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Poppyinn

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Hello everyone! I am currently getting ready to open a new b&b in lodi,ca. I need to get a new washer and dryer and would like help and input. Do you guys have commercial washer and dryers for all the extra use? And also what size are your washer and dryers? Trying to do my due diligence and make sure I get something that will last. Thanks for any input.
Tricia
 
I've got domestic machines, but then our B&B is only 3 room. The one life saver is, I have 2 machines, they are both 7kg. If one breaks down there's little chance I'll get an engineer within a week, so a backup is imperative. I have a separate dryer, I line dry as much as I can.
If you go domestic it's definitely worth paying a bit more to get a better brand, the two I have are Johnl ewis own brand (which is a quality department store over here), I've had them 8 and 9 years, in that time one has had the pump replaced and the other had new brushes on the motor.
I had a hotp oint before and it lasted 3 years before it gave up on me.
 
Speed Queen (like in laundry marts) is the only machine that does not have to comply with the new e rules. They will last much longer than the 5 yrs or so as most other new e machines do... LOve my Speed Queen, it is very basic but that's fine with me.
 
Welcome.
It would help to know how many rooms you have. I'm using high end home washer/dryer for my 4 room B&B. Over the course of 9 years I have replaced the washer and the dryer is on its last leg. If I had it to do over, I might have looked for a commercial set.
 
I have Samsung front load large capacity 5.5 rooms. Very happy with it. When it comes to the towels, you can just shove and shove and shove them all in and do one big white wash with them. All the cycles I use are about an hour. Dryer does a good job too. I use Nellie's Washing Soda (powder) for most of the wash except the towels (they need a brightener, so I use conventional liquid.) Recently started using Snuggle on the towels... fantastic.
 
Mom & pop motel, 8 rooms, 16 beds, have always used Whirlpool, household type washer and gas dryer, current ones are the front load type, on well and septic so the efficient type is an advantage. At about 25 years of this we are on our 3 set so guess we have averaged 8 or 9 years use from set, sets were still working when replaced, I just felt like it was time to upgrade.
For a different prospective a gentleman I spoke with that ran a local bed and breakfast said he had good success purchasing inexpensive used machines and had a couple of sets of machines in an outbuilding.
 
We have Kenmores, Whirlpool, etc. 2 sets of washers and dryers. We have one gas dryer since it does a better job drying towels than the electric. One washer just died after being ran for the last ten years at least. (Been there as long as I remember.) We have 7 rooms and a two bedroom apartment plus all our laundry, sheets, towels, etc. (6 more bedrooms) We also supply all the guests with pool towels. Our appliances run 10am-10pm regularly.
 
Speed Queen (like in laundry marts) is the only machine that does not have to comply with the new e rules. They will last much longer than the 5 yrs or so as most other new e machines do... LOve my Speed Queen, it is very basic but that's fine with me..
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I think i have had the Samsung for 3 years. It is top loader no agitator with a huge capacity - they demo it it with 42 towels. I use the extra rinse so it goes 1 hour 20 per load. It replaced a Kenmore I had had for 17 years - 16 of them with the 3-room B & B. The dryer died a few years earlier do I went up to a farm supply in the area and got one (gas) for about $300. That has to be at lest 5 years ago (at my age time rolls on quickly). The only thing I wish it had is a buzzer to tell me when it is done. I line dry sheets when possible & our clothes. Socks and towels go in the dryer.
 
I'm coming late to this party. Don't have a B&B yet, but do have a commercial Speed Queen mechanical washer. It uses lots of water, so you can use plenty of soap, and does a large load of laundry in 30 minutes. If you want to use hot water, it uses the hot water right out of your water heater and doesn't lower the temperature like all modern machines do. I think it cost about $850, so not cheap. We also bought the dryer, but if buying again I might buy another model with more bells and whistles.
If buying a Speed Queen, be sure to buy the basic mechanical model with no digital components. We love ours.
 
