-the cost of a high efficency washer is so great you will never recoop the cost in the life of the machine.
front load high efficency 1 grand.
standard top load 300 bucks
the price difference will buy you lots of water plus high efficency washeres have lots of high cost parts like control boards,
so know it will cost you money:(
The cost of the high effeciency is not only the amount of water you save but you also use less soap and the cloths come out much dryer in a front loading machine thus saving you on drying time and energy as well. I have a Bosch front loader and it was well worth the extra money. Until I got this washer my dryer could never keep up when doing several loads at once, now the dryer is done before the next load of wash so that tells me I'm saving money in the drying process as well.
Rich
We did the same, we found the same. We did go for the Maytag Neptune series, and I know there is a lot of buzz about them not being all that, but our experience has been good, no problems to date. I bought scratch and dent ones and saved over 1/3 of the price. One tip on front-loaders; use baking soda in addition to the soap. That eliminated front-loader odor. I buy a bucket of it at Sam's for ~$5 so not much additional expense there, it lasts forever.
What is front loader odor? Never heard of that?
Thanks, Rich
it rinses the clothes so thoroughly that the perfumes in the detergent that normally mask a lot of odor in the clothes gets rinsed away as well.
My washing machine gave up on me and am in the market for a new one and would like to know if anyone has a water efficient washer and if they are satisfied with its performance.
I have heard that clothes last a lot longer in the modern front-loaders. Any truth to that, anyone?
Bob
And less electricity, I believe, and maybe less wear and tear on clothes. Still not sure if one will recoup the extra cost, but the list of savings is long!
Are we distinguishing between water-efficient *top* loaders and front loaders?? The WETLs have no central column/paddles, ergo large volume, high velocity spin/water jets. Not cheap, either.
Is there such a thing as high-efficiency front loaders, vs reg front loaders?
And, I woulda thought front loaders would have *less*/cheaper maintenance than top loaders, being mechanically simpler and w/ less stress on mechanical parts (the oscillation of a top loader req's hp).
I've heard the same, think it's a reasonable assertion, esp. when top-loaders are stuffed full. It seems to me that the central "screw" can grind the clothes, and if the clothes are tangled, can really beat them up, possibly even tear them. Front loaders use gravity to tumble the clothes, and the rpm of the basket is such that the clothes will just fall off the top, which provides the agitation.
I don't know how much water front loaders use, but as I collect water from a leaking water meter in *many* 5 gal buckets and fill our top loader manually, I can attest to top loaders using *easily* 20 gals or more--mebbe
40, in ultra-clean cycles. goodgawd....One could actually get a very accurate determination of this by simply disconnecting the drain hose from a washer, and putting it in a *large volume* container, like a tub, or cement-mixing black tray/tub, or the like. Or just fill up multiple 5 gal pails! Or, even better, run the drain through an old water meter, iffin you have one.
But I suspect the water usage of front loaders is a fraction of what top loaders are.
Check out Fisher & Paykel. They make a high quality top loader that is as energy efficient as those expensive frontloaders and they do not require any special detergent. They use half the amount of regular detergent as typical top loaders. Spin-dry cycle at 1000 rpm means clothes are almost dry at the end, so dryer runs much shorter time, saving a lot of electricity.
Computer controlled direct drive means no transmission to break, either.
About $600-$700
HD has one as well. Cain't remember the name, altho I think it was a GE or Westinghouse or sumpn. Considerably more than 600-700, tho.
What rpm do front loaders spin-dry at?
My Bosch spins at 1000 rpm.
Rich
Proctologically Violated©® wrote:
Plus there are non-monetary advantages like it can wash pillows and comforters that would never fit around the agitator in a traditional-style top-loader, or, in the case of a pillow that might *fit*
- barely - it won't mangle it. (I did mangle a fiberfill pillow in my old top-loader.)
Anne
I want a front-loader so bad, my teeth ache. Strangely, the wife don't really care, one way or 'nother. :)
I've had front loaders for abt 5 years now
I cant say I'm entirely happy with it as it does vibrate more during that high sped spin cycle
Such units need a concrete floor I think.
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