Archive for the ‘Washer’ Category

Watch for up to $200 in instant rebates from your electricity company

August 18, 2010

Look for this coupon inside your electricity bill or on your bill envelope.

From September 1 – October 31, 2010, you can get instant appliance rebates for replacing your inefficient appliance with a new Energy Star qualified refrigerator or clothes washer.

Plus, Energy Star appliances use much less energy and water than your old appliances, possibly saving you up to $150 per year on your energy bills.

Warners’ Stellian customers of participating electricity providers can use the coupon (many sent out in bill statements) to get:

So that’s a potential $200 instant savings, plus Warners’ Stellian will deliver and recycle your replaced appliances for free (on purchases $499 and up).

We are always willing to deliver for a fee outside of the metro Twin Cities area, but with your coupon, you can waive that fee.

Electricity providers providing instant rebates to Warners’ Stellian customers include:

And if they shop from Sept. 1-7, customers of those electricity co-ops will pay no interest if paid in full within 18 months on purchases of $499 or more (restrictions apply, of course). Also, select qualifying Energy Star appliances will be offered at discounts of 25% or more.

>>See more details and a complete list of participating electricity cooperatives here.

Not a customer of any of these? Check the Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency for a full list of energy efficiency rebates offered in Minnesota.

Top-load washing machines replacing front load washing machines?

July 28, 2010

The buzz in laundry appliance circles (trust me, they exist) these days for washers is all front load, front load, front load.

Or is it?

Whirlpool Cabrio front-load washer and dryer in black

The Whirlpool appliance crew came in last week to show our sales staff its new line and argued that many of today’s customers want top load laundry again. But these customers aren’t replacing a top-loading washer with a top-loading washer; They’re replacing front-loading washers with top-loading washers.

True, some of the earliest front-loading washing machines came fraught with mold issues and vibration and noise problems. Those early kinks have pretty much, ahem, come out in the wash. But apparently, not everyone’s convinced.

Without an agitator, Whirlpool's new top-load washer has tons of capacity -- up to 5.2 cu. ft.

Plus, Whirlpool’s high-efficiency top-load washer offers many of the same features front-loaders became popular for:

  • extra-large capacity
  • high spin speeds
  • less water and detergent used

Also available are features such as steam cleaning and drying, allergen-eliminating cycles and precision detergent/bleach/fabric softener dispense.

All Whirlpool’s new washers are rated are at the peak of energy efficiency ratings — Tier 3 — by the Consortium for Energy Efficiency (see “Energy Star not sole guide for energy-efficiency”). The Cabrios sense the size of the load and only use as little as 14 gallons per wash, as much as 31 gallons fewer than a traditional top-load washing machine.

I’m a huge front loader snob, but I have to admit that the features are pretty darn similar and who wouldn’t rather reach down than bend down. I think they’re definitely a good machine for the customer who wants quality but not another front loading washing machine.

Washer vibration leaving your laundry room all shook up?

April 21, 2010

Asko, whose latest designer series is pictured, designed its front-load laundry for main-floor applications from the start. Other manufacturers took a while, but most problems have been worked out.

Front-loading washers have been available long enough now that we’re replacing more and more first generation units of the now ubiquitous style of washing machines.

Front-loader washers clean better, use less water and (my favorite feature) spin more water out of the clothes with spin speeds around 1200 RPMs. But all those rotations made some customers’ experience with the earliest models a bit, well, shaky.

The washer would vibrate. It would move. Customers would call and say, “My washer is walking across the floor!” Things would fall off the walls. I heard of an extreme case in which a customer’s sheetrock shook loose.

Of course, it wasn’t solely the washers’ fault. People pulled washers and dryers out of the basements they were designed for, reinforced with their sturdy concrete block, and put them where they were never supposed to go: upstairs. Empty nesters converted their children’s former closets on the second floor and ended up chasing runaway machines. Families tucked laundry units into main floor kitchens without reinforcing the floors.

The problems were real for some. Fortunately, those problems came out in the wash (rimshot, please?) as most manufacturers since beefed up the suspensions of front-load washers.

So your friends’ warnings about front-load washers likely are moot dangers. You should still reinforce the floors if you’re converting a space for laundry, and if so, pedestals might not be the best bet*, but several manufacturers now guarantee that you’ll be happy putting their front-loader on your main floor.

If your existing washer is on the move, pick up a vibration isolation pad, like ShakeAway, at your local appliance parts dealer. I like Dey Appliance Parts, because I’ve had the number to its Snelling Avenue outfit memorized for about eight years now: (651)647-0171.

*Miele’s pedestals attach to the laundry units with bolts, making it the safest bet for elevated laundry on uncertain surfaces



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