BLACK+DECKER 8.0 vs Kenmore 8.0 Electric Dryer: Two Names, One Set of Figures

Two 8.0 cubic foot electric dryers whose listings agree to the tenth of a pound. When the numbers match, the page is about what does not.

The two listings at a glance

Two dryers under two brand names, with listings that agree on nearly everything a figure can be checked against. Both state a drum of 8 cubic feet, both are front-loading electric dryers, both list the same weight to the decimal, both describe themselves as ENERGY STAR certified and as having twelve cycles, and both sit in the same price band. This page is about what that agreement does and does not tell you, and about the handful of places where the two listings really do differ.

Where the figures are the same

The weight is 138.6 pounds on one listing and 138.6 on the other, 62.9 kilograms each. A weight to a tenth of a pound does not coincide by chance between two brands, and a dimension to the nearest half inch could. The listings give 27 inches wide for both, 33.8 and 33.7 inches deep, and 39.8 and 39.7 inches high, which is a difference of 0.1 inch in depth and 0.1 inch in height, the sort of gap that appears when one set of numbers is rounded and the other is not. Both name the same drum volume, both say front load and both list a reversible door.

The simplest reading is that these are one machine sold under two names, and that is a reading we cannot confirm. Nothing on either listing says so. A retailer that builds dryers for more than one brand would produce exactly this pattern, and so would two manufacturers that happen to build to the same cabinet. What the comparison does establish is smaller and more useful: if you are deciding between them on size, weight, drum or cycle count, the listings give you nothing to decide on, and the decision has to rest on the things that do differ.

The same thing happens one category over. The BLACK+DECKER 4.5 cubic foot front load washer and the Kenmore 4.5 front load washer both list 216.1 pounds, both list 27 inches wide and 34 inches deep, give heights of 39 and 39.6 inches, and both list twelve cycles. Two pairs in two classes with matching weights is more than one coincidence, and a shopper comparing brand against brand in this part of the market should treat a matching specification as a prompt to look for what differs, not as a finding about quality.

Where the listings differ

They differ in what they say, not in the numbers. The BLACK+DECKER lists a steam-assisted drying cycle, a digital LED display, a sensor dry setting, an aluminised alloy steel drum, and a note that it requires 240 volts, professional installation and a 3-wire or 4-wire dryer cord that is not included. The Kenmore lists Accela Steam, which it describes as refreshing clothes in 15 minutes on a 3-pound load, a Wrinkle Guard, smart moisture sensors, eight fabric-care options, and an Energy Saver option that it says reduces energy use by up to 8.2 percent. Its material field lists stainless steel as well as alloy steel, where the BLACK+DECKER’s lists alloy steel and plastic.

The voltage line deserves a second look. The BLACK+DECKER states 240 volts and professional installation; the Kenmore listing, in the text we read, states neither. A full-size electric dryer is a 240-volt appliance in North America, and a listing that does not mention it is not telling you the machine runs on a standard outlet. It is telling you nothing. Before you buy either, confirm the circuit in your laundry room, the receptacle type and whether the cord is included, because the BLACK+DECKER’s says it is not.

Where they sit among full-size dryers

We have 11 full-size dryers in the catalogue, and the two on this page are the largest by drum, tied at 8 cubic feet. The median is 4.4 cubic feet, and 3 of the 11 state 7 cubic feet or more. They are also among the heaviest: 3 of the 7 full-size dryers that state a weight are listed at 60 kilograms or more, and these two are among them. That is what an 8-cubic-foot drum costs in weight, and it is the reason a delivery and installation question belongs on the checklist even when the price band is the same.

How to decide between two machines that match

When two listings agree on size, weight, drum and cycle count, the figures cannot separate the machines, and a shopper is left with what the listings do not give: the warranty terms, the delivery and installation arrangements, the parts and service network behind each name, and the cost of a cord or a hose that one box includes and the other does not. Our reviews quote a one-year limited warranty for both, so that line does not separate them either. What separates them on these two pages is the feature list, a steam cycle described one way on one listing and another on the other, and the electrical information that one listing gives and the other omits. A buyer who needs the nameplate rating, the circuit requirement and the door-swing options should ask the seller for the manual before ordering, and should compare the two manuals, not the two product pages.

The practical consequence of identical dimensions is that the two machines occupy the same space. A closet, a pedestal or a stacking kit that works for one will fit the other to within a fraction of an inch, so the space you have is a reason to rule out both or neither, never one. That is worth knowing before you spend an evening comparing them.

What this comparison cannot tell you

Nothing here was tested, and the claim that two listings describe one machine is an inference we have flagged as one. We cannot tell you how long either dries a load, how well the sensors stop it, or how either holds up. Both of our reviews quote the same capacity and certification and list a one-year warranty. For each in full, read our review of the BLACK+DECKER 8.0 and our review of the Kenmore 8.0, and see the clothes dryer reviews for the rest of the class.

Figures are the manufacturers’, as published on each listing and quoted in our reviews; none was measured by us. How we work · Affiliate disclosure