Tenant Wants to Install Own W/D
My long-time tenant has asked me to consider allowing her to buy an electric washer/dryer combo unit, ventless, that she could run off her kitchen sink. Since there is no upside to this situation as a landlord and only peril in my daymares imagining water damage aplenty, my first instinct is a polite “no”. Unreasonable?…
My long-time tenant has asked me to consider allowing her to buy an electric washer/dryer combo unit, ventless, that she could run off her kitchen sink. Since there is no upside to this situation as a landlord and only peril in my daymares imagining water damage aplenty, my first instinct is a polite “no”. Unreasonable? If I did decide to accomodate, any suggestions how much I should tack on to the rent to compensate for the certainty of higher electric and water bills? Here’s the unit she wants: http://www.pcrichard.com/catalog/product_popup.jsp?productId=31971&PIPELINE_SESSION_ID=48b259afc0a8777a01784f37d9e87643
Suggestions? Thanks!
They use very little water… the waste water of these units (and front loaders in general) are not that big of a concern.
DIBS, the $1500 unit the OP linked a picture of is a 115 volt machine.
But seriously, as long as the tenant installs it right and pays their own electricity, it really shouldn’t be an issue for the landlord (OP).
BUT, I really hope the tenants know what they’re getting into… lower your expectations. These machines are a different “lifestyle” than having your own regular machine. Takes getting used to if you want to even bother.
There’s a good chance that your tenant is suggesting this machine to minimize the effect/impact on you. In other words, your tenant might prefer a full-sized machine, but think there’s a greater likelihood of you agreeing to this one. Since you describe her as a long-time, reliable tenant that you’d like to keep happy, maybe there’s a few more questions to weigh in your thinking. Do you have a washer and dryer installed in your own unit? How convenient do you find it? Is there an existing vent you can tie into if you installed a full-size stack in your tenant’s apartment? Is there room for that in her apartment? Would you be willing to do it if the return on investment made sense to you? Other than worries about floods, what else keeps you from agreeing to this request? Our building has 4 units with a stacked washer and dryer in each, and never a flood in the course of 30 years. You already know that living with tenants means that you will, at least occasionally, actually hear them and/or their machines (radios, TVs, friends, visitors, pets, etc.)
I would also add that you should check to see if the plumbing can accomodate the waste water that would be going down the drain at the end of the cycle. It can back-up into the sinks of the lower floors if the waste water comes down too fast for your pipes to handle.
In the OP, the tenant wants to buy the machines. She’s not asking the landlord to buy them. The only real issue is what if they leak.. Does the tenant pay her own electricity? That’s what would be customary. It would seem not from the OP. Typically, these units need a 240 volt outlet which will cost some money to install.
I have the Bosch units..they take a bit longer but they are VERY quiet and work well.
A word on the efficiency of these machines:
Most of them have a flywheel in them, so they store energy as they spin. This makes the dry cycle take a long time, but take very little elec. They are extremely efficient, and they are great if your expectations are aligned with what they actually do.
They will dry a full load of clothes if you let it go all day. But your clothes will not be hot and they won’t be totally un-humid. These machines do make you realize how much a regular dryer cooks your clothes.
But they’ll also last a lot longer, and you will never again run into the problem of finding a nasty, mildewy load of clothes that you washed and forgot to move to the drier.
My laudromat charges $0.65/lb for wash, fold and hangers for shirts and pants (this might even be on the high end for brooklyn). All I do is hand them my clothes and they give me sparkling clean clothes back. Almost no effort.
This would be 2-1/4 TONS (2500 lbs) of washing to make up for the $1500 +tax investment here… this doesn’t include the electricity, detergent and water costs.
The MAXIMUM drying capacity for this very fancy ventless machine is 8.8 lbs or 2.4 cu. ft. That’s 284 full loads to reach 2-1/4 tons. And 2.4 cu ft. is really tiny, hardly a true “full” load. A regular dryer usually has a capacity of 5 or 6 cu. ft.
Like I said above… I don’t use my machine because I find it frustrating at best.
Thanks for the responses so far. She’s been a reliable tenant for several years and we respect her asking. We want her to continue to be happy in our building, which is why we are considering it.
blah. tell her to go to the laundrymat like the rest of us. she moved into a place without a washer and dryer and expects it to be provided later? sounds like a pampered princess to me
-rob
Some exaggerations above.
The capacity of the machine shown (which is quite expensive, at $1200+) above is 70-80% of “full-size” machines.
No, they do not always shake rattle and roll when drying; for one thing, it’s the spin cycle at the end of the wash that’s hi-speed, and you can place it on a thick carpet or rubber mat and it’s fine. Besides, ALL front-loaders are like this, not just combo machines.
You can dry the full load, and yes it takes 2-3 hours but so what? Clothes do wrinkle if left in, but not if you take them out at the end of the cycle.
Efficiency is NOT more than other front-loaders, the reason you buy these is there’s no venting needed.