I recently led a project to update our shared laundry facility in a small ecovillage in upstate NY. We have 3 washers and 3 dryers shared by 30 households.

We did a lot of research on this site and others and decided to purchase the Maytag Epic (MFW9800TK) and some relatively generic GE Dryers (DPSE810GGWT) which were recommended by Consumer's Reports.

I am happy to report that, after the first month, we are very pleased with these choices. The Epic has been particularly excellent, washing all manner of loads with quiet competence, good results and relatively high efficiency.

In particular, these washers do a superior job at spinning loads up to its 1100 RPM max speed. If a load is unbalanced, the machine slows down and re-tumbles the load until it gets it sufficiently balanced. This starting and stopping adds a bit of time to the cycle when it occurs, but it eliminates the problem of loads that won't spin or won't spin sufficiently fast to dry quickly. Even while spinning, the units remain quiet and don't shake excessively.

The selection of cycles is excellent, with most of our loads being done either on the 35 minute long "rapid wash" cycle or a normal cycle which tends to run about 40-45 minutes, depending on soil level and choice of prewash option. This model includes an extra slot in the soap tray for prewash products like OxiClean and the prewash cycle works quite well, especially for whites.

The unit has a "remaining time" indicator, which updates to show you the predicted cycle time as you are playing with cycle settings. This is nice because it allows you to make informed choices when trading off features vs. cycle time. The indicator counts down as the cycle proceeds, and seems generally pretty accurate. The only exception is when (as noted above) the washer needs to spend some extra time rebalancing a load. I have seen that add up to 5 minutes to the cycle while the time display remained at "1:00".

The controls are clear and intuitive. None of our residents have had any problem figuring out how to use them.

We did have one small problem during installation. When the installer was sliding the unit into place, he pushed too hard on the plastic front window of the washer. This cause it to crack. This was a cosmetic problem only, but something to look out for. Our appliance vendor (a local business who has provided excellent personal service for many years took the initiative to order a replacement part and have an appliance repair person come out and fix it.

Overall our residents here have been very pleased with these units.

For drying of laundry, we had had major problems over the years. Our laundry room is not located on an outside wall, so previously ducts had to be run a long distance with too many bends. We were seeing drying times of up to 2+ hours per load which really messed up the flow of loads.

As part of this renovation, we moved the dryers to a location where we could avoid about half of the length and extra bends. Further, we arranged to run solid sheet metal ducts directly to the dryer (no flex tubing).

The result of this, and the new dryers, is that drying times are reduced to 40 minutes or less. The airflow at the outside air vent is WAY stronger, and now sensor drying works well (it was unreliable in the old setup, which our repair person said can be related to poor venting). Moral of the story: PAY ATTENTION TO DUCTING. It saves you significant time and money.

The dryers themselves are good, but nothing too exciting. They have simple dial-type controls which operate an electronic control unit. They include a remaining time indicator as well, which seems pretty accurate. The controls are clear and intuitive. The drum is stainless steel and has an inside light.

We considered buying the matching Epic dryers, but saved around $300 per dryer and, I suspect, got better units by going with these.

I will check back in with ongoing reports (especially if we have any problems). Our environment is a tough testing ground for equipment, as each machine does approximately 10 times the usual household load.

So far I would recommend either of these units to anyone.