful: Frigidaire

I love my front load washer...I had to get a new dryer after I got it and I opted for a larger capacity to match the large capacity of the washer...it's something to keep in mind. If you load your washer way up, and if you ever have to split a load to get it in the dryer then you might want a larger capacity one...but I'm guessing that's not the case with just you and your hubby.

I have an old Admiral 360 (I think) top load washer. The clothes come out of that nearly dry but it sounds like a 747 taking off when that spin cycle kicks in, LOL. It's somewhere around 25 or 30 years old and my repair guy told me to NEVER get rid of it, no matter what happens he can fix it. Jessica took one look at it when she was here and said that Scott or anyone in the "old appliance" forums would love it. (snicker)

My dryer is an equally old Whirlpool that I got free because the door needed a new latch. David installed a new latch and it squeaks like crazy because I think the belt is going, but it works fine so I'm keeping it until it dies.

I agree, I wouldn't take your cleaning lady's advice about a new dryer, LOL. There are too many factors involved. If you do decide on a new dryer, as has been mentioned, don't get one with a door that opens down, they are a PIA to get stuff into and out of.

Annie

The repair guy, whom I trust, and I have already had this conversation. He told me not to switch to new unless something dies, because the newer models have more stuff to break and it costs more to fix them.

Okay, I'm not going to worry about it then. The washer has never had a problem, and the dryer, as I mentioned, has just had dinky mechanical problems.

I'll tell the housekeeper that I'll do the towels at night and she can do the rest.

Thanks PK and everyone!

because the newer models have more stuff to break and it costs more to fix them.

Yup, I expect Annie's machine to outlast them all.

I am also seriously considering adding a second machine on the other side of my dryer, because these things DO break. Now which one to get....Bosch or SpeedQueen....