So Far, So Good!!

I was in the market for a washer and dryer for my home, which would be used by myself as well as my two tenants. Consequently, I was looking for something that tough and reliable and would give me years of trouble-free use. Water efficiency was also a concern, as it would be taking water from my hot water tank, and I didn't want to run out of hot water every time someone did a wash.

This eliminated the less expensive top load washers as they take 40-50 gallons of water a wash, and so I looked for a good value among front loaders.

Consumer Reports lists Whirlpool as the most reliable front loader, so I decided to go with among the least expensive Whirlpool Front Loaders (although still double the price of most top loaders). I also considered Bosch and Frigidaire, but the Bosch models had some troubling reviews here on Epinions, and the Frigidaire Front Loaders, while less expensive, weren't considered as reliable in Consumer Reports.

By my standards, this is a high-tech machine...it senses the size of your laundry load, and provides just enough water to properly clean your clothes. Consequently you cannot directly control the cycle time, although it gives you an estimate of how long it will take. I was worried about overly long cycle times, but there are several cycle and speed combinations that should allow easy cleaning of virtually any kind of clothing. There is a Quick Wash option, which finishes a load in about 30 minutes as well as Heavy Duty and Whitest White options which take over an hour. There's also an option that one would run without any clothes, in order to properly clean the inside of the washer.

The spin cycles, like in most front load washers, are very fast, and do leave the clothes less wet than top loading washers (however, I feel this feature is overrated as it hasn't improved my drying times significantly).

I haven't had any problems with vibrations or instability as some other owners have reported. I also haven't had any problems with mold or musty odors that have been reported, although I do keep the door slightly open when I'm not using the washer, in order to allow any moisture to evaporate.

I cannot vouch for reliability as I've only had the machine for a month, but I'll update if I have any issues.

It seems I made the right decision. The washer so far as been just as I thought it would be. It is pricey compared to a top loader...however I don't think you'll find a better front loading washer in the $700 range.

UPDATE MAY '08:
After one year of heavy use, the machine has remained reliable, save for some maintenance I had to do this past month. I was getting an 'F-20' Error, and after reading the manual, I learned that the inlet hoses were clogged. I took them off, cleaned them, as well as scraping the water filters on the back of the machine and the error went away.

Then a week later, I started getting an 'F-21' error. The manual wasn't much help -- after doing some research on the internet, I took off the front panel of the machine and opened the drain pipe. There was a sock clogging the pipe. I removed it, cleaned everything, and then put it back together.

The machine has been working like new since. This machine is run 3-5 times a week, so I think of these things as maintenance that would need to be done with most machines.