We are coming to the end of our time living on a military base. Our house is almost ready to move into. It only lacks a few small things… the biggest being laundry machines. That may sound weird, but military tend to bring their washers and dryers with them. It’s Uncle Sam’s bill, so I guess the theory is why not buy nice ones and bring with you. We bought the house from a military family who took theirs with them and rented to a military family who had their own.
I did some research on Consumer Reports and Whirlpool Duets with a model number of WFW94HEAW where very much near the top. The chrome color of that washer is running a hefty $1299 at Home Depot. The matching dryer is another $1400. If that sounds pricey for laundry it is. However, they are really nice and we intend to have them for a number of years. Also after yesterday’s crazy computer purchase, it is own fair to make sure the wife is happy with with the appliances. I had resigned myself to spending about $3000 with hoses, clamps, and taxes for the pair. Fortunately, due to a few deals and special buys, I was able to get the pair for $2350. I had to sacrifice the chrome look and go with basic white, but it’s well worth it.
I only hit one minor snag. While we have gas heat and a gas stove, the laundry hook-up for some reason is electric. I thought there must be gas running to laundry as well, but there isn’t. That was a major disappointment. Why? Gas is really cheap nowadays, and cheaper in general. How much cheaper is gas? Fortunately, I didn’t have to look too far to find this MSN article by Len Penzo. Having met Mr. Penzo very briefly at a personal finance conference, I knew I was at the right place when I started the article. The math is fairly complex (and the prices for electricity and gas differ throughout the country), but the conclusion was simple… the savings can be upwards of $200 a year. By going with gas, we’d likely save enough money to pay for the appliances themselves in a dozen years or so.
With today being the last day of the sale, I didn’t have time to get someone into the house and give me an estimate on moving a gas line in there. I called a few companies and they refused to give me any idea without seeing it. I did find this article on The Nest where a number of chimed in that it is usually around $250. I’ll glad give up the first year of savings to have it for the rest of the life of the home.
I bit the bullet and made the purchase. I have to hope that there’s no difficulty piping it through because Home Depot was clear that the dryer can’t be returned. I’ve got my fingers crossed.
Hey Lazy Man, long time no comment, but I want to chime in support for getting gas appliances over electric. I also have a gas dryer.
In this case I think you want to compare electric versus gas, so you should only count the price difference between electric and gas not the full price of the gas dryer. Your investment will probably pay off much more quickly. I’m assuming you would have had to buy either the electric or gas model of the set.
Yeah, the difference between the electric and gas dryers was pretty minimal. I’ve also heard that gas dryers have fewer moving parts and require fewer repairs (don’t know if that’s true or not).
That’s a ton of money on those appliances no matter how you look at it. I sure hope that it all works out for your gas line and such. It will be worth it assuming everything goes according to plan. Gas is much better.
Having just watched my brother in law move my gas hook up due to the purchase of a new stove I would check in with someone handy you may know. He made it look so simple (although he does literally build houses for a living). He moved a whole gas line in about an hour and that included going through my kitchen floor.
I don’t happen to know anyone that handy who lives close. I’m hoping that it costs a couple hundred. I don’t want to mess around with gas pipes.
Definitely not well versed when it comes to gas appliances other than an oven or stove. I’m always cautious because of the potential for leaks and explosions.
I had a gas line installed this past summer for a grill. 25 ft of gas line and all the other needed parts plus labor was around $250 in central Illinois.