I remember the first time I saw a washer and dryer in a friend’s apartment. It was a few years after we graduated from college and our entire friend group huddled around Amy’s (not her real name) laundry set up, which was crammed into a corner of her kitchen in such a way that the fridge door wouldn’t open all the way. We ooh’ed and aah’ed at the shiny white machines.
At our ages, early to mid-twenties, owning a washer and a dryer was a status symbol, something for grown-ups, which we absolutely were not. We were impressed.
Amy’s adulting skills, which included snagging a full-time accounting gig, seemed out of my reach and I was desperate to know her secret. When I asked her how she’d decided on laundry machines, however, she simply shrugged and said, “My dad told me which one to get.”
A few days later, as I strolled through a big box store’s appliance section (purely out of curiosity), I tried to figure out which machine I would buy and was completely overwhelmed. There were so many different models and a veritable alphabet soup of abbreviations and acronyms in their labels. Where would I even start?
Eventually, I figured it out and now have a shiny white machine set of my own. In the hopes of helping other clueless youngsters like my old self, I’m sharing my wisdom here. Below, you’ll find three things you should keep in mind when buying your first washer and dryer as a newly minted, bona fide Adult.
Money, Money, Money, Money… Money!
It’s hands-down the most challenging aspect of being a young adult trying to carve your place in the world, and it should be the first thing you consider if you decide to buy a washer and dryer.
For starters, you should buy a washer and dryer bundle. Not only will you consolidate product warranties with the same store, but you’ll likely get a discount for buying both items at once.
The least expensive setup you’ll find will be a top-loading washer and a front-loading dryer. Front-loading washers are more expensive and, while they look cool and save water, the repairs tend to be more costly.
Another way to save money on a washer is to select one with a smaller capacity. Cubic feet (cu ft) is the measure used to calculate how much laundry the interior of the machine can hold. A top-loader washer has less capacity than a front-loader because it has an agitator cone in the middle, another reason why top-loaders are less expensive.
A bundle with a 3.5 cu ft washer and a 6.5 cu ft dryer is likely the smallest you will find, and they are an acceptable size for one or two people who wash an average amount of laundry per week. This brings us to the second thing you should keep in mind...
One Size Does Not Fit All
Where you live will determine how much space you can afford. Millennials living in metropolises like New York City or San Francisco can only pay for tiny apartments, some as small as 134 sq ft. That is tiny. If this is how you live, then you know every single inch counts.
Before taking the step of purchasing laundry machines, think about where you will place them. My friend Amy put them in the kitchen, against an empty wall. Perhaps a closet makes more sense for you.
And don’t just think about side-by-side machines. Some models are stackable, which means you can place the dryer on top of a front-loading washer, meaning two machines take up the space of one. Make sure you buy the stacking kit that’s specially made for your model. Otherwise, your warranty could be voided.
Another type of washing machine you may consider is a laundry center, which combines a washer and a dryer into a single unit with a stacked appearance. One disadvantage to them is that, unlike other machines, the dryers on these single units need to be vented to the outside of your house or apartment, which limits where you can place your unit. However, laundry centers tend to be smaller and less expensive than a stackable, front-loading pair, so this might make more sense for you from the financial and space standpoints.
You Can Take It With You
Considering that most millennials are renters, it’s important to purchase appliances that can easily be adapted to all kinds of living situations. Though a washer and dryer may seem like semi-permanent fixtures in a home, there are a number of ways to make them more portable.
The size of the appliance is crucial, as we mentioned above. A large machine may be right for your current apartment but it might not fit in the next one.
The type of machine is also important. Dryers, for one, come in two types. Vented, or tumble, dryers are the traditional type, where a heating element increases the temperature inside the dryer drum so much that the water in the clothes turns into steam. This steam is expelled from the machine through an exhaust vent that must lead to the outside of the building. Typically, laundry dries faster in vented dryers. However, they consume a lot of energy, and they can only be placed against walls with access to the exterior of the building, which will limit the kind of space you can use as your laundry room.
Condenser dryers, on the other hand, take the resulting steam and turn it into liquid water through a condensation process. Then it reheats the air and starts the cycle over. These dryers, sometimes called “ventless,” don’t require an exhaust vent to the outside of the house, which means they can be placed pretty much anywhere that is well-ventilated. The only thing you need to do is empty out the container that collects condensed water every once in a while. Though condenser dryers are usually more expensive than tumble dryers, you might find the expense pays for itself in reduced energy costs.
And, really, when you make a big purchase like a washing and drying machine, that’s what you’re aiming for: getting more out of it than you put into it. Whether you want to cut down on your trips to the laundromat or simply don’t have one nearby, take a look at all your options, do the math, and select the washer and dryer model that will give you the most of what you want.