High efficiency front loading washers

[Stella]

I am thinking about getting one of those high efficiency front loading washer and dryers this summer. Does anyone have these? Are they worth the money? I do a ton of laundry and it is my understanding that the front loaders have a higher capacity and use less water. I wash clothes for seven people and in the summer I wash pool and beach towels for not only our family but a big group of friends too. I am not a fan of doing laundry, so if it really did get more done at once, that would be a big help.

What are your experiences?

[Polliwog]

I have had my HE front loading washer and dryer for 7 years and I love them both. The front loading washers are much easier on clothes and use less water and andless detergent. You should use the HE detergent though.

[redfox]

Yes, and yes! Ours has a super fast spin, and it makes drying time shorter than top loaders. Helps especially when I hang out the laundry.

[Rosemary]

There are also some high-efficiency top-loading machines made now. I do not know if they are equivalent in water usage to the front-loaders, but you could find out with a little research. They are a lot less costly. I've heard that some models of front-loaders have issues with mold around the sealing o-ring - something to be aware of.

[Sad Eyed Lady]

I do not have a front loading washer, but just yesterday a woman I work with was telling me when she went to buy a new washer she considered one until some friends who had bought front loaders told her the con's they encountered. She opted for a top loading (no agitator type) and is really happy with it.

[Selah]

I have had front-loading washers in the past, long before HE technology came on the scene. The only problems I've had with them is that once the cycle starts, you can't put anything else into the load. I often find some random item I missed in the initial sorting and need to throw it in late (e.g. the small white sock that was stuffed in a black t-shirt). Another thing to watch (at least back then) is that sometimes the gasket seal on the front door window can leak a little and lead to dribbles on the floor--these can happen when opening the door after the load is finished as well. If you do fabric dying with your machine, I don't think these are so great for that either, given the locking mechanism and the positioning of the front (rather than top) door.

Also, at least back then, my machines had this weird timer on them that made the door stay locked until about 30 seconds after the load stopped, which for some reason was very frustrating for me when I (then) had the patience of a gnat! Hopefully things have moved on since the mid-nineties, when I last had such a machine.

[janharker]

I have a Whirlpool Duet HT. It works great. It's about 9 years old and not any problems. It has a pause button that allows me to put in items during a cycle. I also have the matching dryer. It's good, too.

[fidgiegirl]

We are less than 100% happy with ours. We are finding we have issues with spotting on our clothes again. Also there is the issue of cleaning the seal, which is hard to do. What we are super happy with is the length of the dry time. It's probably done in half the time of what my hubby's ancient harvest gold dryer could do.

[LionGail]

We had a front loader, we were very glad to get rid of it. It required special low suds washing powder, and the clothes would come out all tangled . Also, I didn't like the fact that I had to bend over to put clothes in it, not fun when I was pregnant, which was years ago.

We have a Fisher Paykel top loader which is the best machine I have had, its nearly 20 years old and still going, but I would like a more modern one which are supposed to be ultra efficient on water and power. :) Gail

[Gardenarian]

Hi - We bought one about a year and a half ago and it is currently in parts in our laundry room. Do not buy a Frigidaire! We can not even get a repair person to come and work on it. The problem is that the drain pump clogs and there is no way to clear it without completely disassembling the machine. :doh:

The repair people have all recommended Whirlpool.

I'm really angry because I got the washer to help the environment, and it took a lot of energy and water to make that hunk of junk. We're battling with Sears and Electrolux (who make Frigidaire) over this. We may end up having to buy a used washer.

This is one item I would recommend buying the extended warranty for, no matter the brand.

The washer did a good job of cleaning and it did spin the clothes fairly dry. I think if you are careful with your old washer (only do full loads, use cold water, hang clothes to dry) it might be just as efficient.

Best of luck to you!

[Wildflower]

We bought a Whirlpool HE top loading washing machine a year ago and it is great! It is totally comparable to the frontloading HE washing machines. Uses less water, no agitator, holds a huge load of clothes, does everything the frontloader does, but is much cheaper. We saved so much on it we got the matching dryer and it gets the clothes dry 3 times faster than our old one. We got the Whirlpool Cabrio set. It has truly cut my laundry time in half and we see the savings on the electric and water bills too!

Another reason we chose the HE toploader is bad reports from friends and neighbors about their frontloaders leaking and smelling bad too.

[IshbelRobertson]

You very seldom see top loading washers or driers in the UK.
I have a new (about 4 mnths old) Bosch front loading low energy requirement machine. I am more than happy with it. I only got rid of my last Bosch because I was having a kitchen refit and the old one didn't quite go into the space now available.

As for a drier? I have a tumble drier but only use it in the depths of winter and only for larger items like sheets and towels. Everything else is line dried, either outside or on the ceiling clothes airer in the winter. (Although nowadays, that's more of an ornament than a useful item as the number of people in the house has fallen dramatically!)

