[VERN in IL]

Why are most clothes dryers installed on the RIGHT side of the washer?

I've always noticed in trailers and most homes, the washer is on the left and the dryer is on the right.

 

[Rowdy]

In my house I bought about two years ago the dryer is on the left, washer on the right. Took some getting used to... and now I have to go around the door on the dryer to put the clothes in.

 

[Sawmill Jim]

Easier for right hand people to use

 

[Metagirrl]

Rowdy-
Have you looked to see if the dryer door could be reversed? Many can be, with just a couple of screws... I had to switch mine. My house (built 2003) was set up for the dryer on the left.

 

[cfabe]

I had an older house with the washer on the right. Made it a pain to load the dryer because the door opened to the right and would be between the washer and dryer. I suspect that dryer doors open to the right because most people are right handed, and that makes it easier to place the dryers on the right so that is how the plumbing & electrical is usually installed.

 

[Alice In TX/MO]

Because in the western world, we work/write/read left to right.

 

[Rowdy]

Rowdy-
Have you looked to see if the dryer door could be reversed? Many can be, with just a couple of screws... I had to switch mine. My house (built 2003) was set up for the dryer on the left.

Yup.... but nope. :-(

Oh well, makes it more challenging

 

[Metagirrl]

Well, Rowdy, you could always install it upside down. Then the door would open right, but you'd have to hit the buttons with your toes

 

[Old Vet]

My drier is on the left because it was easier to put it in instead of changing the place that the hoses come from. The door opens from the right. I also live in a mobile home.

 

[CamM]

In my house, at least, the dryer is on the right because the vent to the outdoors is. Instead of having a ventilation tube running over a washer then up the wall to the outdoors, it's in the closest place possible.

 

[stickinthemud]

Another old house. The washer is against the outside wall, the dryer across from it against the interior chimney. That's where the water pipes were for the washer and the gas pipe for the dryer. The only problem is the occasional sock that lands on the floor during the transfer.

 

[calliemoonbeam]

I'm in an old mobile. The dryer is on the left, but the door opens right, and there's not enough room to walk around it with the door open, so I have to reach over the top of the door and put stuff in. I almost always drop at least one thing in the floor, lol.

 

[Mrrsteelers]

The dryer should be closest to the exterior wall because it needs to vent out. The washer is farther from the exterior to keep water lines away from exterior walls.

 

[ozark mike]

I don't remember ever seeing a washer to the left of the drier in any place that I have ever lived...I live in a trailer now and have two others here on my place, all have the washer to the right...

 

[Shrek]

Majority of people are right handed, washers were originally top load and dryers front load. Dryer to the right with right handed door is more required motion efficient.

Odds are Maytag or whatever washer and dryer company that was king at the start of the washer and dryer boom employed efficiency engineers like the Gilbreths (the parents of the real life Cheaper by the Dozen family ) to define the least labor steps configuration that is common place now.

 

[CJ]

Ours is set up that way (dryer to the left) which is backwards for my Bosch machines, that leaves the doors opening back to back. The doors aren't reversible, so we ended up putting the dryer on the right and just running a section of dryer vent over. It makes the units stick out from the wall (width of the dryer vent) but it would drive me nuts trying to work around the doors otherwise.

 

[Windy in Kansas]

My daughter's and SIL's house was new last year and is set up so that the washer is on the right and the dryer on the left.

My washer is a top load and the dryer a front load with the door opening downward instead of to the right or left. They actually set in the basement perpendicular to each other with the dryer on the left. I'm left handed and it works well for me. Would have to move electrical receptacle for 220 or move plumbing to change the arrangement.

 

[Charleen]

Our previous dryer door opened down (like an oven door) not to either side, so it didn't matter which side of the washer it was on.

 

[Rowdy]

Well, Rowdy, you could always install it upside down. Then the door would open right, but you'd have to hit the buttons with your toes

It was a good idea, but when I tried it tonight, the vent tube was not long enough to reach with the dryer upside down.

 

[Macybaby]

Hmm, my dryer door opens down, so this isn't a problem.

Cathy