High Efficiency Washing Machines - Taking the Myths Out

With washing machines, the term "High-Efficiency" actually means two things:

1. Reduced water usage, and,
2. Reduced energy consumption.

We'll take each of these in order.

Water Usage: A conventional top loading washer uses upwards of 45 gallons of water per cycle. It does this because of the fact that an agitator is used to turn the clothes in a corkscrew motion through the water, which requires that the water level be high enough to permit this. A front loading washer is inherently more efficient because it effectively tumbles the clothes into the water. A good front load washer can get clothes extremely clean using only 15 gallons of water.

The new kid on the block is the HE top loader. This looks like a conventional top loader minus the tall agitator. There is typically a very small agitator with straight (not spiral) blades. These washers wash clothes in very shallow pools of water utilizing various combinations of gentle back and forth agitation, spraying of recirculated water/detergent mix, and up-and-down agitator movements, depending on brand and model. An HE top loader will spend 30 - 60 seconds at the beginning of the cycle "measuring" and balancing the load, and will typically force the water/detergent mixture into the load from perforations in the tub. A typical HE top loader uses about 22 gallons of water per cycle - half of what an conventional agitator washer uses.

Reduced Energy Consumption: HE washers reduce energy usage in two ways. The washer itself used less energy because the agitation method requires somewhat less (although cycle times can be longer) and there isn't as much water to heat. More importantly, however, is the fact that the very high spin speeds (>600RPM) force a lot more water out of the clothes, which means the dryer doesn't have to work as hard. It is not uncommon for new users of HE top loaders to think that their clothes have not been completely submerged or washed  because there are dry spots when they come out of the wash. Not to worry. They're clean.

We care about water consumption for two reasons. If you have town water, you are paying for it, and, if you have well water, you probably have a septic system. The less laundry gray water with detergent and bleach you pump into a septic system, the better off it will be.

All HE washers require HE detergent (and, often, bleach and fabric softener). HE detergent is very low sudsing. Actually, years ago, detergent manufacturers added sudsing emollients to detergents because people didn't think they were doing their jobs if there were no suds. We've come full circle. A couple of tablespoons is all that's required. Because they are, in effect, agitator-less, you really can't add items after the water is in. Most of them have locking lids to force you to pause or reset the washer to open the lid. Just put that dropped sock in the next load. Most HE washers will heat water to at least

A top load HE washer will generally be less expensive than at front loader for a variety of reasons, and are probably preferable in second floor laundries where vibration may be problematic. There is a front load/top load comparison in an earlier post, so I won't repeat it here. Some higher-end top load models have glass lids. I have no idea why anyone thinks this is a necessary feature although I could see it being very entertaining for cats. Maybe it's just because front loaders have always had them.

My personal opinion is that there is really no reason not to buy an HE washer. The price difference for a top loader is small, and you'll make it back over time.

The Cleaning Institute has a pretty useful handout. You can find it here.