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In 1996, top-loaders were pretty much the only type of washer around, and they were uniformly high quality. When Consumer Reports tested 18 models, 13 were "excellent" and five were "very good." By 2007, though, not one was excellent and seven out of 21 were "fair" or "poor."
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The culprit is the federal government's obsession with energy efficiency.
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Front-loaders meet federal standards more easily than top-loaders. Because they don't fully immerse their laundry loads, they use less hot water and therefore less energy. But, as Americans are increasingly learning, front-loaders are expensive, often have mold problems, and don't let you toss in a wayward sock after they've started.
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In 2007, after the more stringent rules had kicked in, Consumer Reports noted that some top-loaders were leaving its test swatches "nearly as dirty as they were before washing."
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Now Congress is at it once again. On March 10, the Senate Energy Committee held hearings on a bill to make efficiency standards even more stringent.
Notice the theme - even though the effectiveness of washing machines are getting worse, the rules keep getting stricter. The answer may be here...
The bill claims to implement "national consensus appliance agreements," but those in this consensus are the usual suspects: politicians pushing feel-good generalities, bureaucrats seeking expanded powers, environmentalists with little regard for American pocketbooks, and industries that stand to profit from a de facto ban on low-priced appliances. And there are green tax goodies for manufacturing high-efficiency models—the kind that already give so many tax credits to Whirlpool, for example, that the company will avoid paying taxes on its $619 million profit in 2010.
The Maytag repairman may be busy as consumers try to keep their older washing machines.
I have a Matag HE Toploader that I have to run x 2-3 cycles to get clothes clean, if then. Not so with my old top loaders. In the end it takes more energy and 3x more time to run one load 3 times as it did in my less water efficient old machine once.
We have a brand new Samsung front loader, while I agree that it's the heaviest washer I've ever been around it's also the most quiet and it does an amazing job cleaning anything you throw in it. I'm on well water so I'm not sure about water consumption but I've checked power consumption and it uses about 17 percent of the power my old top loader used to use. We haven't had any trouble with mold because we follow the instructions and keep the filters clean and keep the door cracked open when it's not in use.
I have a Matag HE Toploader that I have to run x 2-3 cycles to get clothes clean, if then. Not so with my old top loaders. In the end it takes more energy and 3x more time to run one load 3 times as it did in my less water efficient old machine once.
Sounds like the 1.6 gpf versus the 2.1 gpf toilets
Imagine living in a country where YOU get to decide if you want to have the newest fanciest thing and not in a country where it is mandated by law...
What a great country that would be.
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