Front-loading Washers Rule the Energy-Efficiency Race, But Affordable Top-loaders are Regaining Lost GroundClothes Call

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In response, manufacturers have figured out how top-loading washers can comply with the government's call for greater efficiency and are introducing models that are cleaning up with consumers and holding up against their front-loading competitors.

Fisher & Paykel, for instance, renewed its resolve in 2007 to make only top-loaders, and boasts that its 3.7-cubic-foot Ecosmart model uses just 24 percent of the energy of a traditional washing machine. The 4.6-cubic-foot Kenmore Elite Oasis eliminates the center agitator to allow more space for clothes—up to 24 bath towels in one load, the manufacturer claims—and saves 63 percent more water and 65 percent more energy than a traditional model.

"We're now at a period where high efficiency crosses both platforms, both front-load and top-load," notes Larry Costello, Kenmore's public relations director.

Front Runners

Still, the most efficient top-loading washer doesn't match the efficiency of the most ecologically friendly front-loaders, which use up to 77 percent less energy and 73 percent less water than traditional top-loaders.

In fact, of the 280 washers that bear the Energy Star seal—which means they are 25 percent more efficient than the government requires—just 10 are top-loaders.

The reason: The front-loader's horizontal drum cradle-rocks clothes until they're clean, using around 1,000 revolutions per minute and just 14 gallons of water per load. The top-loader, by comparison, has a vertical drum that fills to the top with as much as 40 gallons of water and swishes clothes clean with an agitator that takes up space in the middle of the drum.

Because the front-loader spins so fast, it wrings most of the water out of the clothes, which means they need less time in the dryer. Some manufacturers claim their washers allow users to cut drying time by up to half.

A front-loader typically costs several hundred dollars more than a top-loading machine, but even the blue-collar workers among MasterCraft Builders' customers in Kenosha, Wis., are asking for them, says Danielle Plank, the builder's selections coordinator.