We can finally do laundry in our apartment and not have to use the laundry room and pay idiotically high amounts for laundry.

They are not the highest end of machines and they are small, but you can't exactly hook up a full size washer to your kitchen sink or plug in a dryer to your normal outlet...lol

The washer is itty bity, but can handle 1 day of clothing for 2 people, so if we do 1 load per day, we shall be good. Hold about 7 gallons of water on a full load.

Dryer can handle 1 wash load, takes about 70 mins to dry a load, because it runs off normal plug, it doesn't get as warm as a full size washer would so takes longer.

I am just so happy I can now do laundry in the apartment.

(not my photos, but same ones we have)

Congrats, laundromats suck.

Am I missing something about Canada? Why can't you hook up a full size washing machine to your kitchen sink, or plug a dryer into a normal outlet?

Edit - and your little one holds 7 gallons at a time? Don't most full size machines use about 14 - 20 in total for the whole wash

I think its more to do with having to put in a separate connection for the water intake and outlets, and in a rental apartment, you'd probably not want to be making that kind of change.

As for the normal plug outlet, full size dryers typically don't have the normal outlet on them, they have a larger one (30 amp, 250v, I think) , so unless you have such and outlet, you'd need to get one put in, and again, not something you would want to retrofit to a rental unit

Welcome to 1955.

Apartment rents in Canada generally include water and electricity costs, hence the landlord will not permit such usage without additional recompense. The OP either has a generous/exceptional landlord or is breaking the rental rules.

One thing that amuses me about washers here.

Why do people LIKE top loaders?

They are starting to become more available in the UK again, marketed as 'American Style Washing Machines' to go with the 'American Style Fridge Freezers'.

I always found them stinky and the clothes came out stinky.

I can understand the modern European preference for a front loader due to them being usually in small kitchens under worktops (that's countertops for the locals) and also the counter-argument that a horizontally-spinning drum is less efficient than a vertical one. Top loaders are likely to last longer too.

But I still don't like top loaders!

Full size washers generally do not have the connections needed to connect to a sink, nor is there sufficient room in a tiny kitchen to place a full size washer, so need something on wheels.

Dryers generally have a different type of outlet and unless equipped with laundry room, won't have the correct outlet for a dryer.


Yes it's small but the only option when there isn't laundry room/facility inside the apartment, needs to be on wheels and small enough to fit into a closet when not in use.

I don't know where you live but unless it's been a room inside a house, I have never rented any apartment that included electricity, we have to pay for our electric use. Never rented an apartment in BC that included electricity.

Water in this region is not metered, it's flat rate charged in the property tax, which for rental buildings is 200 per unit per year regardless of use.

Thirdly nothing in the lease that prohibits it, and the management has no issue and was asked.

Electric included in the rent is not the norm in BC for rental apartments.

We have to pay for hot water as well, have the hot water tank inside the apartment in each unit.

Don't make assumptions like electric and utilities being included in rent as the norm across the country, it certainly isn't.

Must be very liberating after years of attending at laundry mats . :@)

As you say it depends where you live. In my community, all utilities are invariably included in rent. Only TV/ Internet are generally excluded.

Looks like you've a handy and convenient solution to your laundry requirements.

Our utilities are included in the condo fees. All condos in this building are privately owned. If the condo is rented out by the owner utilities are included in the rent as there are no individual meters. When my daughter was a student she rented a condo down the road...all the units were owned and rented out by the company who owned the building. Utilities were not included in the rent.

Seemed to be more common back east then it is out west. I've lived in both dedicated rentals, as well as condo's rented out by the owner, and they were all metered and not included in the rent or strata fees.

The only time I see rentals including electric in this area is when it' a room in a house, or a basement suite that doesn't have a dedicated meter but even most basement suites don't and charge a % of the hydro for the basement suite, 30-40% of the bill, I wont rent those places as I don't want to be on the hook for a huge bill because the upstairs people use a boat load of energy.

Using the energy info tag, the 2 units used 1 per day, will add approx 86 cents to our electric bill each week on average.

Yes it does vary by region, I should of said the regions of BC, I have lived in.

I notice Whistler includes a lot of utilities included as well in ads, but most ads also have ensuite laundry since very few if any of the buildings were purpose built for rentals.

I tend to stick with purpose built rentals, no strata rules to deal with like when renting a condo, and it's easier to deal with a management company when something breaks, and some individual landlords over extend themselves with buying an investment condo and then can't afford to fix things, or the place gets foreclosed on while your living there.

Top loaders tend to be cheaper still, you can get a top loader/dryer pair at times for the price of just a front loading washer.

I'd prefer front loading, but they don't make those in this size so top loading was the only option.

Using the brick website, top loader can be bought for $394, lowest front loader currently listed online is $713.

You still have to pay a nice premium for front loaders in North America.

Trick to top loading ones is to keep the lid open when not in use, and run some vinegar or bleach through it a couple times a months.