HE5T vs Duet

16 years ago

My dryer died last night so I need to make a decision now between the Whirlpool Duet vs the HE5T. These are going to be stacked in a second floor laundry closet.

I've been reading posts all night and am still unclear on two points.

I am leaning to the Whirlpool because of the Lowe's liberal return policy if the unit shakes the house down.

I think Sear will charge me a 15% restocking fee, or perhaps not take it back at all if the vibration is a problem.

Does anybody have any experiences to share on this?

Secondly, I would like the HE5T because I think for some reason that has a true profile wash. Can anybody explain this more to a novice? What feature the Kenmore has for a profile wash that the Duet doesn't?

Thank you!

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Comments (8)

mcubed
16 years ago
I just had my whirlpool duet washer and dryer installed last week. I LOVE them. They are soo quiet and my clothes are coming out much cleaner than in my old TL washer. I did have one prob, though. You really have to work on the dryer door to close it. The repair guy is coming Saturday, so hopefully that will be the end of it. All-n-all I am VERY happy with them. I ordered them from AJ Madison online and saved a TON (free delivery, rebate and cost-effective extended warranty). Good luck whichever one you choose!
joe_in_philly
16 years ago
sjay,

The Duet HT and HE5t are basically the same, but the Sears models have a few "extra" features.

The main one you mentioned is a profile wash. On the HE5t, there is a stain treat option that will start a wash cycle with warm water, and heat it to hot over an extended wash cycle. It can be used on several cycles. The Duet has that feature built into the Heavy Duty cycle, so that is less flexible. I use that feature several times a month, and that alone was enough to convince me to get the Kenmore over the Whirlpool.

I don't know if is still the case, but the Kenmore machines had a slightly longer (like 5 min or so) longer wash cycle than the whirlpool models.

HE5t has an extended spin option, and its top spin speed is slightly higher than the whirlpool machines. It also has one more spin speed, extra slow.

Both machines allow an extra rinse to be added (default is 2 rinses), but the Kenmore model also has a more intensive rinse option called Skincare Rinse II.

HE5t has both cool (77F) and tap cold settings. Duet's cold is controlled at 77F, with no tap cold option

HE5t has an energy saver option, which increase wash time by 10 minutes while reducing water temp (Heavy duty and whitest whites cycles). This is supposed to provide the same results while saving energy. Duet has no such option.

The Duet allows you to select loud, soft, or off for the button sounds. The HE5t only has an on or off option for the button sounds.

These are all that I can think of right now.

Joe
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Isn't stain treat always set to "hot"?--- Yes, it deselects if not hot. Would be perfect, if it did not. What cycle were you using to get the HE5t to use the heater on "warm"? --- Either WW or HD, both turn the heater on with all spins, temp, extra HS spin time, Stain Treat, extra rinses, pre-wash options can be overridden. This is good. BTW, I think the only thing HD is just set the Stain Treat to on by default- maybe some extra wash time. I am finding the use of "My cycle" can be set with your usual wash temp, spin, rinses. Power On, hit it, change temp (most likely the only change) and press Start. The manual says the machine uses the heater in "heavy duty". Would be interesting to hear if this is true for warm, hot and extra hot and what the approximate temps are. ---- Pretty sure the temp ranges are what I posted above. Like I noted above, you can essential override anything. Also, what does ATC manage for "Normal" cycle in the warm, hot and extra hot range? It would be interesting to confirm that it *doesn't* use the internal heater. ----Normal does not use heater. But Stain Treat does turn heater on, even for Normal. This is what I like about the HE5t, none of this if it is Tuesday at noon, but not on Saturday evening.. type of thinking. Just on/off. Cool temp is really around 80F either by ATC or heater or both on HD/WW. Since my water is still "cool" even during summer, I put washer on "cool' WW cycle and noticed the heater engaged. During winter here this is almost mandatory. Cold really means NO HEAT via ATC or heater. Not sure why one would ever use this, BTW. Do you open the drum to shoot the IR-based temp or shoot off the glass? Yes, read directly off clothes (see technique above in earlier post). Shooting off glass, does not work at all for Craftsman IR. I think my instrument is rated as +-2F or so. Summary to your questions, the only thing I really wish was different was the ability to change Stain Treat to any heated temp choice. As it stands, the LG, Samsung, Whirlpool Duet, Miele W4xxx do not have this profile wash. Perhaps the Bosch still does. Not sure. Thought. One could feed the HE5T with a cold water fill (via Y-connector). I could effectively always get a profile wash. Only downside, you would never be able to use ATC, but if you did this, you did not want it anyway. What makes the HE5t work over the Miele for me, is the ability to go up/down and use most temp and options on cycle that use heater. Miele locked me out too often. Miele had too mnay things like sanitary cycle always forcing me to do a pre-wash- why? Let me decide. Maybe not 'really' dirty, but just want to kills germs, for example. What does pre-wash add? So far I think I have more control using this over Miele W48xx. Interesting, the Whirlpool high-end Duet is like the Miele. Just too simple. Kenmore really added some value. Dryer is just a clone, however of Duet. The lack of vibration so far is impressive. 10 minutes to setup and level and seems to work perfect. Matching dryer is larger, a lot more controls than T9800 and quieter. Build quality definitely a notch down over Miele, however.
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sjay
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks for the responses. I would go with the HE5t however it looks like Sears will charge me $300 if I wish to return the units because of the vibrations whereas Lowe's will not charge at all if I have the same problem with the Duets.

What does it mean if there is no tap cold option on the duets? Does that mean there is no cold water wash?
crooks101
16 years ago
Joe is right and listed the "upgrades" very well. IMHO, it is significant and I did the same as Joe. I took the risk of 15% restock.
joe_in_philly
16 years ago
My understanding is that the ATC on the duet will add hot water to the cold water if necessary to reach a target temperature of 77F on the cold water wash setting.

I have never used the tap cold setting on my washer. I think 77F is a good temp to wash items I would like to wash in "cold" since it is warm enough for the detergent to work but not too warm that items will fade. In the winter, my cold water can be as cool as 38F, and in the summer it gets as warm as 79F. I have not heard of people adding ice to the washer so the cold wash was cooler than the incoming tap water.

Joe
crooks101
16 years ago
sjay,

Had same decision point. Sears return policy is definitely not a market leader as is HD. 5yr warranty sucks also. BB and Lowes are great. If the Whirlpool had the same features

They are fundamentally the same machines, but if you are really into the best care or have cold tap water and want better rinses, you will not really want the Duet, IMHO. So I bought at Sears regardless, I am that serious about a well designed machine. This is only something you can put a value on- i.e. your needs and desires.
georgect
16 years ago
crooks101...
How is the HE5t rises better compared to the Whirlpools?
crooks101
16 years ago
oh good question, they have the extra rinse button like Duet, but also another option on same button option called SkinCare II. Manual never said what it does, but it adds on Normal, WW, perhaps all, a 4th rinse.

This use to be the normal, my old Bosch did 4 rinses. Now most default to two only.

HE5T vs Duet

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