Time to Start Looking for a New Energy Star Washer & Dryer

OK…so the photo above isn’t really our laundry room, and definitely not our basement. But it accurately sums up the way I feel at the moment.

It’s been a long time since my husband and I have had to make a major purchase for our home. With all the moves we’ve made in the past few years, we’ve done our fair share of washing clothes at the laundry. As much as I hate doing laundry at home, there’s little in this life I hate more than having to do it all at once in a hot, often crowded public laundromat. So when our washer inexplicably quit last week and our friends who run washer repair services in Louisville, KY couldn’t fix them, I almost shed some tears.

We’ve had this pair almost as long as we’ve been married, since they were a late wedding gift from a family member. But as clunky and basic as they are, they worked, and that was all that mattered. Even though we got them before Energy Star-qualified appliances became the norm (and before we knew enough to care about energy efficiency), we really weren’t in a position to replace them. Now it looks like we might not have a choice. And if you’ve recently discovered that your dryer is not working as intended, you can read this blog post by The Baltimore Appliance Repair Shop titled “Solving The Mystery of a Dryer That Won’t Dry Your Clothes” to know what to do.

I admit I haven’t done a whole lot of looking, but if we’re going to buy, we’d prefer a pair that is not just Energy Star rated, but also as water-efficient as possible. Hopefully, this will result in a monthly reduction in our electricity consumption and water usage, which are goals we’re constantly pushing toward anyway. It is going to be a tough squeeze for us financially, but I’d rather go to the laundry than make an uninformed purchase that will use loads of energy or water.

Ideally, our laundry room, outfitted with new appliances, will look like the Kate’s from Centsational Girl (above). Oh, who am I kidding? As long as we have working appliances, that’s the one room that doesn’t have to look great.

Suggestions?

Do you own an energy- or water-efficient washer and dryer? Which brand, and what do you think of it? Any suggestions or observations are more than welcome!