Major Home Appliances, Which Brands are Hot and Which are Not?

[LoneRanger]

Need to get a matched pair washer and dryer for the house we recently got. Looking for high efficiency low water use, top loader washer. Inclined to buy Whirlpool, since never had problem with their products in the past but as we know, manufacturer quality assurance can change over the years. Current set is a Whirlpool Duet Sport front loaders high efficiency, stacked, bought in 2008 and still going strong with zero problems. New ones will be set side-by-side, not stacked.

I understand Whirlpool owns Maytag and many of their parts are shared. Not crazy about Samsung and LG, no record of longevity like the traditional American stalwart brands.

 

[Duffyjr]

I just looked into this and while we have a set of Maytag's I don't think the new ones look any better than the Whirlpool and are bunch cheaper. Our Maytag dryer is probably over 25 years old and works great except the timer won't shut it off (no parts for it any longer) so we have to keep checking it, scares the heck of me that we're might fall a sleep so it's getting replaced soon. The Maytag washer is top load with all the fancy settings for the wife's work cloths and it's close to 20 years old so I may end up spending the extra for another Maytag.

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

I do not recommend a HE top loader because they do not have a center agitator. Go old school top loader. Also keep in mind that when buying a HE clothes washer you generally do not want your water heater located at the opposite side of the house. Some units don't have an aux heater and they use so little water that it's almost impossible to run a hot load if there's a long run from the water heater.

 

[Rmay635703]

Originally Posted by Duffyjr
I just looked into this and while we have a set of Maytag's I don't think the new ones look any better than the Whirlpool and are bunch cheaper. Our Maytag dryer is probably over 25 years old and works great except the timer won't shut it off (no parts for it any longer)


Spend the $25 and get an external spring wound hot tub timer.

It can be purchased to switch up to 50 amps and is much more reliable than the unit in the dryer.

Set it for the minutes you want and forget it.

 

[itguy08]

Originally Posted by LoneRanger
I understand Whirlpool owns Maytag and many of their parts are shared. Not crazy about Samsung and LG, no record of longevity like the traditional American stalwart brands.


Discounting LG or Samsung, then it's pretty much Whirlpool brands (Amana, Maytag, Whirlpool, etc) or Electrolux in the "normal priced" category. You could go for the cult of Speed Queen but IMHO they are mediocre at best when we've used them at laundromats.

We've had 2 sets of LG front load washing machines (Hate top loads - they don't clean well at all and kill your clothes) that have been excellent. First set was bought in 2003 and lasted until 2011 when a flood of sewer water in our basement flooded the machines. While they still worked, we didn't feel we would ever get them clean from sewage. Replaced them with a set of Kenmore's which are nothing more than rebadged LG's. They are going strong today with no chance of slowing down. Highly recommend LG.

Whirlpool is good and the default choice but I've heard the quality has gone downhill. In our house we have a KitchenAid dishwasher from the previous owners. They bought it in 2009 and we've lost quite a bit of rods on the racks, sometimes the dispenser doesn't open and sometimes dishes will come out dirty. We're looking at a new dishwasher and it's either LG or Bosch.

 

[E365]

I sold my last house in 2017 and it had a Lady Kenmore gas dryer from maybe the 1980s(?). Still worked wonderfully.

 

[Phishin]

I recently replaced my washer and dryer. After extensive research, and speaking with various home appliance store owners, it was obvious what to buy: Speed Queen

 

[edwardh1]

speed queen redesigned their washers last year. read up on that major change b4 you buy. lots of on line videos on the new/poorer machine

people like LG/samsung and box stores push them but many complaints on cant get them fixed, or takes weeks.

 

[RamFan]

I know people have been ragging on GE a lot over the past few years, but when we bought our house a little over 3 years ago that's what we went with and haven't had any issues. GE Fridge, dishwasher, stove and microwave. Haven't had issues with any of them so far. The house came with GE washer (non-he) and dryer, other than replacing the belt and a roller on the dryer we've not experienced any issues.

With that being said, I've heard great things about Maytag and Electrolux.

 

[Schmoe]

Don't know why people are ragging on top load washers. That agitator is what tears up the clothes. With a side loader, if you don't open it enough, you're going to get mold problems unless you use it a lot. They are also a heck of a lot easier to unload than a sider.

 

[MParr]

GE dryer: 100% Hotpoint is the same only cheaper and less features.
Top loader washers without an agitator are terrible at cleaning your clothes.
Whirlpool line of top load agitator type are problematic. The coupling on the direct drive system is prone to failure. Likewise, the clutches and transmission.
GE top loader washers with agitator are going to clean best. They are belt drive and easy to service.
I have never warmed up to high efficiency washers. They don't clean as well as agitator type units and generally have a higher run time. So they use less water and more electricity. Not too good of a trade off.

 

[UncleDave]

Top loaders without agitators dont clean well.
Top loaders with agitators clean well but beat up your clothes and use a ton of water.
Front loaders without heaters clean well, but have mold problems.

Front loaders with internal heaters don't have mold problems as long as you run a sanitize load every now and then.

If you got the money -its hard to beat Miele

A step down but great as well would be the new Electrolux models.

UD

 

[JohnnyJohnson]

Originally Posted by MParr
GE dryer: 100% Hotpoint is the same only cheaper and less features.
Top loader washers without an agitator are terrible at cleaning your clothes.
Whirlpool line of top load agitator type are problematic. The coupling on the direct drive system is prone to failure. Likewise, the clutches and transmission.
GE top loader washers with agitator are going to clean best. They are belt drive and easy to service.
I have never warmed up to high efficiency washers. They don't clean as well as agitator type units and generally have a higher run time. So they use less water and more electricity. Not too good of a trade off.


This I have the GE its two years old and cleans the clothes great. Those washers with the speed bumps in the bottom of the tube are nothing but Scat churners.

But I hate the stinking locking lid. I've never seen anyone fall into one of these. But then I've only been around nearly 75 years.

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

https://blog.yaleappliance.com/topic/laundry

 

[Lyman]

We just bought a new Whirlpool Washer. Pretty much the same machine as the Maytag as they are the same Company now. Ours has no agitator and does a better job then our old Maytag.
The Wife and I are pretty happy with it. Oh and it is QUIET as can be.

 

[Donald]

Check Consumer Reports.

OP - I would keep your current machines until they start to break down. Stacked is only a PIA if you have to repair the washer. And you are the repairman.

I have had front loaders for 10 to 15 years. They have some minor issues but get your clothes clean, use less water and do not beat up your clothes.

The bottom drawers people get amplify any vibrations in the machines.

 

[NormanBuntz]

Two months ago I replaced an 8 year old Maytag Bravo electric dryer that sometimes took two cycles to dry the clothes. Wife hated it. She loves the new mid-range GE dryer I bought.

 

[PimTac]

To answer the original question;

Hotpoint is hot.
Coldspot is not.

They are all the same anymore.

 

[Delta]

We have a GE top loader HE with an agitator and it actually does real well. We typically use it on the deep water setting, I know it kind of defeats the purpose of an HE machine, but it only puts in enough water to cover the clothes and not a "full" tub. It cleaned my greasy work pants and shirts pretty good compared to the Maytag HE top loader without the agitator. That thing was a worthless hunk of junk.

 

[pbm]

Originally Posted by E365
I sold my last house in 2017 and it had a Lady Kenmore gas dryer from maybe the 1980s(?). Still worked wonderfully.




I find the newer, high tech stuff to be much less durable and more problematic than the stuff from the 80s and 90s....