Washer/dryer

Any particular set up perform better?  Stackable, Splendide or two separate units? 

Splendide is a solid brand that's been around for a long time. Combo or stackable is a trade off. A combo gives you the option of a single start to finish wash and dry cycle in a smaller space, while a stackable or side by side takes up more storage space, but allows washing one load while drying another.

What Dutch said, but note that stackable IS two separate units, with the dryer sitting on top of the washer -- if you have the right kind of layout in your rig they could also be side by side. We've not had a combo unit (Splendide, etc.) but I suspect the stackables (separates) are a little quicker overall (they certainly take larger loads), though I don't think one does a "better" job than the other. We've been happy with ours and I know many who have the Splendide are happy with it.

We have a Splendide Ariston set (stackable pair) that I am very happy with. They do smaller loads than the units at my house, but I find them adequate for the two of us. The wash is very good, though the presets don?t accommodate hot water with bleach, only warm water with bleach - makes no sense! One trick is to shake the clothes open before putting them in the dryer. If you move them as a big wad of clothes, they wrinkle more. The dryer also doesn?t have a moisture sensor, so you get used to how long to dry a specific type of load.

Whatever type you get, make sure you can vent the dryer to the outside. You really don?t want that moisture sitting inside the RV.

UTTransplant said:

Whatever type you get, make sure you can vent the dryer to the outside. You really don?t want that moisture sitting inside the RV.

Click to expand...

It's a common misconception that the unvented version of the Splendide vents its warm humid air into the RV.  It doesn't.  Non-vented combos and dryers are in use all over the world in installations where a vent penetration to the outside would be impractical or prohibited.

In an unvented Splendide combo, there are two drums, one inside the other.  The inner drum is where the clothes are washed.  The outer drum is bathed in cold water and it serves to condense the water vapor (steam) coming off of the clothes.  The condensed vapor is then directed to the drain. It's this process that causes the units to use 1-2 gal/hr during the drying cycle.  No vapor is released indoors.

One thing to note about using either a combo or stackable units in an RV is that the dryers will be powered by 120 V (unless you own a Prevost or something similar).  Furthermore, the dryer will be wired on a 20A circuit.  Since drying power = volts x amps, a 120 V dryer at 20A has roughly one third the power of a residential dryer wired for 240V and 30A.  This means that for the same weight of wet clothes, the RV dryer will dry much more slowly. 

It doesn't matter what brand you have or whether it is a combo or is stacked or what brand you have.  Physics is physics.  If you wash smaller loads the small dryer will be more effective and it won't seem to take so long!

docj said:

One thing to note about using either a combo or stackable units in an RV is that the dryers will be powered by 120 V (unless you own a Prevost or something similar).  Furthermore, the dryer will be wired on a 20A circuit.  Since drying power = volts x amps, a 120 V dryer at 20A has roughly one third the power of a residential dryer wired for 240V and 30A.  This means that for the same weight of wet clothes, the RV dryer will dry much more slowly. 

It doesn't matter what brand you have or whether it is a combo or is stacked or what brand you have.  Physics is physics.  If you wash smaller loads the small dryer will be more effective and it won't seem to take so long!

Click to expand...

I've often wondered why not get a stackable pair with a gas dryer? You'll get the same drying performance as a home dryer on a 120 volt feed and at 22,000 BTU the dryer will use a bit less propane than a 25,000 BTU RV furnace or about 0.4 gallon of propane per hour.  Not an unreasonable amount for a 40 gallon motorhome tank or a pair of 9 gallon trailer cylinders.

I didn't know there were such things as a propane dryer, though I couldn't use one -- our coach is all electric (except the Oasis which uses electric, but also runs on diesel), with no propane on board. In coaches that do have propane, the plumbing for propane might be a problem, if it weren't factory prepped.

Does anyone even make a propane-fired RV-certified dryer?  I searched and didn't see any.

I don't know about RV certified, but there are 24" wide stackable gas dryer sets on the market.  Here's one example:

https://www.ajmadison.com/cgi-bin/ajmadison/GUD24GSSJWW.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIzuqUkMmq3wIVWiCtBh38qQcKEAAYAyAAEgKPU_D_BwE

Probably the biggest difference between a dryer certified for an RV and one that isn't is the check written out to RIVA.

We also have the Splendide stackable unit in our rig and are satisfied with it. Had I of known about the gas dryer I would have considered it, although that would have meant plumbing in a gas line for it.

Lou Schneider said:

I don't know about RV certified, but there are 24" wide stackable gas dryer sets on the market.  Here's one example:

https://www.ajmadison.com/cgi-bin/ajmadison/GUD24GSSJWW.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIzuqUkMmq3wIVWiCtBh38qQcKEAAYAyAAEgKPU_D_BwE

Click to expand...

