Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: shared laundry facilities

[Hungerford, David (dghungerford]

Continuing Mike Adams' thread about Muir Commons:

7 of 26 households have thier own laundry machines (3 common washers/2 common 
dryers).  We also have an outside hanging area with roughly 400 linear feet 
of laundry line.  Davis is very dry and warm most of the year so many people 
hang their laundry.  In Ithaca, two dryers might not be enough.  As to types, 
we originally had 3 used Kenmore/Whirlpool (same guts) washers which broke 
often enough that we got sick of fixing them--they were like old VWs, easy 
and inexpensive to repair, but required lots of tender loving care that 
commonly owned stuff just doesn't get.   So we bought a new Maytag and a new 
Kenmore (as sort of a side by side test).  Our laundry repair and fix-it guy 
warned us afterward that the new Kenmore/Whirlpools have direct drive (as 
opposed to belt drive) systems, and that when they break, you have to throw 
them away . . .we'll see--although we did recently replace the 3rd machine 
with another Maytag.  We also looked into commercial machines, and found 
that the only mechanical difference between commercial and regular machines 
was the drum (stainless steel); all the guts are otherwise the same.  Since 
the commercials cost almost twice as much, it seemed silly to spend the extra.

Dryers:  we use two full-size gas models stacked on a clever, home-built 
frame--the top one is a Hotpoint (White-Consolidated is the umbrella company, 
they build under other brand names, too) with the controls moved to the front 
edge and the lint trap in the doorframe (so they can be reached).  These were 
both purchased used and have never given a day of trouble.  Gas dryers are 
very simple devices.

Energy efficiency notes: gas dryers use much less energy than do electrics, 
as do gas water heaters. 
Horizontal axis washers use a whole lot less water (and consequently energy); 
Whirlpool it shooting to have one on the market within 2 years--right now 
you have to buy European, and pay a dear price.

David Hungerford, Muir Commons