Does it REALLY matter if appliances match?

June 7, 2018 2:58 PM

12-year-old GE dryer needs new parts totaling $500+, so time for a new dryer! Matching 12-year-old washer seems to be working fine for now, but given the age I assume it's on the downhill. I can get a 30+% off deal on a nice (discontinued) LG set but have to act very quickly. More inside ...

I could get just the sale dryer now and keep the old washer, but if the old washer breaks a year or two from now I'm not going to be able to get a replacement to match the new dryer.

I could buy them both right now, get a good deal but spend more money, and I guess maybe donate the still working 12-year-old washer and get some tax deduction. (?) I could afford to do this, but don't want to spend money unnecessarily.

Or I could buy a used or SUPER cheap new dryer now, wait for the washing machine to go, and then look around for a good deal on a set at that point. But then that's two delivery charges, two installation fees, and two times that I have to think about all this and make a decision.

I apologize for the simplicity of this question, but the vagaries of life lately have left me just unable to process this situation sensibly. Is there something here I'm not thinking about? Does it really matter if the appliances don't match? Nobody goes in my laundry room except me, and I don't care what it looks like. Appliances have always come with my house in the past, so I've not had to make this calculation before.

Why am I having such a hard time with this? Is there an obvious answer?

posted by mccxxiii to Home & Garden (18 answers total)

No, it doesn't matter if your washer and dryer match. Do whatever makes the most sense economically. You're overthinking it.
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 3:01 PM on June 7, 2018 [11 favorites]

Do you plan on selling your home (or leaving the w/d with the home if you sell it)? Apart from the aesthetics of mismatched a mismatched set to a potential home buyer (if you're a market where people can be fickle about such things) I don't think it matters if it doesn't bother you.
posted by toomanycurls at 3:01 PM on June 7, 2018 [2 favorites]

Even if you plan on selling, I wouldn't worry about matching appliances in a laundry room. In my house the stacked washer and dryer are visible from the living room, and in that situation I might worry a little more about matching, but in your situation I wouldn't beanplate it.
posted by craven_morhead at 3:11 PM on June 7, 2018

I've never bought washers and dryers in a matched set because one always goes before the other. I prefer old washers, too. They seem to do a better job than the newer ones. My washer and dryer are not on display in my home, so I don't care that they're not perfectly matched. Just replace what you need now and cross future bridges when you get to them.
posted by quince at 3:13 PM on June 7, 2018 [2 favorites]

The only suggestion I can make is that if your set is stacked then the logistics of stacking/unstacking (including disconnecting gas if you have a gas dryer) might make it more efficient to replace both at once.
posted by handful of rain at 3:30 PM on June 7, 2018 [1 favorite]

Is your house going to be featured on HGTV soon?

No?

Good. Then don't worry about it. Hell, our furniture doesn't even match.
posted by COD at 5:12 PM on June 7, 2018 [2 favorites]

My washer died. My dryer was fine. I bought a new washer. I did not buy a new dryer. That was three years ago. My old dryer still works fine. I have never had a problem with the washer and dryer not matching. People who visit my house rarely see my washer and dryer and no one who has seen the unmatched set has ever commented on it.
posted by BlueJae at 5:13 PM on June 7, 2018

Nope. They don't have to match. But if you're looking for an excuse to upgrade, I can tell you my newish LG top load washer is hands down the best washing machine I've ever had.
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 5:40 PM on June 7, 2018

I have a mismatched set. The only big reason to worry about it is if you're stacking them, as they may be just different enough in form factor that it doesn't work well.
posted by Candleman at 5:42 PM on June 7, 2018

I had the same experience as BlueJae (but the opposite situation from the OP's). Washer went, gas dryer fine. Bought new top loading washer, still using front loading gas dryer for a few years now. They don't match visually, and the washer is actually capable of washing more than the dryer can handle, but that also doesn't bother us.

I also think this is a "millionaire next door" principle about the future value of small present day savings, multiplied times the number of times you make such prudent choices. My 2 cents. Disclaimer: I am not a millionaire.
posted by forthright at 5:53 PM on June 7, 2018 [1 favorite]

A new machine is going to be much more water and energy efficient than anything older. If it were me, I’d prefer to grab the pair.
posted by sageleaf at 8:11 PM on June 7, 2018 [2 favorites]

I just went through this thought as my piece of shit washer leaked for the 4th time in 4 years and I decided it was time to go. (to be honest if i had the strength i would have literally thrown it down the stairs...) There was no way in anything would i replace it with a matching equivalent from the same brand, and there was no need to replace my functional matching dryer. I was kinda (ok, quite) peeved at the possibility of a mismatched set... until i realized the only person who would ever notice was me. And frankly, both a functioning machine and the cost of replacing a perfectly good dryer wasn’t worth it just for that. So i bought a nice top loading washer that won’t leak from the door onto my dining room table the floor below, and all is much better. Matching be damned when i’m not worried about a flood every time i do a load of laundry.
posted by cgg at 8:12 PM on June 7, 2018 [1 favorite]

Had a 28 year old Kenmore W/D combo. Washer died and we replaced it with a really sturdy Speed Queen. Three years later and the dryer is still going strong. They don't make em' like that anymore... My advice: buy the best washing machine you can afford.
posted by lois1950 at 8:44 PM on June 7, 2018 [1 favorite]

I consider myself pretty houseproud (like one of my rooms was featured on Houzz for a while) and it never in a million years would have crossed my mind to care whether the washer and dryer are the same brand. I researched and bought the ones at the best price point for the features I wanted, separately. They're both white... it's easy to find any brand in white.
posted by fingersandtoes at 10:14 PM on June 7, 2018

My experience of the new energy efficient washers is that they've achieved such efficiency mainly by reducing the size of the motor.

Which has also reduced the power of the motor, and that has resulted in quite a bit longer cycles from beginning to end, and most crucially, much weaker spin cycles.

Which in turn causes the clothes to come out wetter than they did from older washers.

But wetter clothes take longer to dry, and absorb a lot more energy in the process.

I haven't seen an analysis of energy efficient washers that addressed this issue, and until I do, I remain skeptical about the energy efficiency of energy efficient washers.
posted by jamjam at 10:26 PM on June 7, 2018

Best answer: Does it really matter if the appliances don't match?

They don't match now. If they did, they'd both be washers or they'd both be dryers.

Look, I'll let you in on a little secret. It doesn't even really matter if your socks don't match.
posted by flabdablet at 8:15 AM on June 8, 2018

Let me be a contrary voice: this would drive me out of my mind. I would hate to see non-matching appliances every day.

I'd buy the new pair and sell the old washer. The new washer will use less water, too.
posted by Nyx at 9:55 AM on June 8, 2018 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: ALL good answers, thank you everyone! I did decide to go ahead and get both, but not because of the matching issue:

1. I negotiated the pair-set discount to 35% off plus 6 months 0% financing.
2. Turns out I'm going to have to take all the handrails off my staircase to move the things in/out, and I don't want even the possibility of having to do that more than once in the next five years or so.

The new ones will match and stack, which is a bonus, and will presumably be more energy efficient, but honestly my decision was based largely on convenience/prevention of future chaos. My tolerance for such is SO low right now.
posted by mccxxiii at 2:25 PM on June 8, 2018 [3 favorites]