Frigidare Company
Frigidaire is a wholly American company that emerged as the Guardian Frigerator Company in Fort Wayne Indiana in 1916, only to change its name to Frigidaire two years later when the founder of General Motors took a personal stake. Its claim to fame is the first electric and self-contained refrigerator.
Prior to this refrigeration units relied upon ice blocks which meant the temperature could never get below 0 and only as far down as the conductive capacity of air could be used to cool something down not in contact with the ice block. Only in later years after World War II Frigidaire became well known for manufacturing washing machines. This explains why the name of the company is more reminiscent etymologically of "cold air" and less to do with washing and drying laundry!
The Electric or Gas Stackable Washer Dryer from Frigidaire
Frigidaire offers several stacked units of varying cost and complexity, available in either gas or electric versions. The gas versions cost a bit more upfront but are supposed to save energy in the long run by virtue of being gas-driven rather than electricity-driven. The stacked units range from price at $1,099 suggested retail price on the low end to $1,399 on the high end. These would be considered economy, low-priced, or "good buys" in some consumerist magazines. In comparison, the Bosch double unit would cost about $1,800 at the cheapest suggested retail price. Of course most major retail outlets like Sears would probably offer these units a little bit (perhaps 10-20%) below the suggested price.
The Washer
The washer component is decent sized ranging from 2.7 cubit feet to 3.1 cubic feet. At 2.7 this is considered normal if not a bit small by modern standards whereas 3.1 is a bit closer to what many consider a regular sized load of laundry now. Some of the washer units in the stackable washer dryer from Frigidaire also have a cold rinse feature that is supposed to keep white colors brighter and whiter. There are a higher number of selectable wash cycles that can manage delicate clothing, and one in particular that is of interest is the warm/warm cycle. The feature of extra rinses also help remove allergens for people who have sensitive skin. Finally some people need to wash a single item of clothing that must be treated separately but such cases can be accomodated by the high end model which has an extra short cycle to take on very small loads.
The Dryer
The dryer is the lower unit of the two and is equipped with the latest sensor technology that can shut down or power down heating prior to irreversible fabric damage. Several settings exist for the dryer. Some settings are preset for one-touch operation whereas other settings can be adjusted to the time limit user desires. Additionally in order to prevent wrinkling you can select an option to continue tumbling for some time. The extra tumbling feature has spread to many other machines so it is not entirely distinctive.
The Verdict
The Frigidaire has been called a great value by major consumer magazines for its energy savings, durability and low cost. It does seem to have many bells and whistles expected of the modern washer-dryer stackable. In addition, it does not seem to allow the user to select the water level which would enable even more fine tuning of washing different volumes of clothing. People who wish to buy American can consider either a GE stackable washer dryer or a Maytag stackable washer dryer.
