Picked a top-loader – stainless steel tube, no central agitator, holds at least twice as much as the old washer.

No moldy rubber boot worries with a top-loader (no need to run a freshening cycle).

Hard to see why people complain about the cost of HE detergent considering you won’t need to use more than a tablespoon’s worth per load.

I did make sure to purchase the 4-year extended warranty for $100.

And skip the tank-less heaters – they are much more complex than any tank (need to be back-flushed several times a year to prevent scale build-up for one)

Thanks to Trent’s continual writing about having an emergency fund for those purposes, I have enough to pay cash for my next washer and / or dryer. Last year I had to replace the refrigerator and the freezer and I was able to pay cash for each one of them. I was able to pick out exactly the features I wanted in each appliance and not have to worry about how much interest I would have to pay on a credit card.

Thanks, Trent. I can’t be without an emergency fund now that I know how easy it makes life.

It washes a 26# load and has held up through my children and most of my grandchildren. I wash an average of 4.5 loads per week and am as pleased with the cleaness of the clothes as I was when it was new. I know it will need replacing some day down the line and I plan to replace it with another top loader.

I use a very low priced liquid detergent that is concentrated and wash in cold water. My clothes come out exceptionally clean and smelling fresh. My daughter’s front loader is only 4 years old and has had to be worked on many times. She has to keep an insurance policy on it. I have never had an insurance policy on mine so there is no extra cost just to have the newer type of appliance.

I have always washed an average of 4.5(sometimes more when needed) loads per week, so over a year’s time that comes to 930 loads. In the past 25 years that means 23,400 loads from just one washer. I’m sold on top of the line top loaders as well as keeping them as long as they work properly. I’m not concerned about mine being a selling point for a home. Any time I move it goes with me. Most homebuyers have their own or they have their own opinions for what they want.

Unless you assume a perfect market in used goods (i.e., every functional used item finds a buyer/donee and none of those buyers/donees would otherwise have gone without), a decision by someone to purchase a new model before the old one is used up WILL increase demand and unnecessary use of resources.

Unfortunately, poorly conceived and/or corrupt government policies guarantee that many functional items will be junked rather than used to the ends of their working lives. Recent examples are the Cash-for-clunkers car program and the local utility programs that offer free removal and small rebates when you replace an old appliance with a more energy efficient one. The latter programs REQUIRE that the old model be functional.

These programs all pretend to be environmently friendly, but end up being just the opposite.

No you can’t use regular detergent

You have to use high efficiency soap. I have an HE washer and they manual emphasizes only use HE detergent. It has to do with the suds and your clothes will not be cleaned properly. Someone asked a similar question on Yahoo Answers and the answer they got does a great job of explaining why not to use regular detergent -

Don’t use your regular Tide. Now for the reason WHY: All front loading, and a few top loading, washers, use small, high speed, water pumps. When these pumps are called on to pump, the very small pump will turn very fast trying to move as much water as its much larger, older cousins. If there is even the slightest amount of SUDS-MAKING detergent in the water, the small pump will instantly turn the water to suds, thus locking down the pump. The washer will sense this lock down, thus shutting down the washer with an LD (long drain) or SL (suds lock) code. Sorry. Lose the Tide. The HE detergent is more expensive, will NOT make suds, but will keep you out of hot water.
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Also, her glass on the door is cloudy looking and she says she can’t get it off the glass. I’d be afraid to chance using regular detergent, especially since these new washers can be rather pricey.

First, is regarding water conservation. Bill is correct in his statement that the water isn’t getting used up. There are, however, impacts to unnecessary water usage. If your water is treated through a municipal treatment center then using more water requires more treatment (chemicals, etc) and more power to pump the water. If you get water from a well, the more you use, the more electricity you use to pump the water to your house. Few people have systems in place that do not require some additional resources to support additional water use.

Second is in regards to AnnJo’s comment about replacing working appliances. I do agree with her comments, but wanted to point out that replacing a working appliance doesn’t have to be the impact she suggests. If the old appliance is donated or sold cheaply, then it is able to remain in use. Its possible that buying a new energy efficient appliance and giving/selling your old one to someone else prevents their purchase of a new appliance that would likely be less energy efficient than the new one your purchased.

If i’m not line drying, I run the clothes on a second spin dry at the end to get rid of some more remaining water in the clothes.

Also, I must really bring down the average of that number of loads- we only do 2 most weeks.

Pollution is a very different issue from conservation.

You can clean as many rivers as you want, not a single drop more will appear in what ever this years drought stricken region needs it.

Pollution is a huge issue, but it will not make less water rain on your yard, or increase the rain during a drought.

Pollution effects the environment down stream of the incident point. It dose not effect the volume of the water delivered to a particular spot.

Which was the original point, but I care very much about pollution, very much about local issues. A lot about regional issues and a little about national since I can do nothing about it.

This comment only applies to water. Air pollution is a way more complicated issue.

Does that mean we shouldn’t worry about pollution on a local or national or international level?

I’d rather prevent issues that have to clean them up after the fact, thanks.

“Water savings is not just a financial issue. It’s about not stealing precious resources from our neighbors, children, planet… Nations go to war over fresh water (and will continue to do so more frequently) and yet so many of us just treat it as an infinite resource.”

There is not a drop more or less of water on the planet than there was 10,000 years ago. Using more or less water does not take water from your children or the planet. Water is continuously recycled.

Water conservation is a local issue, my saving water in Portland does not mean there was more water available for Texas this past summer and it will not stop a war in some far off country.

There is nothing you can do to pollute water that can not be cleaned by the normal and natural processes.

EnergyStar rating on a clothes washer isn’t too hard to obtain. Look for the “Energy Efficiency Tier Rating”. That gives better measure of efficiency. They have Tier I, Tier II and Tier III. The Tier III appliances are the most efficient.

It takes a lot of efficiency to make up for the resources sunk into the production of the new machine – metals that must be mined, processed into parts and shipped, often from overseas, stores that must be heated, etc.

I think that if an item you own is at the end of its useful life, the question of whether to replace it with a less expensive less efficient model or a more expensive more efficient one is worth looking into on both frugality and environmental grounds.

But I know people who replace perfectly good cars, washing machines, etc. with hybrids, HE front loaders, etc., and feel they are doing a good thing for the environment, without considering that the cost of using a product is only part of its environmental burden. The cost of getting the product to them, production, sales, shipping, all get ignored.

I also have anecdotal evidence (my parents in law’s experience) that the new top loaders tend to have problems due to the tighter seals, leaving water sitting in the machine developing mold or whatnot.