No - and you wouldn't want to. Seriously, don't even think about it.

The washers and dryers you get here (and in much of Europe) are built to standard size specifications so that they can be fit into a standard kitchen or bathroom - or the "laundry room" in France. To be honest about it, most French homes probably couldn't even get a US style washer or dryer in the door, much less set in place.

The other "trick" is that the standard French/European washer heats its own water and so only connects to the cold water tap. (Normally there is only a cold water tap provided to hook up a washing machine - or even a dishwasher.) Dryers are a separate issue - if you want a "gas dryer" you're pretty much out of luck. They don't seem to exist here since the home gas service seems to work a bit differently than in the US.

For large household appliances, you want to cruise the websites of the major vendors like Darty (my personal favorite), Boulanger, Conforama, But, etc. Those all have brick and mortar shops - but you can see what's available online to get an idea of what is "standard."

 

For large household appliances, you want to cruise the websites of the major vendors like Darty (my personal favorite), Boulanger, Conforama, But, etc. Those all have brick and mortar shops - but you can see what's available online to get an idea of what is "standard."

Thanks. I saw Darty in my google search and went to the their website (Magasin DARTY Draguignan - Darty - Electroménager, high-tech, atelier de réparation à DRAGUIGNAN.). I don't know if I just can't see how to find their products, or whether it's just not available online, ie. have to visit the store. All I can see on the website is where my closest store is, nothing about their products available, or "online shopping" for that matter.

 

What is a US style washing machine...just out of interest.

 

They are large, and the washer is normally top loading (see examples here Top Loading American Style Washing Machines & Tumble Dryers)
Their main advantage is that you shove all your weekly washing (a lot), do the wash in 20-30 mins, put them in the dryer, and - here is the key - all comes out fresh and no ironing required!

 

ok, I have found the Darty catalog online https://www.darty.com/nav/achat/gros_electromenager/lave-linge/lave_linge_hublot/index.html
Regards, dryers, it seems all that is available here are combined washer-dryers, not standalone dryers per se. I wonder if non-gas dryers are available.

 

Yes they are, I bought one in Brittany a few years back in a local electomenager shop. The combined ones are pretty much useless (compared with what you are used to!), stand alone are much better. They are also available as vented and non-vented (condensing) and the condensers are more popular as they don't need any extra plumbing or vents adding.

See this example:

https://www.darty.com/nav/achat/gros_electromenager/seche-linge/seche_linge/filtre__seche_linge_a_condensation__494194.html

 

Having done some recent research on this, it having been 15 years since I bought a dryer in France, you will need to understand (if you don’t already) the different technologies vs US dryers, which mostly use heated air which is then vented outside via a duct. (Perhaps that is what you meant by “US style,” although I assumed you mean “big”. [emoji6]) Most dryers here seem to be either condenser-type or heat exchanger-type, explained here: What Is the Difference between a Heat Pump Dryer and a Condensing Dryer?. (This is not an endorsement of LG products, it just happened to be in English.) Given high energy costs, these new-to-me technologies are apparently more energy-efficient but (I understand) can take longer to dry clothes.

As for large capacity, there are relatively larger capacity dryers available, but “relative” is the key word. Doubt you will find anything as big as the largest US home dryers. (See Bev’s post above.)


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Having done some recent research on this, it having been 15 years since I bought a dryer in France, you will need to understand (if you don’t already) the different technologies vs US dryers, which mostly use heated air which is then vented outside via a duct. (Perhaps that is what you meant by “US style,” although I assumed you mean “big”. [emoji6]) Most dryers here seem to be either condenser-type or heat exchanger-type, explained here: What Is the Difference between a Heat Pump Dryer and a Condensing Dryer?. (This is not an endorsement of LG products, it just happened to be in English.) Given high energy costs, these new-to-me technologies are apparently more energy-efficient but (I understand) can take longer to dry clothes.

I guess what I meant is a large vented standalone dryer. These are the ones where clothes come out fluffy and don't need ironing. The condensing type creates humidity in the house and the clothes come out needing ironing. Been there in the UK, don't want either these or a combined washer / dryer.

 

Top loading washing machines used to be the norm in France.

 

Yes smeg, the thin ones with a drum. Some olds ones I have received small electric shocks..
The American loads like a chest freezer and swishes side to side.

 

ferrad -- There are plenty of "commercial" machines available in France for the laundromat/hotel market. They are French brands, European brands and even a few familiar American brands. What I've seen, they tend to be front loaders, for both washers and dryers. If you have a "big" house or perhaps a bed and breakfast, I suppose they night meet your needs -- but would certainly be overkill for the typical residential setting. Cheers, 255

 

OK, on the Darty site (or on Boulanger or any of the other large stores), under Gros Électroménager, you then click on Lave-linge (for washers) and Seche-linge (for dryers). Although Darty and many of the other shops now sell "US style refrigerators" - with side by side doors, water and ice in the door and all those goodies - there has never really been any interest here in US style washing machines or dryers. I suspect that is mainly due to the size of those behemoths in the US. (Yeah, I freak out when I go into a Best Buy or other appliance store back in the US.)

