Price range would be helpful to know. Some thoughts:


1) If this is going in place of an existing unit, measure the space and then measure the actual dimensions of the new appliance. New machines are larger than the old ones.

2) Consider the direction the doors will swing. The layout of the room may dictate that either left or right is preferred. But some machines don't have reversible doors.

3) I would agree that keeping the door of the washer open when not in use is important, but I'd add that you should run a towel around the inside of the gasket. Front loaders tend to leave some water trapped in the recesses of the gasket after use, and this is what causes nasty mold and odor problems.

4) Also check the required plumbing. Some of the new machines have steam cycles which require provisioning extra hose connections.

When we moved here 28 years ago, we finished the laundry room and installed side by side Maytags. Those machines were what was the standard size at the time, something like a 28" footprint. When we bought new machines last year, we found they were so big that they wouldn't fit in the space, necessitating remodeling of the entire room. Some manufacturers actually lie about the size, to make it sound like the machines will fit the old spaces. In those cases, the machines had bulging back panels that moved them further from the walls. I even had to put the machines on a raised floor to make it easier to reach all the way inside (and top loaders are now so deep, it's tough to reach the bottom.) The reason new machines are bigger: those yellow energy star stickers. The easiest way to make a washer or dryer more "efficient" is to install a bigger drum, without installing heavier duty motors and drives. So you end up with a ridiculously huge machine which can't handle full loads without breaking.