Washer/Dryer?

[Milton R Scherotter]

Have a pre-plumbed 5th wheel for Washer & Dryer.  2 dealerships have said "We will sell you a washer/dryer, but don't recommend it.  Don't work all that great, more hassle than it is worth, just use a coin laundry.
Wife hates laundromats.  Any insight would be great!

 

[Larry N.]

The stacked washer and dryer in our Beaver worked fine (wife loved them), and it's proving to be the same in our Ventana. For us, it's the laundromat that is the hassle. The one caveat -- they're only usable with full (50 amp) hookups -- lots of water, and a lot of power, especially for the dryer.

 

[Russ+Chris]

We have a washer/dryer combo. Use it alot. When camped with full hook up. We do a load a day so that we don't get too far behind and have to use a laundromat. A load is about 10 to 13 lbs. Throw it in, in the morning before we go some place. And when we come back in the afternoon. It's done. Uses about 13 to 18 gals of water per load. Just make sure of the level in your gray tank before starting a load.

 

[mnmnutswer]

Get a vented unit it drys much better. My wife enjoyed hers days better then going to laundry mat

 

[Ernie n Tara]

Sounds like lazy dealers to me. Tara loves ours and uses it for everything (except kanga back rugs) ;D

Ernie

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Listen to your wife, not a dealer. Which one do you plan to live with in the future?  If Mama ain't happy, ain't NOBODY gonna be happy!  Seriously.

It's true the w/d in an RV won't be just like home, especially if you install a combo rather than separates. Smaller loads, longer dry times, and the need for a somewhat different approach to getting the wash done are some of the differences. But having a w/d onboard is really convenient, and if she hates laundromats, what other option is there?

 

[Rene T]

We have a combo and I've often wondered if we had to get rid of one item and the choice was me or the combo, I don't know which way she would go.  ;D
Seriously, we love ours. She does clothes every other day to stay ahead of it. We also have a outside clothesline to hang everything on except towels. They get dried in the dryer so they're softer.  We have a indoor rack to hangs things to dry on rainy days.  If you hate laundromats, you won't be sorry.  Get the vented dryer.

 

[Cant Wait]

We have the stacked vented set and love them. It's great doing all your laundry before leaving the campground so that when you get home there's none to do. It's al clean and put back in the drawers ready fro the next trip.

 

[Rene T]

We have the stacked vented set and love them. It's great doing all your laundry before leaving the campground so that when you get home there's none to do. It's al clean and put back in the drawers ready fro the next trip.

How did you teach it to put everything in the drawers?  : ;D 
That must be an option we don't have.

 

[GR 'Scott' Cundiff]

I think it depends on whether you are a vacationer/weekender or a fulltimer (but not a boondocker).  If you are just on vacation I agree with the salesperson.  If you are fulltiming, though, I think you'll be glad you have a washer/dryer on board. 

 

[legrandnormand]

I think it depends on whether you are a vacationer/weekender or a fulltimer (but not a boondocker).  If you are just on vacation I agree with the salesperson.  If you are fulltiming, though, I think you'll be glad you have a washer/dryer on board.

You don't have to be a full timer to have one, unless you use your rv just on weekends ! If you do use it for at least 14 days in a row, then you'll need one for sure !

 

[Rene T]

You don't have to be a full timer to have one, unless you use your rv just on weekends ! If you do use it for at least 14 days in a row, then you'll need one for sure !

X2 

 

[GR 'Scott' Cundiff]

You don't have to be a full timer to have one, unless you use your rv just on weekends ! If you do use it for at least 14 days in a row, then you'll need one for sure !

Well, not for sure, but it would come in handy.  Personally, I don't think I would make the investment for occasional use.  However, as a fulltimer, we wouldn't want to be without one.

We have a Splendide combo unit and like it just fine.  There's a bit of a learning curve to using it.  First, it will wash about double what it will dry.  The secret is to wash the larger load, but put dry time on zero.  Remove about half the clothes and hang them up to start drying, shake out or fold the remaining clothes and put them in for a 40 minute dry cycle.  At the end, take them out even if they are a little damp and let them finish up air drying.  You can then put the remainder back in for 20-40 minutes.  We do about one load a day.  When we camp host we have a campground washer/dryer available and we happily use it, only doing a couple of loads a week.  Otherwise, we're pretty satisfied with our combo unit.  If you are interested I wrote a longer review with a few tips here: http://pastorscott.com/travel/product-review-splendide-2100xc-washerdryer/

 

[ArdraF]

We're "long-timers" going on several month trips.  We have a Splendide combo and LOVE it!  My husband actually is the one who insisted (like he had to!) on getting one because he detested waiting for me to do laundry with previous motorhomes.  There is a learning curve but, once achieved, you wife will be glad to have it and so will you because she'll be happy.

By the way, experienced RVers know you can't believe much the dealers and/or salespeople say because most have never lived in an RV for any length of time.

ArdraF

 

[docj]

Get a vented unit it drys much better. My wife enjoyed hers days better then going to laundry mat

No disrespect intended but what I've found is that most of the people who repeat this piece of advice have never actually owned an unvented combo.  We have an unvented Splendide Model WDC7100XC and have full-timed with it for the past ~5 years.  It is far better than the 2000-series model that the MH came with.

I continually read posts that unvented combos fill the RV with humidity--not true, they condense the water vapor and put it down the drain. 

Also often repeated is the comment that unvented units take forever to dry. Actually, since Drying Power (watts) = Voltage x Current, any RV dryer that uses 120V on a 20A circuit will be roughly three times slower than a residential dryer using 240V on a 30A line if they were to dry the same size load.  This is true for both vented and unvented combos as well as stackables.  If some tries to tell you that their stackable dries as fast as their dryer at home, they're simply wrong.

Furthermore, combos can wash significantly heavier loads than they can dry.  This is true of both the vented and unvented Splendide models.  That doesn't bother us because my wife likes to remove the more delicate items and hang them up to dry.  That is usually reduces the load by just enough for it to dry well without too much wrinkling.

 

[glen54737]

Not sure why a dealer would turn down a way to make money from you.

I have a stackable set i bought and installed myself.  ;D
It was the whole point of the last trailer upgrade to get the hookups.

 

[docj]

Not sure why a dealer would turn down a way to make money from you.

It's reasonable to expect that RV sales people are no different from RVers in general and this is a topic which often  raises strong emotions when it periodically is raised in threads like this, even though this particular thread remained devoid of controversy.  There is one group of RVers who can't understand why anyone needs a washer and there are those who wouldn't consider taking extended trips without one.  Some folks seem to enjoy sitting around a laundry facility making small talk and others who consider it to be a waste of a couple of hours each week.

There's no way that one group with convince the other to change their position, but I suspect your salesman simply belongs to the "no washer" group!