Today I'm proud to announce that Diane and I have joined the rest of America. We are finally the proud owners of a set of new front loaders. That's right. We bought a front loader washer and dryer! What's that you say? No big deal? Yeah, it probably isn't. But when you've been stuck with the old models for so long and a dryer that kept going on the blitz year after year, something as mundane as a new washer and dryer can be rather exciting. Or maybe it's just the fact that we're older now. We're finding that strange things like staying home on a Friday night or finding good milk for only $2.50 per gallon gets us all hot and bothered and excited these days.
After doing research, we went searching for the recommnened Consumer Reports model. A certain company happened to produce that one and when I got to the store, I about had a heart attack. Three grand for a washer, dryer, two stands and some extended warranty? Seriously? No thanks. I'll take a pass. So then it was off to do more research and price checking. We finally settled on a Bosch Vision 500 Series model from Metro Builder's Supply in Owasso. Amber, our sales lady wasn't pushy and the price was right. And the pedestals were already included! So we took the dive and wrote the check.
The next day we had our shiny new white machines delivered and installed. (Sidenote - we went with white because we're cheap. Diane say's we're practical, but we're really just cheap. The pretty reds one cost $150 more...she wouldn't let me buy them! LOL). We got the laundry going since we had about a million bath towels to catch up with and soon the washer was spinning away just like it should be. It was when we put the dryer into action that the trouble began. We got an error code on the very first cycle! ARRRGGGH. So I took out the manual and looked up the troubleshooting section. It said that the error code was telling us that there was a clog in the vent line. Seriously?
Now, our dryer vent goes straight out through the side of the house. It is only about 6 feet long and is clog free. Well mostly clog free. Since it hadn't been cleaned out in about 10 years I thought I might should check it just to be safe. So I went out and put my hand up into the vent and dug out a bunch of stuff that was stuck to the side walls. I dug out about a handful or so of stuff and threw it away. Then I went in, pulled out the washer and dryer, hooked up my leaf blower to the hose and hit the high button to blow out any remaining residue. I then hooked everything back up and started the dryer again.
Not too long later we heard the Bosch Vision Series 500 dryer begin beeping. This wasn't the "I'm done, come and check me" beep. It was the "I've got a problem" kind of a beep. So we go check and what do we find? Some lint on the lint filter. We clean the filter, put it back in and off we go. Since then, we have discovered that we either bought the fussiest dryer on the planet or the new front loaders are just sensitive like that. The people at the store told us that these new dryers are very sensitive when it comes to clogs in the dryer vent or lint on the filter because they are so high effeciency. However, it may just be the Bosch models. I found this comment on www.thathomesite.com, " Bosch dryers have an overheat sensor that is ultra-sensitive, and if you get even the slightest bit of air backflow, it will shut down the dryer, and has to be reset."
Now there is a lesson here that many are going to discover the hard way. If you own a house that has a dryer vent that goes straight up through the roof, you may experience some serious dryer fussiness. That's because dryer vents that go straight up have a physics problem called gravity. The dryer has to push all that lint straight up the pipe. And in some cases the pipe will make a 45 degree turn (and sometimes two turns). What that means is that if your dryer isn't drying well anymore or if it fussing at you for no known reason, you've probably got a clogged or partially clogged dryer vent.
Other than the pickiness over the lint filter, we would highly recommend front loaders and our Bosch Vision Series 500, in particular. Ours uses only 13 gallons of water per wash and can be set to use less. And the dryer has a steam option which Diane loves. One other thing I would highly recommend before a major appliance purchase is to do your homework. We joined the Consumer Reports website and found that the information there is awesome. It's like the encyclopedia of everything you need to know about whatever it is you're interested in buying.
So there you go. Now I have to go. Today is Saturday and I have laundry to do!
Originally Posted at: My Owasso Home
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