Washing Machines: Front-Loaders are the Clear Winners
Want to save $550? Buy an Energy Star rated front-loader washing machine. You won't save the money when you buy it. In fact, you'll probably pay more. But factor in reduced costs of energy and water, and the savings will add up.
How they Work
Front-loaders have done away with the agitator used in most top loading washers. Instead, they use a horizontal or tumble-axis basket to lift and drop clothing into a much smaller amount of water to create suds and shake dirt loose.
Save Energy and Water
Energy Star front-loaders use sophisticated, next generation technology to decrease energy and water consumption by over 40% compared to conventional washers. As a result, they cut utility bills by an average of $50 per year and save 7,000 gallons of water a year. Over the typical lifespan of a front-loader, that's enough money to buy a new clothes dryer or provide a lifetime of drinking water for six people.
Their new design and more efficient motors spin clothes two tothree times faster during the spin cycle, allowing them to extract more water from the laundry. So, the energy savings don't stop at the washer. You'll also save energy on your dryer because less moisture in the clothes means less time and energy in the dryer.
Save Time
Because front-loaders don't have bulky agitators to take up usable space in the tub for laundry, they have a larger capacity. Some agitator-free washers can wash over 20 pounds of laundry at once, compared to 10–15 pounds for a conventional top-loader.
That means you can wash larger loads, doing fewer loads each week. Also, you can wash big items like comforters at home rather than having to go to a laundromat or send those items out for dry cleaning.
Save Clothes
While conventional washers were a major improvement on older types of washers, they still subject your clothes to a lot of twisting and pulling around a turning agitator. That extra motion is hard on the clothes, and limits the type of items you can machine wash.
Front-loaders, on the other hand, use sophisticated wash systems to gently flip or spin clothes through a reduced stream of water. Less wear and tear on the clothes help lengthen the life of often-washed items and leads to less lint in the dryer. These machines also cut down on dry cleaning because they can safely wash silk, wool, and other delicate hand-washables. Less dry cleaning in turn saves money and the environment, since you're not using toxic chemicals on your clothes or bringing those chemicals into your house.
The Bottom Line
By using less energy, you're helping to reduce air pollution and greenhouse gases burned in the production of energy. By using less water, you're decreasing the impact on water plants and helping protect the country's lakes, streams, and oceans. By doing less dry cleaning, you're decreasing toxic chemicals.
And you thought you were only getting clean clothes.
Resources:
"Clothes Washers: Residential Clothes Washers." Energy Star.
http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=clotheswash.pr_clothes_washers
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mildew
By: negruvoda () on 28-02-2013 11:44