Hi........ I had to add to this post about the Frigidare Dishwasher... I had the previous model Before the Gallery series.. Looked exactly the same... I had vents that vented out the sides on the top of the dishwasher.. It worked great.. washed wonderful.. dried everything Completely.. It was wonderful....... Until.. I noticed my cabinets warping and coming apart at the seams from all the steam being vented through the sides..:-(( My cabinets are somewhat ruined.. Thank goodness I noticed it before they were totally trashed.. I now have Miele dishwasher.. do to the fact that they do not vent anywhere.. I was going to go with a Magtag that also doesn't vent outside of the tub.. but for a few more dollars went for the lower line Miele Inspira and we love it.. best dishwasher we have had yet.......quite and washes well..... doesn't dry as wonderful as the Frigidaire but I would rather have slightly damp plastics.. rather than a warped kitchen from all the steam ... I do think that if a dishwasher vents onto the floor.. one is looking for trouble down the line.. The steam can warp the floor.. or go under the cabinets and warp them as well....... I hope this helps someone..:-))

There are a few sources of noise in a hood ventilation system (and potentially also in a powered make-up air system). The dominant noise when a silencer isn't or can't be used is fan blade tip turbulence noise. Second will be either baffle turbulence noise (more like a hiss), or its counterpart if mesh filtering is used, or duct turbulence noise. Baffle noise domination assumes that the duct is damped on the outside and the air velocity in the duct is not too high. Otherwise duct turbulence noise may dominate baffle noise, and the duct may also rattle passing on blower unbalance vibration noises. External blower noise is usually lower with a long duct than with a short duct, but one should not expect a really big reduction in noise just because the blower is outside instead of in the hood (for equal volumetric flow rate). (The exception would be a commercial external blower, configured deliberately so that the fan is oversized and the belt drive sheaf ratio is set for a slower tip speed.) For residential operation, where room for a silencer is available, an external roof blower and inline silencer is the quieter approach, leaving baffle hiss below normal speaking levels at full power. That is my configuration. Part of the duct turbulence noise will also be removed -- that from the duct between the silencer and the external blower. Fantech silencers are larger than the ducts, e.g., 14 inches in diameter for a 10-inch duct. http://www.fantech.net/products/fans--accessories/accessories-ventilation/silencers/ld/ld-10-silencer/ They have the general appearance of a motorcycle muffler scaled to a dragline excavator engine. The silencers are also somewhat longish, so if the duct was going to go up into an attic and straight to the roof at the roof edge, it would be necessary to use an angle duct after entering the attic to extend the duct length in the attic to accommodate the silencer, thence use another angle to bring the duct to the roof. Avoid horizontal ducting if possible. Try to make the ducting accessible if possible.

I recently bought an Affinity 6000 washer and dryer pair and unfortunately have had nothing but trouble with the washer. Every time the washer starts to speed up to spin the load, the control panel blinks off immediately and the power recycles, stopping the spin. Other times, the washer will simply shut off in mid wash and will not power back on for a half hour or more. I've already had sevice out to replace the control board (which foolishly is located in the BACK of the washer making it necessary to pull the entire unit out if you have it stacked in a closet as I do). I ran a load of laundry right after the service guy left and SURPRISE! Still having the same exact problem. Has anyone else experienced this problem or heard anything about it? I'm waiting to hear what the service people are going to try next... Based on this experience, I'd be a little leary of going with this model (I have an older model in another house that's been working like a charm for 2 years).

>>>"Wouldn’t it be cheaper and open your choice of washer options to pay a contractor/plumber/drywall guy to swap the connections around"<<< Might be, which is why I mentioned the SQ price. Especially so if HU##### wants a matching dryer and adds in the relatively high cost of Speed Queen's dryer versus, say, spending a lot less to get one of the Electrolux models with reversible washer doors (EFLS427, 527, and 627., IIRC) and their matching dryers. Also, I'm recalling that our local Home Depot has some of the new GE "fresh vent" (or maybe "Ultra Vent") front load washer models, and one or two of of those GEs now have reversible doors on the washer. (At least Home Depot said they did.) Sorry, can't recall model numbers at the moment but might be worth your while to check on. Despite the high price, Speed Queen FL models do have a devoted following for reasons outlined in this older thread and this other one. The SQ FL models come with a full five year factory warranty, too. But bear in mind that, if warranty service is needed for some reason, it goes through the selling dealer. So, it is best to check out your local vendors rather than buying a SQ on-line from an out-of-area seller. If you buy from an out-of-town online vendor, and are not inclined to DIY repairs (the SQ's are easy to work on, IME), getting SQ to arrange local warranty service reportedly can be slow and cumbersome. Those considerations might or might not make the Electrolux and GE models seem more attractive choices.