Great post Patticake : I went front load today. Removed our old top loader after finding a great deal $75 on a 5 year old front loader HE washer and dryer. Was concerned about frigidaire being junk , but watched it go through 3 loads today and am impressed.
So little water is used that I can choose hot water wash without breaking the bank. We are on septic , so puting way less water down the drain is good to. We are also on expensive metered water. I can press pause during any wash or rinse cycle , open the door and throw that extra sock in. The only leakage is what drips off the inside of the door window. Clothes come out way dryer than our old machine , due to the good spin . Drying time using our old dryer seems to be about 1/2 of what it was with the top load washer. Will put the new dryer in tommorow. I assume that it will save even more power with it’s moisture sensor. Not worried about the length of the drying cycle. The motor tumbling it uses a minute amount of electricity. It is the heating element that makes the meter spin. Less water used , better spin , drier clothes going into the dryer , and less power consumed to dry the clothes all adds up to major savings. I am not totaly naive though , I understand that these new machines have way more parts that can stop working , and are very expensive to repair when they do break down.
Ahhhhhhhhh. Patty O’Furniture. Another well remembered poster, but in a zombie thread.
Bob
I have had a front loader which has lasted 40 years. It was already old when I moved into the apartment and has lasted fine. The only problem it has had is that the rubber bellows that seal the front port cracks and needs to be replaced every few years and now no replacement can be found. If it weren’t for that it could last anothe hundred years. I did not get rid of it so I might try to adapt a bellows from some other model.
It had a mechanical clock-programmer which you could advance manually so you were in control constantly. You could just advance to empty, spin or whatever you wanted. It was simple and it worked.
I have bought a new one and I suppose it is OK for your regular person but I do not like the electronic programmer which takes all control away from me. I cannot advance manually. I just have to give it my clothes and I lose control until the washer decides to return them. And it takes forever. Everything takes forever. Anything takes forever. Just want to spin clothes I washed manually? That will be 15 minutes. Even longer if you stand there and watch while you wait. The shortest program (which I use for everything) is just under an hour.
One of these days I am going to open it up and disable the front port interlock and a few other things.
On the good side: It washes very well and uses little water. Amazingly little water. And it spins like you would not believe it. Clothes come out just damp and in our dry weather and high above sea level clothes will be completely dry on the line in an hour or two.
Zombie thread, I realize, but…
I’ve had a front loader W/D for 8+ years and have never had to replace the main front seal. Don’t know what’s the problem with sailor’s setup.
One advantage I’ve noticed is that my clothes last longer. The top loader’s agitator is much rougher on clothes while the front loader is gentle and yet cleans just as, if not more, effective.
Welcome to The Dope, gordopn_as.
In my experience the rubber parts have a limited life due to chemicals in the water, bleach, detergents and just old age. Hoses are easier to replace but the bellows is specific for each washer. In my case I’ve had to replace the bellows every 10 or 12 years. So you are just not there yet. I guess it is possible to use better quality rubber but i am also guessing they figure 10 years is enough and you can get new bellows or new washer.
I think the seals and such are silicone-based nowadays, not rubber. Longer lifespan and less likely to break down when exposed to harsh environments.
I recently watched a consumer programme (Dutch tv, “de rekenkamer”) that showed that, actually, you don’t want your washing machine to last very long! As they keep getting much better and much more efficient, even buying a newer model will save you money.
They made clear there is little difference in how well all the front-loaders you can buy in the Netherlands wash. (I haven’t seen a top-loader since the '80s) You put in the clothes, they’ll come out clean. Cheap machine, expensive machine - no diff. The price difference lies in two things: fancy-schmancy and life expectancy. Only you don’t want life-expectancy. It looks good on paper, a washing machine that lasts 25 years. But in 25 years everybody else will be washing with machines powered by their hamster, and you’ll be the only one stuck with a massive bill. The programme looked at the difference over the last 25 years, and you were better off having bought a new, cheaper machine every 7 years.
And just one more data point on the zombie debate of front loaders not using much water: I once opened the machine during a cycle. I can’t remember why, there might’ve been an Ipod in there or something. We had to unplug it for the door to open, and a lot of water rushed out. A lot. There is water in there. Lots of water. Not just dampness, water. That door won’t open because if you do you flood your house. With water.
Maybe “they clean better using less water” actually means that if you used the same AMOUNT of water in a top loader as you do in a front-loader, that the front loader does better. The statement may be misleading but not technically inaccurate. That’s called PR.
And maybe random guessing doesn’t count as fighting ignorance and isn’t worth reviving a thread 11 months dormant?
No amount of water can get a Zombie clean.
Please don’t guess.
One big misconception here is “more = better”. More water does not equal cleaner clothes. More soap does not equal cleaner clothes (actually, too much soap leads to fading and is not recommended).
Forcing the front loader to use more water will not result in cleaner clothes. It may actually degrade performance, as much of what cleans clothes is the agitation, not the water itself.
When people say front loaders are more water efficient than top loaders it means that cleaning the same sized load for two equivalent sized washers to the same level requires less water and electricity for the front loader, though it may take a bit more time. One of the easiest demonstrations of this is any commercial laundry. They’ll tend to run front loaders. It’s just better for their bottom line.
This is precisely why my parents (long time owners of a dry cleaning business) absolutely told me to get a front loader when they started coming out on the market.