Is there anyone who can tells me why we in Europe can have the big washers (duet's and nexxt's) buth not the big dryer. And with the rainy weather they would not be a luxery. As a solution they (whirlpool (duet=dreamspace), bosch (nexxt)) suggeted to buy two classical dryers. So every advantage of washing big is destroyed by drying big!!

I believe the power/speed/capacity of Euro dryers is limited because they plug into a standard (European) outlet and are roughly 2,500 watts. (13 or 15 amps?) "plug-n-play"

Ours here would only be able to go to 1,600 watts on a standard American 110v plug(15amps) So we have 220 volt 30 amp lines (circuits) for about 50 years now for out large electric dryers, which heat with 5,200 watts.

I beliwve another factor may be most of this country has wooden homes where pulling an electircal cable is easy. In a typical Euro concrete home, this is more difficult.

It appears manufacturers across the pond realize few would be able to run a heavy-duty 30 amp line and perhaps even a 100mm (4 inch) vent. Make any sense?

Room to accomodate American sized washer/driers/fridges and stoves was/is the biggest stumbling block. The "average" american house has either a basement and/or a fairly large kitchen and/or a laundry room if no basement. Euro homes never did and evolved using more space efficient designs, and in many cases just did without. Few of my relatives in the UK during the 60's/70's even owned a washer/dryer, all had counter height fridges. Following the laws of physics, opposites attract and we find people over here coveting and paying handsomely for Euro design makes now while over there they pay dearly for American design/size.

BTW is the plural of dryer, dryers or driers? Never have figured that one out.

dryers

Dryer {noun}, is a machine for drying items.

Drier, alternate spelling of Dryer {noun}.

According to my Webster's Dictionary...

Peace and Happy Drying in your Dryer/Drier, Steve
SactoTeddyBear...

I couldn't agree with you more!! Where are the dryers?! Whirlpool sells the Dreamspace in the UK, so why not on the European continent? LG and Bosch sell their 10kg washers overhere, but no dryer.

And the power? You could put in a 30Amps line. Or Whirlpool could put in a smaller heating element, the dryer would be a bit slower but with a 3300 Watts or so not really slow. And what about gas dryers? Huebsch is the only company that sells American sized gas dryers in Holland. Ofcourse no matching washer...

I attached a picture of the Whirlpool Dreamspace available in England. The link goes to the Huebsch website.

The electrical explination looks right to me. But why are they putting their washers on the market. If I should by a big washer(over the 15 pounds cap.), I would prefer going to more commercial brands like IPSO or PRIMUS or even MIELE. I think they are just more durable. And speaking of gas-dryers, i bought one, a miele and its just super. I can dry every thing in less than an hour. And no higher temp. I controlled it!!

The good thing about small washers is you get to use them more often :-), especially ones that have alot of splash action :-D

Well having small washers means you can spread laundry all over the week. Beeing a real desperate housewife I spread my loads over every night. Only the regulare things lik my sanitizing whites or the colored things. Wool and bath towels I wash at saturdays. I would never have enough laundry to fill american sized washers, even with my 2 babies.

BTW When your dryer has a bigger cap. than your washer, your laundry is faster dry!!!

And why is WHIRLPOOL as wel as MAYTAG and PRIMUS selling ASKO washers as their commercial washers for smaller laundromats??

is essentially the same as the Duet, Hettie, and Ensmble, but I like the look of the Dreamspace controls more.


Plus, isn't energy generally much more expensive in Europe? If I had the room, I'd probably get a spin dryer.

American dryers are not the huge things they were in the 50s and 60s, but they are still wider than washers.

Lawrence/Maytagbear

Well, I don't know what you pay for electricity. I did a bit of calculation and I pay about $0.076 for 1 kWh.

"American dryers are not the huge things they were in the 50s and 60s, but they are still wider than washers.

Lawrence/Maytagbear"

Not necessarily, The washer and dryer in my '78 LK set are the exact same size

"Well, I don't know what you pay for electricity. I did a bit of calculation and I pay about $0.076 for 1 kWh"

That's a good price IF they don't pile a lot of taxes and surcharges on it, which is very common here on utilities.

Unfortunately that is without taxes, in the end the price is about twice as much.

From Appliance Magazine 11/05, Annual Portrait of the European Appliance Industry:

Western European Product Saturation (% of households) 2004

Automatic washers: 96%
Tumble Dryers: 31%
Dishwashers: 42%
Microwave Ovens: 62%
Vacuum Cleaners: 89%


2004 Market Share by brand:

AB Electrolux 16.9%
Bosch/Siemens 15.1
Indesit (formerly Merloni) 14.2
Whirlpool 9.4
Koc Group 5.7
Candy 3.4
Others 35.3

Well luigi, 14 or 15 cents/kwh is about what a lot of us pay here, when it all said and done for the bottom line.

Granny's last bill was ~$0.14, but she's on a slightly higher rate due to not being all-electric, and 30 gal water heater instead of 40 gal. Mine is a touch more than $0.10.

Glenn,

would you pls. explain how size of water heater affects rate paid for electricity?

TKS.

For some reason that's not clear to me, CPL/AEP has a lower rate (but probably not *that* much lower) for households that are all-electric, with a water heater of 40 gals (or more). Granny doesn't qualify for either rate tier reduction, with a 30 gal water heater, natural gas range and no electric/central HVAC.

Steve, duh. The moer water is required to heat, the longer it takes to recover, especially if you had a long shower or whirlpool tub to fill each use.

Bob:

I was asking about the charge per KWH for electricity, not the cost of the KWHs. LOL

I contacted Whirlpool in Australia as they have released a large capacity washer here and no matching dryer and they responded that because the dryer needed to be wired to a special plug or something there research returned that it wouldnot sell well for that reason which kinda sucks because you have such a large washer and no matching dryer. LG on the other hand here has a large capacity washer and dryer. And at a much better price than the Whirlpool. I opted for a new Miele set and would never go back the build quality of these machines are amazing.

Steve, time was Electric companies encourage more & more electric consumption. So, all-electric houses, as well as the more you used, your rate was on a declining sliding scale. So, bigger water heater, more KWH consumed.

I don't know how it is now, but when I lived in France (in 1979 -1989) we had a Speed Queen W&D. (Solid Tub) It used European voltage and washed and dried just like ours in the states. Mark

Mark,

That is why I posted the Huebsch link, it's a Speed Queen gas dryer. I've seen American toploaders on camping sites several times. Don't remember the brands though, it was a long time ago.

Electric w/h gets you the lower rate because it's steady demand year-round (neither just in the summer (air conditioning) nor just in the winter (electric heat)