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.