What white goods?

[ik9000]

So as of tomorrow I will finally be the proud owner of my own place!!!! (When I say my own, I mean the wife and I will technically be renting off the bank for many years to come...)

Now we have the problem of buying white goods with the few pennies we can scratch together after the outlay on the sale, stamp duty, fees, surveys and the like.

Can anyone point me in the direction of:

1) a new decent washing machine that actually washes clothes, doesn't take all year, and doesn't sound like it's launching itself into orbit?
2) a cheap but decent chest freezer (we think we are being left a fridge)
3) (possibly) a fridge. (to go under work surface)

We've been looking at the Samsung ecobubble range particularly the 9kg machine, but can't find a proper review of it. Don't suppose anyone owns one do they? Model number WF90F5E3U4X (or WF90F5E3U4W). The 12kg and 8kg versions get really good reviews, but they are uber expensive...

[kalniel]

Get a trial subscription to Which? magazine and data-mine them for everything you need in the first few months.

[Flibb]

We picked up a samsung ecobubble washer dryer about 6 months ago, its the 8Kg version. Very happy with it, came with an upgraded warranty as standard. Very quiet, washes well, etc. We got it and a quiet a bit of other stuff from
http://ao.com/
very, very impressive company, next day delivery, chaps doing the delivery were very good (2 of them on the lorry), just a really good company to deal with. We laso got an under counter freezer from them. Think it was order before 10PM for next day delivery on instock items, order to delivery was about 12 hours.

Also worth checking out John Lewis for longer warranty's and price matching

[Flibb]

Get a trial subscription to Which? magazine and data-mine them for everything you need in the first few months.

Thats what I did. Online stuff is very good.

[jim]

I'd go to John Lewis and have a look round - I wouldn't have wanted to buy something like a fridge without having actually looked at it.

Also, all of their equipment is rated for dB so you can get an idea of noise, price, efficiency etc just by walking round. Obviously you don't need to buy there, but prices were competitive when I looked and the service was great.

[ik9000]

We picked up a samsung ecobubble washer dryer about 6 months ago, its the 8Kg version. Very happy with it, came with an upgraded warranty as standard. Very quiet, washes well, etc. We got it and a quiet a bit of other stuff from
http://ao.com/
very, very impressive company, next day delivery, chaps doing the delivery were very good (2 of them on the lorry), just a really good company to deal with. We laso got an under counter freezer from them. Think it was order before 10PM for next day delivery on instock items, order to delivery was about 12 hours.

Also worth checking out John Lewis for longer warranty's and price matching

am i allowed to ask what model # yours is? (and is it one of their VRT ones?)

[Saracen]

Hmmm, washing machines. "Decent"?

Somewhat depends on your definitions. You'll struggle (IMHO) to beat Miele, but you'll pay for it. They DO, however, generally way outlast most cheaper makes, so you might end up buying every 10-15 years, rather than every two or three. If you datamine Which, pay real attention to reliability.

Personally, I struggle to justify Miele pricing, but have been impressed with Siemens, both for washers and dryers, and have bought both in recent years.

Also, if you visit JL, keep an eye open for model changeover clearances on things like Siemens and even Miele. We got about £250 off a Siemens washer, because of that, and the differences were cosmetic. Also, got a 5-year parts and labour warranty in the price.

[virtuo]

I've got one of the big ecoBubbles lined up for next month after my new kitchen is in. Read a lot of reviews and it's hard to find fault (other than they seem to be a little bit louder/more expensive to run as an equivalent LG). They have a 10 year warranty on the motor and most retailers seem to be lumping in a 3-5 year warranty as well.

Seen a guy on eBay selling appliances with small scratches/dents for a good 100-200 less than RRP. I'd rather the peace of mind of a proper warranty from a proper retailer, but might be worth a shot if you are on a tight budget.

I'd never touch a "designed to fail" brand again. Had an Indesit washer that lasted about 18 months before setting itself on fire, got a cheap Hotpoint to replace it that's started leaking after about the same amount of time.


And Congrats on the house

[DanceswithUnix]

Hmmm, washing machines. "Decent"?

