I currently have a washing machine that's too large for my house and also at the end of its useful life, and no dryer. I would like to end up with a small, stacking washer/dryer combo. I'm currently doing laundry weekly with family who live nearby, which is ok for the time being but I'd like to get my own washer and dryer within the next 1-3 years so that laundry can become a more trivial part of my day rather than a 2-hour commitment.
My top priority is to find appliances that will be long-lived and easy to maintain/repair myself. Ergonomically, I deeply dislike computer controlled appliances when mechanical controls are available, but I recognize that "chuck the tiny computer and replace it" is sometimes the lesser of evil repair plans.
A close second priority is energy and water efficiency -- I would prefer something that can get dirt and animal manure out of clothes with as little water and electricity as possible. I don't care about having 500 different cycle options or steam sanitizing or any of the other fancy features they try to sell you on.
Wirecutter has an ok writeup for recommendations of new machines, but I'd like to get this sub's opinion on comparing new washers to secondhand. If I could get the same quality new or used, I would prefer used.
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Are some brands of washing machine reliable enough to be worth getting secondhand? (there's a Salvation Army appliance center within driving distance, so "keep an eye out for exactly X model and pick it up when available" is a viable strategy in my circumstances)
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Any glowing recommendations or horror stories of brands/models that are very maintainable or especially impossible to repair?
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Any outstanding brands for ease of finding replacement parts, or difficulty thereof?
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If I end up having to buy new, what time of year should I do that to get the best price?
tl;dr sometime in the next few years I want to put a washing machine in my house. I want to find one that's minimally inconvenient, minimally wasteful, and the most cost-effective model to meet those other constraints.
February 19, 2019 at 01:31PM
