<p>I have not done my typical research yet on this matter as people here are so informed. My son is moving into a home with a laundry closet instead of a laundry room. The closet is across from his room and backs up to the living room. I do not think he or his roommate will make it a habit to do laundry while he is sleeping, but I am guessing he might head to bed when the dyer is still running. The closet is in the main hallway that leads from the front door to the kitchen which is located at the back of the home; so when you enter the home you will walk by the closet and master on the way to the kitchen or to go upstairs. Also, boys being boys, there is worry that the machines will be too loud while they are watching TV!!</p>
<p>The closet has louvered bifold doors so I would assume the heat from the dryer will come out into the hallway. Maybe I need a quite and cool washer and dryer! I also will need to decided if I want to invest in a front load or not. I would love to give him my old washer and dryer, then get new for me; but it doesn’t pay to move mine as we live hours away. </p>
<p>Any suggestions for a quite set? Not looking for anything fancy; I usually like to go for middle of the road in price, but rated highly. I have been a Kenmore/Sears person for a long time, but when with Maytag the last go round. Where my son will be has most stores and a Sam’s Club. Wish there was a Costco, but there isn’t.</p>
<p>I do not know which ones are quiet, but my Kenmores are not. They live in a closet in the kitchen and with the doors open I can hear them upstairs.</p>
<p>Very Happy- I read each of those thread just this morning to make sure there wasn’t a discussion on how quite a machine can be. I love coming to CC first as we are all so well informed in so many different areas. What a great bunch we all are!!</p>
<p>I was just looking on the Whirlpool site and they list 10 washing machines that are quite; how quite I don’t know. </p>
<p>Has anyone used front load machines in a closet with bifold doors? I am wondering it all the doors with get in the way of each other? I wish I has thought to measure the closet when I was was there; I know it is plenty big for the machines, but how much extra space I don’t know.</p>
<p>Are these side-by-side or stacked units? You might be able to check noise levels with the manufacturer, or, if the cost is not an issue, go with a European model, which are generally better designed and more compact. Fisher-Paykel (from New Zealand) is another good line.</p>
<p>I had a stacked washer-dryer in my condo’s closet for 5 years. The closet had a solid door, and was not that noisy. More important than the noise level is the venting. Louvred doors won’t properly vent a dryer. You still need an outside vent. Do not overlook this, or your son will be paying to move the unit out and remove the mold and repair the paint where the moist air has ruined it.</p>
<p>I just bought a new LG washer that’s bigger than would fit in a closet (ours lives in the basement) and it is amazingly quiet. When I first go down into the basement, I can’t tell if it’s running or not.</p>
<p>This closet is large enough for a side by side, but I had wondered if we would have the height to stack the full size front load machines. The dryer is vented to the outside, or maybe the crawl space. I looked to see if it was vented and when I saw it was, I meant to go outside and see where the vent went, but then forgot.</p>
<p>Buying a home in your own city is one then, but trying to do this when you have to drive several hours is making me nuts. I hate when I get home and think of something I should have looked at or checked. I wish I could run back, but that isn’t going to happen.</p>
<p>dmd77-This is my son and a roommate in Medical School. They will be in this home for 4 years and a laundry room/closet was a must when looking for a home. My husband and I are purchasing the home and the other student will be renting from us. This is an investment for us as homes turn over in this area due to the medical complex and a local college.</p>
<p>I don’t even think there is a laundromat anywhere nearby, but with the hours the students will soon be keeping, I wouldn’t want them to have to leave for laundry if they didn’t have to. My husband was lucky in medical school, he had me to do the laundry ;-)</p>
<p>We just went through this about a month ago. 5 year old Maytag stacked Neptune died and repairman told us it would be 800+ to fix it and there would more than likely be more problems in the near future. Our W&D are in a closet in our family room. We bought the Kenmore HE2 plus series and love them. They are front loaders and you can either stack them or put them side by side. I liked my old Maytag too and that was 2 grand, but it didn’t hold up… ugh…</p>
<p>I read the installation guide even though i hired someone to install my stacked W/D in a closet, so tight I had to remove the door trim. The key is balancing the washer. I made the guy take out his level thing and it was challenging to get it leveled. worked well and as long as i dont overload or put something wierd in. It’s quiet enought to sleep thru. I also had a onepiece W/D and that was awful. One side breaks and your out.</p>
<p>I second chedva re: the LGs. Replaced our 15 year old Maytags and I was amazed at the difference in the noise level. It really is hard to tell if the washer or dryer are running. Fortunately, there is a Christmas tree’s worth of colored lights to let you know the things are on. </p>
<p>Not sure if size or cost is right for you, but they do stack and the dryer does not put off a lot of heat. (Our cats were quite disgusted about the last thing.)</p>
<p>After much research, we purchased an LG washer in February of 2005 to replace our Maytag washer that had spun its final load. Soon after, we replaced the old dryer with an LG dryer to match the washer. My husband is the king of research, so we felt really good about our purchases. </p>
<p>For the first two plus years, I really didn’t have a complaint, other than the fact that the washer door needs to be left open between cycles to prevent a foul mildew odor that builds up quickly. Unfortunately, last September, while preparing for a cruise, the washer stopped mid-cycle and would no longer work. The repair technician came out and the problem appeared to be remedied. In October, the same thing happened; the motor and sensor were replaced. Thank goodness we got the service agreement when we purchased the washer! The washer has been chugging along fine since then until mid-March. We were leaving town for another cruise (this seems to be a vacation-related thing, doesn’t it?!) Same thing happened … stopped mid-cycle and prompting us to make another service call. They couldn’t get to us that week, so we scheduled for last week. The technician came out Friday and replaced the sensor again. Here it is four days later and the thing stopped working again! I just called Best Buy Appliance Repair and the technician will come out again tomorrow. They suggested I request a “replacement review” so hopefully I’ll get a new washer. I’ll need a new toothbrush soon to clean the potty mouth I’ve developed from dealing with this. I’m tired of hearing “we’ll call between the hours of 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. to give you a 2 hour window when you can expect the technician.” Given the fact I took two days of work off last October and had to re-schedule three times due to the resignation of a service tech, I’m tired of them telling me when they’ll be at my house. Last week, I told them I wouldn’t be available till after 3:00 p.m. I explained that I had already taken time off from work for this problem and I’m not doing it again. They agreed. The model we have is the LG WM0532HW. I highly recommend avoiding that model.</p>
<p>We have bifold doors on our apartment laundry room (which is in the entryway, two feet from our living room… stellar planning, apartment complex architects!!) and they make a surprisingly efficient stab towards noise reduction. We just have plain ol’ Kenmores, supplied by the complex, and we haven’t had any real complaints about it.</p>
<p>I’d find something cheap and sturdy and it should be okay.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, I’m going to go drool over the Bosch high capacity washers/dryers for a while… <em>sigh</em>… someday, my loves…</p>