Laundry Centers / Stackable Washer-Dryers

9 years ago

After purchasing our new coop apartment, my husband and I were pleasantly surprised to learn that we are allowed a washer/dryer in our unit (a huge rarity in NYC, so we were pretty excited). The only place to put one is in the kitchen, which actually does have venting because the previous owners installed an old vented gas dryer many years ago and somehow were permitted to put a hole into the side of the building. Since the kitchen is a small galley kitchen, we planned on putting under-counter units in. Unfortunately, the only compact, counter-height dryers on the market right now are electric, and after consulting with our contractor and an electrician we learned that our apartment cannot support an electric dryer on its current ampage, and to add a new electric line so that it could would be thousands of dollars of electric work (and potentially not approved by the coop board). So since we have to have a gas dryer, sadly, my dreams of a sleek, compact, under-counter unit went out the window. We now realize that our only option is to put in a stacking laundry center (that or a regular sized washer and gas dryer, but the size is much greater than a laundry center so we ruled it out).

In any case, that's a lot of backstory to get to my main question, which is if anyone on here has any advice on picking a stackable laundry center. There aren't many reviews online. So far it seems the options are GE Spacemaker, Whirlpool Thin Twin, and Kenmore. Those are the only 24" wide models; there are some others that are 27", but in our tiny kitchen those 3" will make a big difference. I can't seem to find a big difference between the aforementioned brands, all seem to have very mixed reviews and look almost identical. I'm leaning towards the GE because it has slightly bigger capacity in both the washer and dryer, while being the same dimensions (just a few inches taller, which doesn't bother me).

Anyone been in the position of having to pick one of these, and have any advice on making a selection?

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Comments (3)

georgect
9 years ago
Have a look at Electrolux compact.

http://www.electroluxappliances.com/Washers-Dryers/Washing-Machines/Compact-Design/
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practigal
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I also have a washer dryer in the kitchen. While I love my compact electrolux the matching dryer takes 240... I looked at the laundry centers long and hard...the thin twin kept being the favorite but for looks, if it will be visible in your kitchen, I'd opt for the new gray Frigidaire ( OK, I'm shallow).

You need to consider your load size, when I really looked at the size of the loads that I was running a small washer was just fine. ( I also prefer to throw on a load of day and never have it stack up.)

I was able to use two different laundry center units while we were on vacation. One of them was much easier to lean over and pull the laundry out of the washer than the other. I recommend you check reviews, find the model that you are thinking of purchasing in a store and lean over and imagine yourself pulling the laundry out of the washer (noticing in particular where the door of the dryer is in relation to your head, will you constantly hit your head on it?) because that is what you going to do. Most laundry centers do not have reversible doors so you need to pay attention to what your space requirements are for the door opening.

Alternatively, you may still be able to buy a used gas dryer of the smaller size.

You can buy 120 V dryers. What some people have done is to purchase a 120V washer dryer combo-one machine and a second machine that is a 120 V dryer. The issue with the smaller machines is that in order for the dryer to be effective the wash load has to be split in two so they wash a full load in the washer dryer combo and then dry half of the load in the dryer and dry the other half in the washer dryer combo.

You should also be aware that there are high speed spinners on the market so if your washing machine doesn't spin enough water out and drying takes forever, you may want to buy one of these, I think they spin for all of two minutes, remove substantial amounts of water, and cost less than $100.
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User
8 years ago
I'm in a very similar situation. I am looking for a 24" stacked washer/gas dryer. Arielleeve, what did you end up getting, and are you happy with your choice?
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Laundry Centers / Stackable Washer-Dryers

Comments (3)

georgect

practigal

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