The washer at our house has been on the fritz for a while. It's an obscure, European brand, and while it has some awesome features (requires hardly any detergent, frontloading, highly water- and energy-efficient), the fact that there's only one repair company in the entire San Francisco Bay Area that will service it, and that the repair company routinely charges $150 every time we have it fixed, is making me consider changing machines.
I was further tempted when I read about the Barolo Kenmore washer. This 4.0 cu. ft. front-load washer uses SteamCare technology, which pretty much eliminates the need for pre-treating. The washer is also Energy Star-qualified, using 77% less energy & 73% less water than other machines. On average, it only uses 151 Kilowatt hours per year, as compared to the 420 kilowatt hours/year used by the top-loading Kenmore Elite Oasis machine.
This machine isn't cheap—it's several hundred dollars more expensive than most other washing machines, though it's $100.00 off through October 4th, selling for $1599.99.
But you know what's most cool of all? Dr. Jane Goodall is endorsing them.
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I'd love to own these and do my part but they are priced way out of my range!!!!!!1 I hope for the day the energy efficient stuff isn't so costly up front for the consumer who makes a modest living.
1Wow super lots of money!
2But, I guess your saivng it in the end too though.
Mine is high-efficiency too (and it's a washer/dryer) and I LOVE it!
wow, those are expensive. They kinda look like a face haha.
3I have a similar high-efficiency washer but from LG. I love it! The reason we got an LG rather than a Kenmore is that the LG has a steam-only cycle that you can use on most dry clean only clothes. It's fantastic!
4I'm coveting this red washer/dryer set made by Samsung. You can find it at Lowes. In fact, I believe you can spot it in their new commercials! The control panel looks as if it's a CD player, with the buttons reading "Stop" "Play" etc. At $2,000 for the pair, I'll just keep drooling.
5Ok, I hate to be the negative here, but....
I own Kenmore's High Efficiency Washer & Dryer. I was so excited to get these. Let's talk washer first. It's supposed to be energy efficient, use less water, & be gentler on your clothes. It is all of those things, but it does not get your clothes as clean as a regular washer. Do not let anyone tell you it does. I have to wash each load for a minimum of an hour, to get them clean. (We are normal clean people, no extra dirt on our clothes, office jobs...you get my drift.) So, it ends up using more water & energy. Also, our sales person did not tell us this, but you are supposed to use "low-sud" detergents for these machines. They cost several dollars more than regular detergents. The dryer is ok, but once it stopped working right. Replacing the computer board is super expensive. You could almost buy a regular dryer, for the cost of repairing the thing. I'm sure it's going to be the same way if something ever goes wrong with the washer.
I do love the front load part, though. It's also really gentle, on your gentle & hand wash garments. That's about all I can say that is positive about these!
After having the first bit of trouble with mine, I went on line & discovered that I wasn't the only one who was disenchanted with it. Do your research first, before you buy. I wish I had, before I plunked down so much money for my set.
6i m very content with my $850 washer by Whirlpool and the matching dryer. Prices like $1600 are waaayyy over the top IMO. My Whirlpool is great, energy efficient, quiet, and loaded with features! And I got a washer AND a dryer for $1600.
7I want one! It is not often that an appliance impresses me.
8I'm not sure what you're talking about in regards to HE detergents being more expensive. At the stores I shop at, most brands sell the HE versions for the same price as regular detergent. And some companies like All and Method sell HE devoted versions that may appear to be tiny squeeze bottles, but actually do more loads than those giant bottles.
I've been using my Frigidaire front loader set for 2 years and have no complaints about its cleaning abilities. Since it's so efficient, my water and energy bills have not noticeably increased since I purchased them (I had no laundry set previously).
Just be careful of mildew. Water does tend to sit in the rubber door gasket for most front loaders. You may want to keep a hand towel handy for mopping up the excess water after a cycle and then leave the door open to air it out.
9Well, they LOOK aesthetically pleasing.
10wow they're beautiful. Just look at them!
11I have this washer and dryer set in blue. They're cute and work really well. You can fit so much laundry in one load. And the dryer is really efficient. My old dryer needed two runs in order to get the clothes really dry, but this Kenmore works great.
12this looks good, but i guess i am concerned when i read PJ's comments
13I read about these products a week or so ago on www.getwithgreen.com. Their is complete pricing on the site (list pricing). They also provided information on the Bosch appliances, and some interesting links to rebate calculators in their Rebate section. We're in the market for new laundry machines for our remodel and are still deciding!
14how do you re-set the 02-f alarm on the high efficiency washer
15I am very disappointed in my HE washing machine...in order to get my husband's work clothes (we live on a farm) clean I first spray them, then presoak and add HE bleach to the water....give me the old fashioned washer any day.
16i'm sorry but this washer and dryer, while certainly beautiful are worthless to me. The washing machine does NOT get your clothes as clean as a regular washer becasue it does not rinse them with enough water. When you remove the clothes from the wash they smell somewhere between dirty and almost clean but never clean.
Each cycle takes a minimum of 58 minutes which is extreme;y long especially if u select extra rinse or heavy duty, now imagine when you have to run clothes thru 2times everytime??? my washer is ALWAYS on 2.5 hours per load, i doubt i'm saving much money here.
The dryer is absolutely superb, dries most loads in about 14 minutes.
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