Top vs Front load water extraction and dry times

[mark]

Anyone have some real data on actual differences in drying times between these types of washers?

[trader4]

The washers I've had don't dry, they just wash. And the front loader took a lot longer, maybe 50% to 100% longer for a complete wash than the 15 year old top loader. But that's an old top-loader, vs new front. I did a test using white towels and some stains, kethup, mustard, grass, etc. I'd say they both did about the same. One was better at removing certain stains than the other, but overall not much difference. It was an old Kenmore vs new top of the line LG. One thing is amazing and that's how little water the LG uses.

[Duesenberg]

Here are my observations from a new and old set of GE

Old was GE 3.7 cu top loader washer and 5 cu foot electric dryer, Average wash time for a full cotton load ( about 3-3.3 cu ft of clothing) was 35 minutes, using 47-50 gallons of water. Electric dry time for load was about 45 to 50 minutes. This washer and dryer set was from 2003

New Front load washer is 4 cu ft and new dryer is 7 cu ft GAS, 18 000 BTU purchased 2009

Front load uses 14-17 gallons of water per wash load for about 3 to 3.5 cu ft load. Average wash time is 58mins to 105 minutes. Average electrical use is .17kwhr per load.

Gas dryer dries 3 cu foot load in about 35-40 minutes and a full 6.5 to

7 cu ft load in bout 55 minutes. Electrical use from gas dryer is .21 to .25 kwhr for small load of drying and .34 kwhr to as high as .4 kwhr for the capacity load.

Water use is measured from the water softener. It has a little LCD display that gives water use stats. We use cold water only and for the once a season warm water use we have gas water heater and the washing machine has a water heater internally that is 1100 watts but we've never used it. Washing machin is rated for 9 amps and I've never seen it use that.

Electrical use measurement is from a kill-a-watt meter. Easy to measure gas cause it's 110v. Gas dryer uses mostly 400 watts to turn the drum, and the ignition uses additional 400 watts to fire the burners. Gas dryer rated for 6 amps, and it uses it. We found it alot more efficient to run the dryer with two loads of washing to dry instead of a smaller one load.

Those are my numbers and what I have recorded a few months ago when I got a kill-a-watt meter as a gift.

[Molly Brown]

I don=92t know about drying times but labor costs are much higher on the front loader washers.

[Vic Smith]

I can't say anything about front loaders, but some top-loaders can have very high spin rates. I have one, a GE. with an "extra spin" option. The knob has been set to that from day one. And it spins like crazy. So if you ever find your statistics, make sure you're not comparing apples and oranges.

[Frank]

We have a fairly new Maytag top loader. It uses much less water than the old GE it replaced, seems to spin dry at a higher rate and is much smoother. I did not want a front loader, figuring that eventually there would be a gasket problem. The top loaders have improved too to use less water.

[dpb]

How's that...they have to go in and come out of each...the stoop and bend for the front loader is at least as bad if not worse imo than the slightly higher lift on the top...

[dpb]

...

We replaced an (very) old GE top w/ a new one. It also has a very high spin cycle rpm (800 rpm iirc) and altho I figured it would be very unstable and noisy it has proven to be quite a lot quieter and less of a balance problem than the old one was.

It does get quite a bit dryer owing to that spin than the old but I've made no attempt to compare drying times--it's just what it is imo (altho use outside line quite a bit as well).

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[Jim Elbrecht]

It is *much* worse on the front loader. So much so that we'll never own another front loader. You can pull things tot he edge of a top loader & sort, untangle, etc. Once you grab a bunch in the front loader it leaves a trail of socks to the dryer-- or is hanging on to a couple tangle sleeves still in the washer.

I think Molly was talking about the guy who comes to fix the damn things when they break.

Back to the OP-- my gut says my front loader spins clothes out about as well as the top loader did when the belt was freshly tensioned.

Jim

[Don Wiss]

Yes. It would be hard to make a comparison. My front loader has a button for extended spin. And then I have a choice of five spin speeds, plus no spin. I max it out to minimize my drying time.

Don.

(e-mail link at home page bottom).

[dpb]

On 6/4/2012 5:06 PM, Jim Elbrecht wrote: ...

...

Oh, _that_ labor...wasn't thinking of that (as was obvious from response I suppose :) )

I repairs 'em meself or they be trash... :)

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[krw]

We have a four year old Whirlpool Cabrio, agitatorless top-loader, with a high-speed spin cycle. We bought it in hopes it would be more reliable than a similarly priced front-loader. It didn't work out so well. It's bearings are just about shot, too. Not recommended.

