[Sleeep]

Plenty of apartments in the US have washing machines, I've lived in several apartments and all had a washing machine[1].

As for the reason why many don't - historical (they weren't designed when household washing machines didn't exist and were never retrofitted), and slumlords not wanting to manage another appliance.

Add to that nowadays Americans don't do much air drying of their clothes so a washer without a dryer is much less appealing. As long as you had physical space adding a washer to an apartment that wasn't designed for one is cheap. Adding a dryer is very costly - dedicated plug or gas line plus ventilation to the outside. So if it's not economically worth the dryer upgrade than most landlords just won't bother with a washer upgrade either.

If your landlord doesn't provide a washer and your apartment doesn't have washer hookups you could always get a portable washing machine (or jury rig a regular washer to be 'portable') for any apartment as long as you had somewhere to store it. I've even hear of someone splitting the water line under the sink to install a washer in a rental.

Same thing with dishwashers, some apartments have them, some don't.

[1]One apartment I lived in though had all the washing machines and dryers in the shared basement and they were coin operated and we weren't supposed to use them after 9.

[freetime2]

I would also add rent control laws as a possible reason for not renovating more apartments with washing machines. Many of the older buildings in San Francisco have tenants who have been living there for decades and pay rents that are well below market rates. Landlords have little incentive to make improvements since they can't easily raise rents. And tenants have little incentive to shop for a nicer apartment if it means losing their below-market rates.

When the tenant does finally move out, it's not uncommon for the landlord to renovate, add modern amenities, and raise prices significantly. Hence in-unit washing machines are on the rise and laundromats are on the decline. But it takes a long time for the process to play out.

[arethuza]

"Adding a dryer is very costly"

Condenser dryers are pretty easy to install - all you need is an electrical outlet.

[EADGBE]

Very cool that these exists. I had no idea. But I'm just your typical stupid American.

However, it looks like they're about 3x the cost of a vented dryer.

And smaller capacity than vented ones.

> Ventless dryers also take longer to get your clothes dry. A vented dryer might finish a Normal load in about 45-50 minutes, but a condenser or heat pump dryer could run for an hour and a half. Want to dry a bulky blanket or comforter? You could be waiting more than three hours.

http://laundry.reviewed.com/features/everything-you-need-to-...

[arethuza]

I've never waited 3 hours for our dryer to dry anything - in fact even a heavy blanket doesn't take more than an hour.

[EADGBE]

Do you live in a humid climate? I wonder if that impedes on the dry time at all (having to dry out the air before drying out the clothes drying in the air).

[arethuza]

Scotland - I wouldn't say "humid" - just miserably damp. :-|

Maybe it's the 240V mains supply?

[EADGBE]

We send 240V to our dryers here, too.

[Sleeep]

I should have specified "traditional dryer." New tech is pretty interesting, I didn't know they existed, but then again I don't pay much attention to dryers other than my own and my own needs ventilation to the outside and a special plug. Price would certainly be an issue in a lower cost rental unit.

Also RE: "much less appealing," should have specified "much less appealing to a prospective tenant than a washer/dryer combo thus wouldn't command higher rent thus isn't worth a landlord's time and money even if space is available right next to the sink for a cheap install." Line drying is much more common in other parts of the world.