Replacing a built-in washer/dryer

DesperateSusan

The time has come to replace a built-in washer dryer.

The one there at the moment is a Smeg unit which is over £500 to replace.

This seems a little excissive.

If I get a different make, will I have any trouble fitting it? Do all built-ins have the same mountings etc?

If I stay with a Smeg, what are the best places to buy one?

What are good makes if I don't go for a Smeg, but go for a cheaper alternative?

Thanks for your help,

Sue

cattie

Personally I'd avoid Smeg, they don't have a very good reputation according to engineers on the Whitegoods site. You can have a look on there to find out the most reliable and respected brands of appliances.

An integrated machine will always cost a lot more than a freestanding one. I've just paid £750 for a Neff integrated washing machine that's being delivered tomorrow & if I'd bought the Bosch freestanding equivalent it would have been at least £200 less.

Decide what spin speed you want and then try to see what better quality brands will fit your budget. I fear that the likes of Siemens, Neff & Bosch are out of your price range, as is AEG. But other names to look at for mid to low price range are Zanussi & Whirlpool & Electrolux.

You could look on Ebay to see if there are any graded appliances being sold as this can save you money, but I'm not sure if they do many integrated washing machines on there.

With white goods you tend to get what you pay for, so if you buy a cheap washing machine, it may only last 2 or 3yrs, so bear this in mind.

New Integrated appliances should fit in the same space as the old one, but sometimes the door fixings are different, even if replacing with the same brand.

DesperateSusan

Thanks, Cattie.

The Smeg is 7 or 8 years old and has behaved well, though not in a busy family environment.

I'' see if I can find the white goods site you mention.

I'm most concerned that the new one will be easy to install. _i'm concerned that the door may be a problem even for another Smeg machine.

Thanks again,

Sue

lil.smartie

May need to move the hinges but that's inside the door so not noticed from the outside.

We have a Hoover one, 1400 spin 8kgs (iirc) it's fab, we had the separates of the same previously that were subjected to a teenage boy who washed pretty much every item of clothing he owned in one load once a week and survived!

This one was from Pixmania (quidco cashback) and delivered by Currys/PC world delivery guys.

Kate

property.advert

Some machines come with an optional sheet metal top, where you take off the regular top and just bolt on this aluminium / steel one. They then slide under counters and can act as built in without the huge extra expense.

The last one I had was Hotpoint.

Many sales places will say these kits do not exist but they do and it may be that all manufacturers do them. Google around.

DesperateSusan

property.advert wrote: »

Some machines come with an optional sheet metal top, where you take off the regular top and just bolt on this aluminium / steel one. They then slide under counters and can act as built in without the huge extra expense.

The last one I had was Hotpoint.

Many sales places will say these kits do not exist but they do and it may be that all manufacturers do them. Google around.

Thanks for that - I'll investigate.

Sue

DesperateSusan

This is the smeg one that replaces the one I have

http://www.smeguk.com/product/wdi146s/

this one looks to be better value:

http://www.pixmania.co.uk/uk/uk/10288075/art/hotpoint/bhwd129-1-integrated-wash.html


Sue

cazs

Are you me? haha.

I have the same issue... mine broke the Sunday before Christmas and had to wait a while for an engineer to come out who told me what i suspected, that the price of repair wasn't worth it and i should just go and buy a new machine. It's a Smeg WD16BA and was in the flat since it was installed in 2002 so I guess it's just gone to washer-dryer heaven now.

He too warned me about the door issue if you get a different bran. He said you can turn it round though which is true. More expense though to sort that out.

I was looking at an Indesit at £325 which was quite well rated by Which. Only problem, all the comapnies that sell it don't seem to offer Installation service on built-in appliances. Just managed to find that Curry's does but it's £95 on top of the item price... Another Smeg I'm not so sure, they're meant to be all that but the one I had was rather slow and my what a racket it used to made. I am happy to experiment with other brands particularly seeing that Smeg is so pricey.

property.advert

How difficult is it to put on a couple of hoses and plug it in ?

Might take 10 minutes, which would be the equivalent of £570 an hour tax free !

cazs

Ah easy for you perhaps but I have no knowledge of installing appliances and would rather not mess it all up, or cause other damage by playing around with it otherwise the fault is all my own. Also I have no way of taking away and disposing of the old machine which they will do included in that price. So there we are.