Energy Efficient Top-Loaded Washers

Conventional wisdom over the past 5 years has pointed to front-loading washers as more energy efficient. They use much less water than traditional top-loaded washers, meaning less water to heat and they have higher capacity tubs, meaning fewer loads to cycle. Therefore, less energy is presumed to be required. Though the initial price is considerably higher, ranging between $500 and $1,600, the economics in terms of long-term energy and water savings more than offset the incremental increase in cost.

Outside of the attractiveness of the appearance of front-loading washers, is there any practical reason why a top-loaded washer can’t be designed that is equally efficient?

Traditional Top-Loaded Washers

In answering this question, an understanding of how traditional top-loading washers work is appropriate:

• With traditional washers, the consumer fills the tub with water and uses an agitator to manipulate the clothes until they are clean.
• In filling up the tub, these traditional washers use 2 to 3 times the water of the front-loading models and the agitator takes up room, i.e. smaller loads.
• Also, the spin cycle is less effective in removing water, meaning a longer drying cycle.

Though less expensive in terms of purchase price, the additional water and use of electricity adds to the utility bill, and the added wear and tear on clothes caused by the agitator means more frequent replacement of clothes.

Energy Efficient Top-Loaded Washers

Manufacturers have since made top-loading washing machines with features similar to those of the front-loading models:

• They use less water in cleaning clothes by “tumbling” the clothes into the tub.
• The tumbling action requires the lifting of clothes so they can tumble back down, for which a variety of mechanisms less intrusive than an agitator are used.

The bottom line is that these High Efficiency (HE) top-loaders offer the same benefits of using less water and requiring fewer rinse cycles, and are less expensive than the more popular counterparts.