High Efficiency Washing Machine and Dryer

If you read my blog on a regular basis, you know that a couple of weeks ago, we began having problems with our dryer. Eventually, we got to the point where we could only dry a load that weighed no more than a pair of shorts and 2 tee shirts or else the drum would no longer turn. All larger loads than that would be turned until they turned into a ball and were settled at the bottom. The heat was still great but with everything sitting still, nothing would have dried, everything came out wrinkled and frankly, I was concerned that a fire might happen.

We were rather disgusted by this considering the fact that our set was less than 5-years-old. It was definitely not a cheap set and was considered to be the top of the line when we purchased it. The washing machine was great! We never had any problems with it except for a safety latch that went out a couple of years ago.

The dryer was also musical. Soon after it would start working, it would begin to sing to us. As time went by with the load, the music got louder and louder and more often. Anyway, we just couldn't use it. Everytime that we took laundry to the laundromat, we spent about $50.00. That was just for a week's worth of dirty laundry for 4 people! Of course, we consulted with professionals. Everyone we talked to told us that it sounded like the motor was trying to go out on the machine. Given the fact that the dryer was about 5-years-old, the cost for a new motor and installation was more than what we thought we should put into it.

So, anyway, I did some calling around in Garden City to price out other machines. Believe me, there is a wide variety of sets available with all kinds of price tags!!! With my handy dandy notebook and pen in hand, I quickly wrote down the features and prices of each set. I was surprised to learn that there are still a few, and I mean, few, top loading washing machines on hand. I had understood that they would cease to be built over a year ago. Most stores are now selling the high efficiency models and have no top-loading models on their sale floors. Of course, the front loading high efficiency washing machines are more expensive than the top loaders but there is a good reason for purchasing them anyway. The water savings is astronomical. For instance, we purchased Frigidaire's Affinity Collection. It meets the Energy Star guidelines for energy efficiency. With it, we can expect to pay no more than $11.00 PER YEAR to operate both pieces!!! It is also very conservative with water usage. Every load that is put into the washing machine will be washed with 16 LESS gallons of water than a top loading machine! Given the fact that our water rates are getting ready to take a major increase this month, we felt compelled to purchase the best water-saver that we could. So we did!

Now something else that we were very excited about with this type of system is the fact that it uses steam in the washing machine and in the dryer. You have your choice of just how much steam you want to use for each particular load. For instance, if you want to place curtains into the dryer to remove wrinkles and to refresh them, you turn your dial to that. It takes 15 minutes from start to finish to complete this task. But, if you need to sanitize something, it will take over an hour to do that with steam in the washing machine. You're probably wanting to know just how a dryer can steam. Right? Well, there is a water hose that directs cold water from the hoses that provide water to the washing machine. Just too cool!!!

Now, I tend to be a harper at times. (Don't tell Danley!!! I'm sure that he hasn't noticed! LOL!!!) Anyway, as soon as I learned this Fall that you can now purchase drapes that protect the interior temperatures of your rooms from the extreme temperatures of the great outdoors, I knew I wanted them!!! And given the fact that they are also room darkening, I was sold on them! I did my research on what is available out there. I discovered that they are not always created equally--at least in my mind. So, if you are interested in purchasing some for your home or office, shop around. Anyway, I had mentioned to people that I thought that we should probably get some for our living room as it tends to be warmer in the summer and cooler in the winter than what we want. Our utilities pay the price for that. We, of course, have to pay the price for the utilities. Not good!!!

Well, one of our gifts to us for Christmas was a gift card that we used to purchase these drapes. From all research that I did, I discovered that you can only purchase one drapery panel in each package. That was okay. We purchased them. Of course, the portion of each drape that you could see, looked perfect. But once we opened each package, we discovered MAJOR wrinkleage. I determined that I would need to iron them before we hung them this weekend. I definitely was not looking forward to that since each panel was 54 inches wide and 84 inches long. We have three large windows in our living room which translates into the fact that we needed 6 panels to do the job. That's A LOT of ironing!!! Well, I didn't have to dig out the iron. We put all of them into the dryer and steamed them. It took just 15 minutes and when I removed them from the machine, they were just perfect!!! How can you beat that??? It would have literally taken me several hours to iron them...

Now you're probably wondering how I could fir 6 thick and long drapes into the dryer at one time. Well, there is one thing that I have failed to tell you. The set is called Ultra sized. Ultra is the largest size that you can purchase for a home. Given the fact that the washing machines no longer use the agitator in the center, you are automatically able to put more laundry into it. Now, with it being ultra sized, I can get A LOT of laundry put into it at one time. The directions say that you can fill the tub with laundry all of the way from the bottom to the top as long as you are not having to stuff them in there tightly. Then, when the laundry is washed you put it into the dryer that is even larger than the washing machine. That way, the laundry is allowed to spread out even more. The result is that the load dries quicker and comes out wrinkle-free.

Each machine has many more options than any other machine I have ever seen. You can turn the dial to whatever your load entails. It will automatically push the buttons to the side that will accomplish what you want. Of course, if you do not agree with what the machine orders, you can change it to whatever you want to. For instance, you can decide just how much steam you want to use in that particular load of clothes, etc. This is the "smartest" washing machine and dryer I have ever had the opportunity to use!

You can decide whether or not you want the washing machine and dryer to sit directly on your floor like we are used to or you can purchase what is called pedestals for the machines to stand on. Each pedestal is approximately 2 feet tall which means that your machine is higher off of the ground significantly which is great for people like me who have arthritis in our backs which make bending over a painful experience. Now do your research. Some pedestals are solid. Some like ours have a built-in drawer in each pedestal that you can use for storage of your laundry supplies, etc. In our case, each drawer has two petitions set up so that the individual boxes do not fall over and make a mess. We have a large bottle of Tide laundry soap for high efficiency machines, a large bottle of Clorox and a large bottle of Downy in the drawer under the washing machine and still have a great deal of excess space that we can use for extra bottles of each, our stain sprays, etc. Given the fact that most of us never think we have enough space, this is a great option for storage!

These sets come in a large variety of colors to choose from. Originally, we thought that we wanted the red color. It was sold out at the store we ended up purchasing the set from. They did have white and a color that basically looks like stainless steel. We chose the stainless steel look-alike and we love it! The store delivered the new set to us yesterday afternoon. After they had hooked both pieces up to electricity and water, they gave us a generalized education on how to operate everything. Believe me, they are much easier to operate than we expected when we saw all of the buttons, etc. All of a sudden, we went from doing laundry as a chore to doing it as a luxury and something FUN to do! LOL!!!

So, next time when you are in the market for a new laundry system, I definitely recommend that you consider this. Though you will pay more for it to purchase it, your energy and water savings will add up big-time. And who doesn't want to save money on their utility bills? I am almost afraid to mention this part because of the vast difference on the opinion of the name. This is the GREEN way to go. Buy using this system, we are helping to keep our environment clean and well-preserved.

VLE-B