I'm coming late to this party. Don't have a B&B yet, but do have a commercial Speed Queen mechanical washer. It uses lots of water, so you can use plenty of soap, and does a large load of laundry in 30 minutes. If you want to use hot water, it uses the hot water right out of your water heater and doesn't lower the temperature like all modern machines do. I think it cost about $850, so not cheap. We also bought the dryer, but if buying again I might buy another model with more bells and whistles.
If buying a Speed Queen, be sure to buy the basic mechanical model with no digital components. We love ours..
What does it cost per load, including water and electricity? Time to do a load? How much laundry does it handle. How much soap?
For example, I use a Samsung, load is about 60 minutes. I use one tablespoon of organic soap (7c) and it can do all the day's towels for 6 rooms. Or two sets of King, or three sets of Queen. Uses about 10 litres per wash.
 
I'm coming late to this party. Don't have a B&B yet, but do have a commercial Speed Queen mechanical washer. It uses lots of water, so you can use plenty of soap, and does a large load of laundry in 30 minutes. If you want to use hot water, it uses the hot water right out of your water heater and doesn't lower the temperature like all modern machines do. I think it cost about $850, so not cheap. We also bought the dryer, but if buying again I might buy another model with more bells and whistles.
If buying a Speed Queen, be sure to buy the basic mechanical model with no digital components. We love ours..
Speed Queen rocks! Worth price paid. Cold rinse though, unless you plan your plumbing to defeat that problem - another consideration for those in the planning stages. :)
electricity and water costs vary from location to location. We are in a low cost area for both. Speed queen does use more water. Wash and extra rinse runs 45 min. That is a saving of ten min from my previous front loader (smaller load) and one rinse.
Spin rivals front loaders for water extraction. Dryer runs about the same time to do a load.
If I could start again, I would put two washers and two dryers in my laundry room.
 
I'm coming late to this party. Don't have a B&B yet, but do have a commercial Speed Queen mechanical washer. It uses lots of water, so you can use plenty of soap, and does a large load of laundry in 30 minutes. If you want to use hot water, it uses the hot water right out of your water heater and doesn't lower the temperature like all modern machines do. I think it cost about $850, so not cheap. We also bought the dryer, but if buying again I might buy another model with more bells and whistles.
If buying a Speed Queen, be sure to buy the basic mechanical model with no digital components. We love ours..
What does it cost per load, including water and electricity? Time to do a load? How much laundry does it handle. How much soap?
For example, I use a Samsung, load is about 60 minutes. I use one tablespoon of organic soap (7c) and it can do all the day's towels for 6 rooms. Or two sets of King, or three sets of Queen. Uses about 10 litres per wash.
.
I don't know the cost per load. The signs on the "high efficiency" washers say they save $30 to $50 per year, so that should give you some idea.
The Speed Queen uses a LOT of water, although you can turn the knob to use less. I probably wouldn't choose this model if I lived in an area with a severe water shortage. We use liquid Tide and sometimes other detergents, and I usually use a third of a cap to a full cap of regular Tide detergent. I usually add anywhere from a teaspoon to two tablespoons of sodium tripolyphosphate; this is the old phosphate that used to be in laundry detergent that got our clothes so clean. We have a septic tank, so it is good for the environment (it was never harmful anyway as it accounted for only two percent of usage). Do NOT use sodium triphosphate list they sell at Home Depot (without the poly) as powder will precipitate out and get on your darker clothes.
You are going to use slightly more money on gas or electricity with a Speed Queen, since the hot water is not is not mixed with cold by a government worker who thinks he knows more than you do about how hot your water should be. You will use more water and probably a bit more soap. We never use "extra rinse," so our wash cycles take 30 minutes.
The last thing I would worry about is the annual "cost" of operating a washing machine or dishwasher. The government has been forcing or encouraging these manufacturers to use tiny amounts of water and energy. The result is that they take hours to do the job and then don't do it very well. I'm more than happy to pay a few dollars extra to have really clean and well-rinsed clothes quickly or to have my dishes washed quickly and to have them come out of the dishwasher perfectly bone dry.
 
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