My husband?s family had a small oil well on their farm. It made just enough oil to make it worthwhile for to pump, but it had quite a bit of gas as a side effect. Well, it was a lot of gas for a single household, but not enough to make it worthwhile to store and distribute commercially. For years my MIL had a gas refrigerator, dryer, furnace, even a gas powered air conditioner. The units took a lot of gas though, and it would have been commercially unfeasible to use them without that ?free? gas. When the well was capped, all those units went away. The propane conversions for them, while perfectly feasible, would use more propane than it would cost to use electricity. Propane isn?t the most efficient fuel on the market. Pretty much any place that has water for a washer has electricity for the dryer, so I can?t imagine it being as useful.

I've not ever seen an RVIA certification for an appliance.  They issue (for a fee) emblems for each RVh that meets RVIA construction standards, but I don't think anybody certifies individual components. However,any component used in an RV would have to meet NFPA 1192, the fire and safety code for RVs, and NFPA 70, the National Electrical Code, in order to qualify for the RVIA emblem.  I don't think NFPA 1192 is materially different than the residential code as far as gas applainces are concerned, though, so any residential use appliance should qualify easily.

https://www.buildwithpropane.com/Propane-Systems/Dryers/

link for propane powered clothes dryers.

We have a regular Splendide combo.  Smaller loads wash more often, big loads use CG laundry center. 

We also have a stackable Splendide washer and dryer, which we prefer over the combo unit, but I understand from combo owners that they can be set to automatically switch to dryer-mode when the wash cycle is done. That sounds like it could be useful if you were doing a load of laundry while driving down the road. We don't do loads of laundry while traveling, but if we were to, we'd have to manualy transfer the load from the washer to the dryer.

Kev

UTTransplant said:

My husband?s family had a small oil well on their farm. It made just enough oil to make it worthwhile for to pump, but it had quite a bit of gas as a side effect. Well, it was a lot of gas for a single household, but not enough to make it worthwhile to store and distribute commercially. For years my MIL had a gas refrigerator, dryer, furnace, even a gas powered air conditioner. The units took a lot of gas though, and it would have been commercially unfeasible to use them without that ?free? gas. When the well was capped, all those units went away. The propane conversions for them, while perfectly feasible, would use more propane than it would cost to use electricity. Propane isn?t the most efficient fuel on the market. Pretty much any place that has water for a washer has electricity for the dryer, so I can?t imagine it being as useful.

Click to expand...

Gas powered absorption cooling units (the refrigerator and air conditioner) are very inefficient,  using up to 10 times as much energy per BTU as their electric compressor driven counterparts.

But the same isn't true of gas heating appliances (the furnace and water heater).  I grew up with natural gas versions of these in our subdivision house and their operating costs were significantly lower than creating the same amount of heat from electricity.

It all has to do with the comparative cost of each energy source.  Escapees founder Joe Peterson recommended using a 20:1 cost ratio to determine whether to use propane or electricity to create heat, i.e. if propane costs $3.00 per gallon, electricity would match it's cost at 15 cents per kWh.

If propane costs $2 a gallon while electricity costs 15 cents per kWh, creating heat using propane would cost a third less than using electricity.

The actual ratio of BTUs per billable unit are a bit larger, but 20:1 is a round number and a good approximation if you take into account the waste heat sent out the exhaust of a gas appliance.  BTW, this waste heat doesn't apply to a gas dryer since all of the flame's heat circulates through the drum before going out the exhaust vent.

This may be a little off topic, but was wondering, if you are on full hookups but the electricity is metered, is it cheaper to run the refrigerator on propane, or electricity? ???

It all depends on how much your park charges per kWh of electricity versus the cost of a gallon of propane.

Both produce the same amount of heat to run the refrigerator's cooling system, so the one that costs less depends on how much you pay for each source.  Joe Peterson (Escapees co-founder) suggested a 20:1 ratio to determine whether electricity or propane produces the least expensive heat, i.e. electricity at 15 cents per kWh equals propane at $3 a gallon.

The park I'm in right now charges 12.5 cents per kWh for electricity and $2.50 a gallon for propane (20:1 ratio), so the cost is a wash either way.

Increase the cost of electricity to 20 cents or 25 cents per kWh and propane becomes the cheaper fuel.

Plug in your own prices for electricity vs. propane and see which is cheaper for you.

Lou Schneider said:

Increase the cost of electricity to 20 cents or 25 cents per kWh and propane becomes the cheaper fuel.

Plug in your own prices for electricity vs. propane and see which is cheaper for you.

Click to expand...

I would factor in the hassle of refilling propane too.

Currently I am on private property with a 150 gallon propane tank, and bulk rate price is $2.10 a gallon, so it might be cheaper to run on propane. Further research is in store for me. Sorry about the topic hijack. Back to washer-dryer talk.....