[benhyr]

Had an LG front-loader when they first came out in the states. Left it when we moved. Bought a new LG front-loader when we moved in here. We've been happy with both; can't speak to warranty work with either as we've not needed.

We keep the door open when it's not in use until it's dried out. The reason for this is that the gasket around the door will get musty otherwise (of course, you could wipe it out after you're done). We also clean the trap out about every time we remember to (maybe every three months or so). The trap on the LG is on the bottom left and easy as anything to get to.

The new top-load HE models look pretty interesting as well.

And, if you want to get funky, I know people that swear by their Stabers: http://www.staber.com/washingmachines

[H-work]

I have the Whirlpool Cabrio (top loader, no agitator) too, and love it. Less water, less detergent (2 tablespoons per load), less dryer time, bigger loads (2-3 times bigger). I have 5 kids and still only need to do 1 load a day.

I didn't get the matching dryer. I needed one that sanitized (while my mom was living with us) so got a LG that had more options than the Cabrio dryer did. I put the LG on a pedestal and the Cabrio is on the floor. I use the drawer underneath the dryer as a dirty clothes hamper. I use the top of the washer to fold on. So doesn't match but is very practical.

[MudPuppy]

We have a Samsung front-loading washer (and matching dryer) that we got at a GREAT deal last fall. I had never owned a new washer, let alone a front-loader, so there was a definite adjustment period. We are really happy with them, though. They use maybe 1/4 as much detergent, everything seems to get cleaner, and I can do a load of laundry start-to-finish in record time -- literally under an hour.

Our washer has a "pause" feature so you can sneak a couple extra items into the load, and that's been useful for us. We'd heard horror stories about the drain lines getting clogged, and my mom sent us a newspaper clipping about them being prone to mold, but we've had no problems at all.

[rodeosweetheart]

I can't speak to the water usage issue, but we just bought a new old-fashioned Maytag high capacity machine for 250 dollars at Home Depot and absolutely love it. No one seems to want the old technology. We make our own laundry detergent using the Duggar recipe someone posted here and thus have top quality, non-allergenic laundry detergent for something like $3.50 a batch, and a batch lasts us about four months.

It is the nicest washing machine we have ever had, but we are pretty cheap and pretty poor, so we could not justify the HE machines. My sister-in-law has the Whirlpool duet and they seem very very nice; if we were going to spend the money, we would do that.

My parents just bought this same Maytag this summer. Their last Maytag was purchased in 1977.

[sallysue]

We have a HE front-loader that is 7 yrs old. It's a Frigidaire. I do not like it! I don't think it uses enough water to adequately clean the clothes. If my son wets his bed and I put his pajamas in the wash, they come out still smelling like pee. Spots almost never come out of clothes unless I pre-wash first. I was much happier with my old top-loader. We are, however, going to take a chance on a different front-loader when we replace this one (this summer) since it needs to fit into a built-in space that doesn't accomodate a top-loader. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that a different, highly-rated, highly-reviewed front-loader will actually clean the clothes.

[Bronxboy]

We're in a roughly similar position to Stella, having a teenage girl and a too-small washer. As in this thread, what I hear about the front-loaders is very mixed.

I've been very hesitant to get rid of a working washer/dryer, even if it is 20+ years old. The sounds the washer makes these days, and its tendency to walk out onto the floor are telling me the choice may be taken out of our hands. If so, we'd probably go for a high efficiency top leader and not change the dryer.

[wallydraigle]

An HE washer is totally worth it. We had one for two years but left it behind to make our house more saleable. *sob* Now we're stuck with our apartment's horrible washer. I don't know if standard washers were always this bad, or if this one is bad even for standard washers, but I hate it. It has made cloth diapering much, much less frugal. :P

However, I don't know if it's necessary to get a front loader. My sister has a top-loading HE that she loves. And one thing that really frustrated me about having a front loader was the mold that would just grow and grow and grow in the seal. It was disgusting. This despite me running a clean washer cycle ever couple of weeks, wiping out the seal after each load, and leaving the door open so it could air out. I am guessing that if you do your research, you will find brands that have eliminated this problem, or at least made it less bad. But I would check out top-loading HE washers, too. If only to save your back. :)

[Stella]

Thanks for all of the information! I didn't even know they made HE top loaders. I will have to research those as well. It sounds like a HE washer is probably in the cards for us in the future. I am on a mission to minimize the intrusion of laundry into my life. It takes so much vigilence to stay on top of the laundry right now. Anything that makes it easier would be welcome.

[IshbelRobertson]

It's interesting that these machines are known as High Efficiency in the USA, but low-energy machines here in Europe.