Washing Machine Advice

[Jay2TheRescue]

Originally Posted by theholycow

Wow, if the new washer is the cause, clothes washing really takes a HUGE percentage of your electric usage -- just getting a more efficient unit knocked 35% off. If the new unit uses only 30% of the energy the old one did, that means the old one was more than half of your total electric usage.

Your energy savings from switching to a front loading washer are from the reduced usage of hot water, not from the washer itself. A top loader can use as much as 50 gallons of hot water per load, most front loaders can wash the same amount of clothes using as little as 10 gallons. The energy savings is in the reduced hot water usage, and how much you are paying to heat your water. That's why when you read the energy guide labels on new washers there are 2 ratings - one for gas hot water, and one for electric. I still think the hot water heater needs to be looked at, it does not sound like its working efficiently.

-Jay

[Jay2TheRescue]

Originally Posted by Lug_Nut

That was dated 4/23/08. It has started leaking. I haven't pulled it out and lifted it up to investigate yet.

What make/model is it? Most front loading machines on the market in the US are either made by Whirlpool or Electrolux. I would look at the boot that attaches from the drum to the drain pump. That went out on my old front loader at about 4 years old. I went to my appliance parts dealer and got a new one for $35.

[bowtieguy]

@#$%&*!

my dish washer puked now. again we bought an energy star to continue our green/budget cutting ways.

we will be shopping at appliance direct from now on. great deals, especially out of box sales.

[Snax]

Originally Posted by Jay2TheRescue

Your energy savings from switching to a front loading washer are from the reduced usage of hot water, not from the washer itself. A top loader can use as much as 50 gallons of hot water per load, most front loaders can wash the same amount of clothes using as little as 10 gallons. The energy savings is in the reduced hot water usage, and how much you are paying to heat your water. That's why when you read the energy guide labels on new washers there are 2 ratings - one for gas hot water, and one for electric. I still think the hot water heater needs to be looked at, it does not sound like its working efficiently.

-Jay

I agree that most of our savings would come from that since my wife has an affinity for doing hot loads. But I also know there is substantial savings in the drying cycle. Fleece blankets come out of it with barely a hint of dampness and we don't even put them into the dryer or hang them. Lighter weight clothing takes about half the drying time, and jeans seem to dry fully with a normal cycle vs. being damp most of the time with the old washer.

And just to be clear, the entire family was here for that billing period. The only other explanation I can figure is a meter reader error.

[Jay2TheRescue]

Originally Posted by Snax

I agree that most of our savings would come from that since my wife has an affinity for doing hot loads. But I also know there is substantial savings in the drying cycle. Fleece blankets come out of it with barely a hint of dampness and we don't even put them into the dryer or hang them. Lighter weight clothing takes about half the drying time, and jeans seem to dry fully with a normal cycle vs. being damp most of the time with the old washer.

And just to be clear, the entire family was here for that billing period. The only other explanation I can figure is a meter reader error.

Ok, I understood your post to mean that the kids were out of town. My bad. The top loaders do extract very well, and if you are using the autodry setting on your dryer then you are saving with shorter drying times as well (or like you said, not even using the dryer). I still think you should probably put an extra layer of insulation on your H2O heater. You can buy kits to do it at the hardware store, they're called water heater blankets. This will further insulate your H2O heater and hopefully it will run less.

[theholycow]

I know we don't get very rowdy and immature here very often...

Originally Posted by Snax

my wife has an affinity for doing hot loads.

...but I can't help but LOL at that.

[Snax]

I'll stop bragging then.

[Snax]

I cannot explain this as due to any other major change. I'm a bit astounded by it. We have had all of our children at least 50% of that time, and I doubt they account for the extra 658kWh!

We must do ALLOT of wash!!

Oh, I almost forgot that the first week of August has also always meant a traditional one week camping trip for us with everything shut off in the house. This year, we didn't go!

[Jay2TheRescue]

You're still way down from your usage last year...

-Jay

[Ford Man]

If you want a good dependable washing machine at a good price Lowes has there own store brand called Performa and is the same thing as a Maytag, made by Maytag. I bought both a new washer and drier Performa brand about 5-6 years ago and so far absolutely no problems at all. I bought the extra large capacity so we could cut down on the number of loads of laundry per week. I think both the washer and drier was somewhere between $600-$650 when purchased new. My parents just replaced their Maytag washer and drier a few years ago that they had been using for 30+ years and I think the only thing that was ever done to them was replace the timer on the washer and the belt on the drier, but the transmission finally gave out in the washer so they replace both with new Maytag.