The way to get your fluffy laundry without the need for ironing is to get a dryer with a "sonde" (probe) that will stop the dryer when it detects that the laundry is dry. And to not overload the drum of the dryer. (Usually that means to put no more than half your wash load in the dryer at a time.) You then need to remove the laundry from the dryer right when it stops and hang it up or fold it so that it won't wrinkle from sitting around cooling down.

Actually, the Darty site (and I suspect the others) also has quite a bit of background information on the various types of appliances available. It's all in French, but you can use any of the available translation sites or programs to transform them into English if needed. (Also helps you learn the terms needed for some of the features.)

 

There are big front loaders. Mine is "only" 10kg but that's twice a common 5Kg. I've seen 12 and 13kg. The outside of the machine is the same size and the things aren't much more expensive than similar quality smaller ones.

But if you really expect 30 minutes per wash you might need a machine that has a hotwater input and be willing to wash hot. A cold water wash is over an hour.

 

I remember the first time I came to Paris for a month, maybe 45 some years ago, and stayed in a friend's place. He had a machine in his place so did my laundry and the machine stopped mid-stream. So I thought I did something wrong and restarted the machine. Did this two more times and then finally gave up and went to the laundromat. Later someone told me that's how French washing machines work, they stop and restart automatically. I thought this American has a lot to learn lol.

 

Ferrad

We were looking for a hot air dryer a couple of years ago. We had a condensing dryer and it took hours to dry clothes. Hot air dryers exist (Pro & CIe sold them at the time), they are expensive to run, and they do not have the same sorts of settings as American dryers, i.e., 15 or 20 settings for various levels of dry and various fabrics. There were two on the one we saw: Hot and super hot. Our salesman recommended we read about pompe à chaleur dryers.

I’d never heard of them before. They are very energy efficient. They work sort of like air conditioning in reverse. They are very quiet, dry clothes in a relatively short amount of time, and they are incredibly gentle to one’s clothes. They also have all the settings for all the fabrics and levels of dryness you’d likely expect. They are a bit more expensive, but I figure the savings in electricity will pay for that.

Best of luck.

Ray

 

The Super U publicité arrived this morning, and they are offering an Electrolux dryer using heat pump technology for €395.35, reduced from €599. Perhaps this indicates that the dryers are priced too high to begin with and that they may be more affordable in the future.

But they only have 1130 of them, so if you want one you'll have to hurry.

 

Depending on where you move to - not Brittany and next to a pig,chicken or cow farm; most clothes will dry either hanging on the terrace or in the garden in a couple of hours or less.
A dryer is handy for getting your towels fluffy soft but why do europeans put fabric softener in the wash when washing bath towels and tea towels?
I think you will change your habits when you arrive and not use it as much as you would there - the first electric bill might add to this change.

I grew up with natural gas a/c and heating, clothes dryer, fake fireplace, pool heating, cooking and even our refrigerator. My father even had a system installed for the driveway and walk way to the front door - flip a switch and the snow or ice melted away and did not accumulate or form. All on natural gas.
I still dislike cooking on electric..

 

most clothes will dry either hanging on the terrace or in the garden in a couple of hours or less.

And, unlike so many places in the US, there are no regulations banning outdoor "natural air" drying of clothes in your own back yard.

 

Nearly any housing development that has a "homeowners association" will have strange rules like that. They dictate what color the back of your curtains must be (the side that faces the street) so as to present a "uniform" look to the neighborhood or building. Townhouse and condo developments are notorious for this, even if the back yard area isn't visible from the street. Something to do with "property values" I guess.

Evidently there is now a movement for "right to dry" laws and "solar access" laws to nullify homeowner association rules like this.

But it's no weirder than the legal prohibition on collecting rainwater off your roof in Colorado (I think it is). The State there sold water rights to some companies and it is claimed that property owners are "stealing" water from the companies if they don't allow the rain to run into the ground as nature intended... or something like that.

 

Nearly any housing development that has a "homeowners association" will have strange rules like that. They dictate what color the back of your curtains must be (the side that faces the street) so as to present a "uniform" look to the neighborhood or building. Townhouse and condo developments are notorious for this, even if the back yard area isn't visible from the street. Something to do with "property values" I guess.

I think many people read your first post as there are state or federal laws which forbid hanging your laundry outside and you could be prosecuted. It is like that there in France in village centers but I have never seen or read about an town ordinance from the States. In France it is the mayor who tells you what color you can paint your house, shutters, windows.

But it's no weirder than the legal prohibition on collecting rainwater off your roof in Colorado (I think it is). The State there sold water rights to some companies and it is claimed that property owners are "stealing" water from the companies if they don't allow the rain to run into the ground as nature intended... or something like that.