[Tomsic]

Our front loader, now 9 years old, senses the load before it decides on a spin speed. I suppose that's to avoid damage to the machine. Anyway, the clothes come out fairly dry most of the time; but sometimes lage loads with heavy fabrics are not well wrung out. I usually remove the driest part of the load and then have it spin again. Compared to the previous top loaders that we've had, the front loader is faster, quieter, uses much less water and detergent and overall does a better cleaning job.

Tomsic

[Vic Smith]

It's a PITA. I got the GE at Sears because our 25-year old Kenmore broke down. None of the washing machines - anywhere - had good reviews, and this one had even worse reviews than most. But SHMBO had to have the large capacity, soak cycle, and SS tub. I paid about $250 just for 5-year replace warranty. Too many reviews about owners going weeks before it was fixed. I just added up the total yearly cost for 5 years, thought about how much fun it is to go to the laundrymat, and paid up. No trouble with it, but the 5 years is up in a couple months. Pretty sure it's been good because I paid for the warranty. Voodoo. Those 25 year Kenmores are long gone. Last Kenmore refrigerator I bought died in 8 years. Marked inside as Whirlpool, Made in Mexico. By the time enough bad reviews show up for these appliances, they often discontinue the model and put out another crap model. Mine isn't sold any more.

[DerbyDad03]

I can fill my front loader to the top with stuff like shirts, socks and a towel or two without any problem.

However, if I stuff it full of towels and/or blankets, it won't spin fast enough to even get the water out of the tub. I'll agree that the machine is protecting itself by not spinning the really heavy, water logged loads.

My daughter came home from college last week and loaded up the machine with a bunch of her towels and blankets. An hour later she sent me a text, panicked that she had broken the washer since everything was still really wet when the cycle was finished.

I had her take out half the load, set the machine on Drain and Spin, and it cranked right up to 1100 RPM.

[Stormin Mormon]

She deaf mute? My generation, we talked to each other.

Christopher A. Young Learn more about Jesus

.

My daughter came home from college last week and loaded up the machine with a bunch of her towels and blankets. An hour later she sent me a text,

[Art Todesco]

Since the original topic has been almost totally hijacked, I'll now chime in on my GE front loader. As far a spinning out the water, when it works, it's great. Clothes are almost dry. However, on heavy loads, the spin/dryness, is inconsistent. Sometimes they seem pretty dry. Other times, very wet. That said, the 3 year old is being replaced. I am getting a top loader with a real agitator, a tub that really fills up with water and one that really rinses the clothes. Right now, we wash a load with the extra rinse button pressed. Then, after it's done, we select "speed wash" with an extra rinse, but this time adding no soap. This usually gets all the soap out, but even with all that, sometimes not. What a piece of junk! It can take 2 hours to do a load. And, if it's a heavy blanket, etc., it will usually get unbalanced during spin. If you try to reposition the load, it's almost impossible because of the wet weight. So, you let the machine go through it's back and forth motion, trying to reposition the load. After some time, it will usually be able to spin out. But that can add another half an hour to the cycle. And, don't get me started on tangling. Pant legs of thinner material and sleeves, twist up in tight knots .................. Go take blood pressure meds now!!!!

[dpb]

...

I'll just comment again that we've had a GE top for about 2 yr now--so far, it has been quite satisfactory--but I have no illusions it'll last

20+ yr as the old one did doing heavy overalls and other farm clothing for that lifetime. At age where beginning to slow down so and not as much farm production as before so it doesn't get the workout it did so that'll compensate some...

But, initially have to admit to being pleasantly surprised...it works well, is quiet, handles heavy loads w/o complaint and "just works".

Don't recall exact model; wasn't cheapest but far from the highest-priced. Does _not_ have any optional high-speed spin control (that I'm aware of anyway). Different wash/rinse cycles but afaik it spins at 800 rpm, just different lengths of time depending on cycle. It does have a bunch of beeps almost as annoying as C-3PO... :) Otherwise I'd have pulled the wires on the buzzer/beeper.

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[Don Wiss]

I always do the extra rinse. I've never had any problem whatsoever. But then I have always used only HE detergent and I only fill the cap to the 1 or 2 line.

Don.

(e-mail link at home page bottom).

[Doug]

Well said Vic !!!!