amideislas

Thanks for that.

Don't get too hung up on brands. We had a "Bosch" (top of the line German) dishwasher. It died. To replace it, we bought a cheap "no-name" Chinese brand. Low and behold, the insides are identical. Literally, the very same parts - completely interchangeable, bolt for bolt.

WEBlue

If you wait for one of the American holiday-type sales events (just had the Presidents' Day sales) just like in the UK, you can find some better deals on major appliances. The husband & I looked at the fridge selection at a Sears "Home" store and found some giant ones for $600-750 on special.

We're not fussy though. We don't have a side-by-side opener now and don't need one for the future either; just the basic top freezer/bottom fridge-style is fine for us. No ice-maker needed either--we can make our own ice cubes (which we hardly ever do, except for a month or two in the summer)....

All that's really necessary is a big freezer space because I cook ahead a lot. And I do definitely miss the way our old fridge in Blighty was set up, with a large freezer section on the bottom with two nice drawers that made it easy to arrange and reach all the frozen goods. I don't know why American fridge-freezers always seem to have the freezer on the top, and configured to be just a big empty space that I have to organize my own shelves and bins, etc.

But I don't miss how cramped my old British fridge/freezer was, & how I was always running out of space....

sherbert

Yeah, I've had my open milk last up to month before now...I do keep my fridge quite cold but still, a month?

scrubbedexpat091

I think a lot of brands are just names these days and not much else. So many have been bought up and combined into companies who just then make everything and slap a different label on it...

I saw one generic brand at the local appliance store, and on the back it had a tag that said maytag and a serial number and such, I assume it was made by whoever owns maytag and probably identical to the maytag next to it.


We don't have the need to buy appliances, the landlord gets to do that and they always buy the cheapest appliances possible, and until it goes bust your not getting a new one. I've had some apartments where I am pretty sure the fridge and stove was older then me and original to the building still.

We did buy a mini-dishwasher though, Danby, sits on the counter and hooks up to the kitchen faucet with an adapter, and same company made the portable a/c unit we have.

Now we are looking into a portable washing machine that hooks to the sink faucet as well so we can reduce our laundry bill as its pretty pricey.

Can't find any sort of dryer that plugs into a normal outlet and can vent from a window, so not sure if those are even made.

FinnDiego

I got a new fridge and laundry for the house a few months ago, and that's right on the money for me. Counter-depth Frigidaire side-by-side fridge-freezer (large by European standards, small by US) $1500ish, LG front-loader washer and gas dryer $700ish each. The fridge has a water filter and ice maker (America!), the washer is direct-drive with a 1200rpm spin cycle and both it and the dryer play happy little melodies! \o/

Now if I can only sort out laundry hookups inside the house so that I can get them out of the damn garage... At least my laundry isn't outside like quite a few people seem to do here! #socalproblems

scrubbedexpat091

That was the norm back in the day. When I was a kid our laundry was outside. My sisters is as well but it's an older house built when that was the norm.

Now the garage seems to be the norm.

Never seen a house with laundry inside the house, always been in the garage, basement or outside.


You can still find some old WW2 era houses that haven't been renovated and still without any heat, not sure why they didn't install heat back then. My dad's house was built with no heat, still doesn't have any.

But the walls are so thick, it rarely gets cold inside, they really built homes differently back then.

GeoffM

Ours is garage (built 2000) - I wasn't particularly keen but it didn't stop us buying the place, and it's okay anyway. Previous two houses: laundry room.

sherbert

My laundry is in the kitchen! 1930s house. No heat either and walls are made of cardboard. Gets freezing in the SoCal 'winter'.

scrubbedexpat091

You can tell how much things have changed over the decades with how houses are designed and the size. WW2 era and earlier are somewhat small, 2-3 small bedrooms, and 1 bath, and a garage big enough for 1 car.

My dad's is smaller then the town houses they build around here now, heck I think some of the condos they build might be large then his house.

Not sure why people need such big houses now, suppose it's all the electronics and stuff we have now.

My dad's house had original wiring when he moved in, and he had to get things redone a bit as the old breaker box and fuses or whatever couldn't handle all the electronics of a modern house, the previous occupant was a 99 year old lady who built the house in the 40's and had virtually no electronics other then a small TV and radio and fridge.

His house though has thick plaster walls, stays warm in winter and cool in summer.

Yorkieabroad

Ours is in the house, on the ground floor, with a chute from the upstairs for the kids to toss their laundry down. The laundry room is the side entrance, so doubles as a mudroom sort of area, which is fine when its just family coming in, but a bit odd if friends come in that way....

We've seen quite a few houses recently that have the laundry room upstairs, which makes quite a bit of sense if most/all of the bedroom are upstairs. Only downside is I often run a load or 2 after the kids are in bed, so not sure how the noise thing would work out.. the other thing I do like in some of the houses we've looked at is having the laundry room adjoining the master closet on the ground floor. Its all a far cry from when we were kids and mam would pullout the old twin tub on wash day, and run hoses to/from the kitchen sink

scrubbedexpat091

Apartment dwellers still have to run hoses to the sink and down the drain if they wan't a washer in their unit. They make little top loading washing machines for apartments that hook up to the sink and drain into it.

We are going to get one, getting too pricey to pay for washing in the complex. Little machine is 300 dollars, so over a year averages to 6 a week or so, and we spend 10-12 a week for laundry.

Just have to figure out if we can dry clothes hanging them up in the spare room without taking days on end to dry.

Laundry is a pretty large task when living in an apartment and costly too.

Pulaski

Invest in a dehumidifier.

Walmart sell them for about $200-$250 in the US. I "30 pint" model should be adequate, a "50 pint" would be better. Between the fan that circulates the air, and the dryness of the air, your laundry should be dry in a few hours.

LondonSquirrel

We recently bought a dehumidifier/air purifier combined from Amazon, £210. Works great. We got it for a damp problem in the bedroom and it gets rid of a helluvalotta water!

scrubbedexpat091

Thanks. I had never thought of that and its doable for sure. Sometimes the solution is simple but just not thought of until someone else mentions it.

Pulaski

We have a 50 pint dehumidifier that we run during the summer, in the middle of the open area downstairs in our house, and it will fill its bucket (1 gallon?) in about 9-10 hours, ..... indefinitely day after day throughout the summer.