I have heard of this but have never investigated. The company I worked for sent and installed 4 huge 10000 liter rain water recuperation tanks with a custom set up of pumps and such - it was for a private eco-village of 4 families outside of Denver in 2019. We ran across nothing from the town with the permits and permissions. There was even a natural swimming pond installed.

 

terigrade -- The Colorado Division of Water Resources (part of the Department of Natural Resources,) issue permits for rain water harvesting -- nothing to due with any "town" permitting process. After 2016, there became numerous "exemptions" to the law. If the property in question had a residential well permit or would qualify for such permit, they would be able to harvest "unlimited" rain water for indoor or outside use. There are also exemptions for various rainwater harvesting "pilot" projects. Since 2016, private homeowners could capture up to 110 gallons, for outdoor use only.

Water is a scarce resource, in the Western U.S., and water rights are often "sold" separately as "real" property, separately from the land. If the purchaser, of a piece of property (land,) in Colorado, the inclusion (or not) of "water" rights should be in the title to the property. Indeed there are many "rights," including mineral rights that may have been "sold" separately from the land. In Colorado, if a person already owns the water rights, from a piece of land, the new "land" owner would indeed be taking water without permission (if he didn't have title to the water.)

The Colorado Division Engineer permits the use of both over and underground aquafers and it is the "Wild West" between States with the ongoing draughts in the Western U.S. utilizing the legal system to both try to gain and block access to water. Cheers, 255

 

Re: washing machines, be sure to check how long it takes to wash a load of “blancs/couleurs.” My “eco-friendly” Electrolux washing machine takes a whopping 3 hours to wash ONE load of laundry. Sometimes I wish it would break so I could buy an efficient one!

 

Re: washing machines, be sure to check how long it takes to wash a load of “blancs/couleurs.” My “eco-friendly” Electrolux washing machine takes a whopping 3 hours to wash ONE load of laundry. Sometimes I wish it would break so I could buy an efficient one!

I have a Bosch wash. mach. that shows 2 hrs 58 mins for a white wash .. but, by pressing one button, I can reduce the total time taken to 59 mins.
No change in temperature, no change in spin .. just less time actually washing and, perhaps, a shorter rinsing cycle. I'm not sure what changes but the cleanliness obtained is fine 😊.
Surely your Electrolux has a button that does smthg similar ?
Edit : What is important for me is that the 60°C temp remains as my OH is extremely allergic and any bedding, towels, white stuff .. which will be close to his skin, has to be washed at 60°.

 

Depends on how old the machine is. My (relatively) new washer has lots of different cycles - including an "eco" cycle that takes 3 hours, and a "quotidien" that takes just a bit over an hour and seems to work pretty much just as well - and runs on 30° or 40° water (which, to me, is "eco" enough). It takes a bit of experimentation to figure out which cycles work best for you.

 

“US style washer/dryers” : probably best kept in the US. I have never known anyone in either the UK or French halves of my extended family ever own a clothes drier. Apart from being extremely energivore, they are simply not needed. Sorry but no one should accept a “Ruling” against hanging washing out in the breeze, even in rainy Britain/Brittany.

 

Smeg, American dryers have all kinds of energy draining, planet heating features. Ours in particular has a "steam" feature, which tumble dries clothing, then if you haven't taken them out and folded them promptly enough, will generate steam to eliminate wrinkles before a final tumble cycle. I've used it once or twice. I've never used the bluetooth or app that the manual hints we have.
I'm afraid that russian hackers would hold my unmentionables for ransom.

 

I'm afraid that russian hackers would hold my unmentionables for ransom.

That's becoming more and more of a potential issue these days! Frankly, I would rather have my household appliances NOT connected to the Internet. (There are a few of those over here as well.) For me, though, it's just the sheer size of the US appliances that blows me away. We could not get a US style washer or dryer into the house and certainly not into the little "buanderie" space we have here.

I do find having a dryer is handy in the winter and to do towels and certain other loads that just dry on the line a bit too "crispy" for my tastes. But as long as our 40 year old dryer continues to function, I guess I stick with that. (Though I suspect a newer dryer might save mightily on the energy use.)

 

Regarding small and large appliance prices…it’s entirely true that in France there are only two sales periods each year in January and July. It is best to buy one’s appliances at these times, without a doubt.

However, when we bought new appliances for our house, we didn’t know when the sales occurred. We bought several appliances including a cooktop, an oven, a fridge, and clothes washer. I did my research online, and found that some were less expensive from Amazon and CDiscount than our local Pro & Cie appliance store. However, I wanted to buy locally and I asked our local store about pricing and delivery (even though my French was rather terrible at the time).

They gave me a 15% or 20% discount on all of the items we purchased (and the discount continued for later purchases). They delivered the appliances to our house, installed them all, tested them, removed all of the boxing and packing materials, swept up, and took away our old appliances at no charge. They also have their own repair team. They repair everything that they sell. They arrive within a day or so and they do excellent work.

I recommend using a shop in or very nearby your village/city. A good reputation is very important in France and no one wants to lose it.

Ray