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

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Efficiency Update

When President George W. Bush signed the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, he made laundry history.

For the first time, washing machines will have to adhere to a "water factor" beginning in 2011—a measure of how much water is used in proportion to the capacity of the machine.

About 80 percent of a washer's energy use goes to heat the water. A machine that uses less hot water uses less energy, explains Bryan Berringer, project manager for the U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Star program.

Past energy bills have set limits on the "energy factor" of washing machines, and the 2007 law sets it at a more efficient level than the last rulemaking, which was adopted in 2001 and raised the standards in 2004 and 2007. The new law ups the stakes in 2011 and opens the door for a second boost in both energy and water efficiency in 2015.

Meanwhile, the Energy Star program, which awards a designation to appliances that are 25 percent more efficient than government requirements, is raising its qualifying efficiencies for water and energy, effective in 2009.

Berringer estimates that half of today's Energy Star-qualified washing machines already meet the 2011 standard set by the new energy bill.

The Energy Star program does not include clothes dryers, whose efficiency barely varies among manufacturers.

A Place for Everything

Once a mish-mash of drying racks, ironing boards, and unfinished shelving, the jumble of laundry room accessories has gone upscale.

"People have mismatched solutions, like crates and wooden shelves," says Whirlpool spokeswoman Audrey Reed-Granger, who compares most laundry areas to college dorm rooms. "Now we make organizational accessories that match the finish and heft of the washer and dryer themselves."

Manufacturers offer ironing stations, folding surfaces, and soap storage bins that match their colorful washers and dryers and make a tidy hideaway for the work tools of washday.

Whirlpool's Laundry 1-2-3 system, for example, includes a laundry "tower" with a retractable hanging rod and oversized drawers that fits between the washer and dryer and hides laundry supplies within easy reach. The manufacturer also makes a seamless, flat surface that sits across the top of a front-loading washer and dryer for sorting, treating, and folding clothes.