Somewhat depends on your definitions. You'll struggle (IMHO) to beat Miele, but you'll pay for it. They DO, however, generally way outlast most cheaper makes, so you might end up buying every 10-15 years, rather than every two or three.

Two or three? Blimey, we hammer our Bosch to heck and back and they last long enough that I struggle to think how often we replace it.

Which is a point, if you have kids or the future possibility then try to allow for both a washing machine and a tumble dryer. The combined units never tumble dry as much as they can wash, and I find with kids we have to tumble dry loads else we just can't keep up. Both machines tend to be going at the same time, drying load N as load N+1 washes.

[stevie lee]

I currently have the 12kg* ecobubble machine - it cleans large duvets very well indeed and as many pants as you can stuff in there.

one problem noticed with it though, but it may be the settings we use, is that it resets the estimated time after its put all the water in.
first it weighs the load at the start and quotes 2 hours, then after an hour it re-weighs, then it quotes another 1h45 so takes nearly 3 hours sometimes.
it does vary quite a lot sometimes. it depends on how much and what type of stuff you've got in. loads of towels and things soak up lots of water so it weighs heavier and then takes longer.

other than that. its a brilliant machine.

got a White Knight tumble dryer aswell, had 2 months dries tuff quite quick, but stuff doesn't feel as warm to touch from older bosch machine.


*(could be the 10kg one, its in the shed and its to dark to check now)

[Saracen]

Two or three? Blimey, we hammer our Bosch to heck and back and they last long enough that I struggle to think how often we replace it.

....

As you point out, usage-dependent. No kids here, and it's just the two of us. We typically do two or three washes a week. Sometimes a bit more, sometimes less.

[abaxas]

Just buy a low end 6kg bosch. Usually about 25-300 quid.

It'll eventually break after 3-10 years, then buy a new one.

No bling, just a machine that washes clothes old skool style.

[chrisFletcher]

Despite being billed as a cheap brand, I've got a beko washing machine, fridge and freezer (maybe even tumble dryer too, can't remember) and all have been great for 5/6+ years.
Wish I'd paid the £10 more for a washing machine with a countdown timer though..

[ik9000]

Despite being billed as a cheap brand, I've got a beko washing machine, fridge and freezer (maybe even tumble dryer too, can't remember) and all have been great for 5/6+ years.
Wish I'd paid the £10 more for a washing machine with a countdown timer though..

I will never, ever, touch Beko with a quantpole, nevermind a bargepole. My friend bought a house with an all Beko kitchen in it. Within a year all were dead, including such highlights as the electric hob bursting into flames.... Glad it's worked out for you, but I won't risk that in my house!

[DanceswithUnix]

Just buy a low end 6kg bosch. Usually about 25-300 quid.

It'll eventually break after 3-10 years, then buy a new one.

No bling, just a machine that washes clothes old skool style.

Again choosing low end depends on usage pattern. We wash a lot, so getting something low end means a lower spin speed, so clothes come out wetter and that means more time in the tumble dryer for the majority of the year where you can't hang things to dry in the garden. Tumble dryers heat, heat costs money.

If that just means leaving a few items on a cloths horse and they are going to be there all night anyway, then meh get the cheap one. I usually go for a middling one.

Apparently the one we have was £320 from co-op electrical online in 2008, it has 1400 spin speed (good enough) and a timer to say how many minutes before the wash is done which I find very useful. Hmm, 7 years of I shudder to think how many loads a week, probably on borrowed time there, but under £50 a year I don't think I can grumble

The tumble dryer is newer, and is an Indesit. Not the greatest of brands, but it has the humidity sensor in it so you can tell it to tumble until the cloths are dry rather than guessing than an hour will do, and ISTR the matching Bosch model was waaay more expensive. This one doesn't have a timer display on it, because the previous one did and it just told fibs all the time so wasn't useful. Again, a middle of the range model.

[abaxas]

One thing to remember that a £150 quid washer is as good as a 1k miele one if you overload the machine.

Also you shouldn't use high spin speeds on large heavy items as that'll break it quicker or the washer will hold back on speed on excess vibration. Depends on the model.

Too little detergent is better than too much. Unless everyone in your family are rugby playing builders, you'll need much less than you think.

Fabric condition will f**k your clothes, especially cottons and NEVER USE IT on towels.