 | Dennis Heidrick is the president of Heidrick’s which includes three locations Heidrick’s Appliance Westside of the square Girard, Heidrick True Value at 15th & National in Fort Scott. Both of these store carry Frigidaire, Whirlpool, Samsung and Fisher Paykel washers and dryers. The third location is Heidrick True Value at 321 East Maple Columbus this location does not carry washers and dryers but is a hardware retailer. Dennis also can be found on KKOW 860AM radio at 8am Wednesday mornings for the Best Little Home Improvement Show. Dennis can be contacted by phone 800-606-3678 or email dennis@heidricks.com or website www.heidricktruevalue.com. |
Appliances
2011-05-01 11:25:00
Front load washing machines
QUESTION: I’m going to need a new washer, should I be considering one of new front load washers? I have noticed they are a lot more expensive.
ANSWER: There are many advantages to the higher priced front load washers; to start with they will wash larger load sizes which reduce the number of loads and saving time on laundry day. Because of the washing action which tumbles like a dryer one direction then stops and tumbles the opposite direction does a better job of removing the dirt from the clothes with less wear on the clothes as models with agitators.
Getting the clothes clean should be the number 1 reason to buy a specific washer, but front load washers will also save on an average over $700 dollars a year in operation costs.
Front load washer save you money in numerous ways, compared to the conventional top load washer that will use up to fifty gallons of water to wash a load of clothes, a front load uses just sixteen gallons of water. Because you are using 34 gallons less water it just makes sense you need to reduce the amount of detergent from one half to one cup to only one tablespoon. You must use a high efficiency detergent which cost just a little bit more but you will use much less. Finally, the biggest savings come from the higher spin speeds, which removes more water from the clothes and saves you both time and money, because the clothes require less time in dryer. The average time in the dryer is reduced by thirty minutes, no more waiting for the dryer to finish so you can start another load in the washer.
I hope you can see that the cost of the washer you pick is far less important than the operation cost to do the laundry. Let us look at the following example: you have two washers available one is a conventional top load for $400 and the other is a high efficient front load washer that cost $800. The difference is $400 higher or twice as much, but you will have spent $700 more in operation cost by the end of the year with far less efficient top load washer. Let’s say both washers will last ten years at the end of ten years you will have spent $7000 more in operation cost than if you would bought the front load washer that was just $400 higher. I think the little extra at time of purchase would be the wiser use of your money.
