I want to echo the recommendation for a front-loading washer. Everything I've heard about them turns out to be true. They use less water, produce cleaner clothes with less residual soap, and put less wear on clothes. Best of all, the super-fast spin cycle gets the clothes much dryer than a standard washer, which saves both drying time and energy. With an electric dryer, you may actually notice a reduction in your electricity bill, depending on your rates and total usage.
Our use of a combo washer/dryer is necessitated by our particular situation. The dryer system sucks (especially because it's just 120V electric), but the washer portion works great.
Also, front-loaders tend to allow you to do larger loads in proportion to the size of the drum. Our Equator is small, but can wash nearly as much in a load as a top-loader. The full-size front loaders actually have a bigger capacity than what you're probably used to.
The only brand-specific advice I would have is to watch out for Neptune units -- there was a successful class-action suit against the manufacturer a couple of years ago, due to reliability issues. Presumably they've fixed the new units, but if you buy used, don't get Neptune.
Also, you can find a list of energy efficient washers here (http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=clotheswash.pr_clothes_washers).
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Re: Front loaders
Date: 2007-02-21 05:54 pm (UTC)Our use of a combo washer/dryer is necessitated by our particular situation. The dryer system sucks (especially because it's just 120V electric), but the washer portion works great.
Also, front-loaders tend to allow you to do larger loads in proportion to the size of the drum. Our Equator is small, but can wash nearly as much in a load as a top-loader. The full-size front loaders actually have a bigger capacity than what you're probably used to.
The only brand-specific advice I would have is to watch out for Neptune units -- there was a successful class-action suit against the manufacturer a couple of years ago, due to reliability issues. Presumably they've fixed the new units, but if you buy used, don't get Neptune.
Also, you can find a list of energy efficient washers here (http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=clotheswash.pr_clothes_washers).