Washing Machine for a Co-op

My 10 unit (14 people) co-op is thinking about adding a second washing machine. The board is divided on getthing another commercial (expensive) unit or just get a household one. If we just get a household unit, would the manufacturer honor the warranty if it is being used in a multi-family home? We are not interested in charging people for use of the the machine. Does anyone have a recommendation for a brand or a appliance company, commercial or otherwise? And what do you think of service contracts? Thanks for your help!

adomatic

in Appliances 11 years and 11 months ago

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dorkofwindsor | 11 years and 11 months ago

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sorry, not to judge about the desire for not charging people, but in my personal experience i’ve found there are a few people that tend to be power users / abusers.  Who may live there, or have yet to move in.  Personally, I don’t see this as something like water usage, which does not involve objects that consistently break.  It is a much more equitable thing to have people pay for their usage on a guaranteed depreciating asset, and not to need to have the (unresponsive) management company or board get involved when the inevitable service calls are required.  I have explained it to others before like buying a car for the building, some people will use it once a month to drive locally, and some will use it everyday and put 40k miles on it, yet everyone will pay the same.

dorkofwindsor | 11 years and 11 months ago

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Why not farm it out to services like coinmach.  That way, when something goes wrong, someone who deals with all the headches on a day to day basis can handle it.  This is what a significant amount of multifamily and condo and coop buildings do.

needmtg | 11 years and 11 months ago

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Return on Investment, comparing cost/year of say a $1100 Bosch to a $2500 commercial which may last longer. You have to estimate repair costs and, if you’re diligent, utility costs (commercial will be higher.) But I say just go with the normal one.

Brownstonerlogin | 11 years and 11 months ago

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Don’t know anything about the warranty question. But last year when we bought a new washer-dryer I did a bit of research and brand-wise LG and Samsung seemed to get the best ratings for quality, reliability, etc. Home Depot carries LG and I believe Lowe’s carries Samsung. We ended up going with LG, the largest capacity models that Home Depot carried, and had them installed stacked. LOVE them–they are great units, lots of (actually useful) setting options, and do the job well. No problems whatsoever in a year of use. (Though we’re only a 2-person household, so obviously much less use than your co-op would have…)

DeLepp | 11 years and 11 months ago

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We got a whirpool front loading commercial machine about 3 years ago that is used for 26 people.  Only 1 small issue so far. The machine cost $1250\. We charge so people are careful about water usage as that costs keep going up. Gold Coin delivered and hooked up. We don’t have service contract.

slopefarm | 11 years and 11 months ago

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Service contracts are actually insurance contracts, so in your case, don’t get one unless you read the fine print and make sure your situation (multiple household use) is not excluded from coverage. But if you are covered, I would think a 5-year contract might make sense given the heavier wear and tear (which is why I would suspect you are probably excluded).

adomatic | 11 years and 11 months ago

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Thanks everyone. What’s an ROI?

needmtg | 11 years and 11 months ago

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You should be able to do a ROI. Front loaders last 6-12 years depending on brand (many “US” brands have a known failure  point in the aluminum spider that connects to the steel tub & corrodes; may be fixed by now.) I’d go Bosch. They have a huge 4.3 cuft frontloader. Also, front loaders do better with liquid hi-eff. detergent, other types cause problems, which may be an issue with multiple users. Make sure you post a notice about that and about not using too much detergent. Consumer Reports has long-time dissed service contracts as not worth the money.

brokelin | 11 years and 11 months ago

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My 4 unit coop replaced our top-loader (not commercial) with a more expensive (not commercial) front loader, after the second time it broke.  The little plastic thing that breaks in the top loaders when overloaded that stops the tub from spinning, and is expensive to fix, isn’t there to break in frontloaders. (We suspect someone continually overfilled it.)  The newer, more expensive home front loaders seem far more sturdy to me than the old kind.  You could try going with one of them and see how long it lasts, if you don’t want to shell out the money for a commercial machine now.  You might be pleasantly surprised at how long it lasts – especially if you can stop people from overloading them.  (If you can’t, you may be better off with a commercial one.)  You can always buy a commercial one if and when you find the home kind doesn’t work out in the long run.  And why would you even expect that a warranty on a home machine might cover commercial use – it isn’t designed for that!

daveinbedstuy | 11 years and 11 months ago

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Doubtful.  GE doesn’t honor warranties for hot water heaters for 2 family homes.