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The_Falcon - Let me answer to some of your queries point by point.
sorry it may seem like an argument, but I am compelled to answer. I cannot digest(without proof) that Top loader will consume water equivalent or close to a front loader, had it been so, Europe would not switched to Front Loaders.
>> no any healthy discussion is great and at times you come to know of facts that you might not have known earlier. Like I mentioned each washing machine whether FL or TL have their own advantages and disadvantages, but to fully support only one saying that's the best and the other will never work is also not good. Well for argument purposes I can also say that if FL were so great the entire world would have used it, but that's not the case. Europe my gut feeling is because of its climate. Also the European FL are a class apart, I guess their base range starts where our ends, so you cannot compare the two even in-case of FLs.
What change in technology? The basics of washing cloches still remains the same. The shape of a top loader requisites that it take in a good amount of water to completely immerse the clothes in water, without which it will not clean the the clothes. Front loaders soak the clothes in a more concentrated water solution than top loaders.
>> Well with my previous TL I would completely agree with you. That was a 6kg machine consuming more water than the current 9kg sharp! Yes that's a fact. The new Sharp machine uses a lot less water. When we add clothes it suggests the water level. The full load complete cycle uses appx 90 litres. Now you cannot compare a 6 kg FL with a 9kg TL and say that it consumes more water. Appx. per kg based on 90 litres it would use around 10 litres so on a 6kg load it would use around 60-70 litres. Now a FL would use appx 50-55 litres of water. Hence, when I said the gap between the two has narrowed, it was in that sense. Earlier the TL used to consume say around 100-120 litres or even 200 litres like you have mentioned which is a thing of the past. The difference between any good quality FL and the Sharp is around 10-15%.
Power efficient yes, because it uses a lot less water, so less amount of electricity is required to heat a small amount of water. Yes, it may still consume a little more than a top loader, but you buy a washer for cleaning clothes not just for power efficiency. Moreover front loaders consume more power not due to the heating requirement, but due to the the high speed spin cycle. Top loaders cannot match the spin speed of a front loader. Mine does a max. of 1200 rev/min. There are other costlier ones which do 1400/min as well.
>> When we talk of power efficiency its usually per cycle cost of power and my remark was in that sense. My machine does not heat water nor uses hot water at all yet cleans the clothes! So per hour it uses around 500 watts while entire cycle full load takes around 40-45 minutes. Hence, I do save a lot of power. Plus I do not need hot water to wash clothes and due to this I find my clothes color lasts longer and does not fade as fast. Secondly, I am not 100% sure but was told the sharp spin rev is appx 700-900 (this is not confirmed) but I find that if I use the aero dry mode, it does make clothes dry to a great extent.
Less time to complete full cycle? Clothes will be cleaned better if they are immersed in detergent solution for a longer period - a simple principle of chemical reactions(plus also the heated water helps to do it better). I never trusted the the top loader to clean clothes in 15mins wash cycle.
>>This varies from person to person. The machine does have a soak function we use when we put in bed sheets, curtains and such items. The soak function does exactly what you want, keeps clothes immersed for a longer time. And it cleans it well.
All new front loaders come with a facility where you can open the door within the first 15mins of starting the washing.
>> Ok that is good to know, was not aware of that. When I evaluated, no one mentioned that to me
Front loaders will easily serve you their full term (9-10years) without any service requirement if you use them properly, not overloading etc.
>> My previous Top Loader lasted 10 years without any issue and we gave it to another person who is still using it so years have passed yet it needed only a minor repair once which cost around 500Rs. Hence, both FL and TL are reliable without doubt.
They suggest low suds detergent so that the clothes should "hit" down with some force in order to increase the cleaning action. suds would "cushion" the impact, which is not recommended. But I guess it is all a marketing gimmick, I use a normal detergent and it has not had impact on my cleaning.
>> Yes, most machines also do mention that if you do not use the suggestions the warranty is void. Hence, though you can use any detergent, is your warranty valid if they find out? Not sure on this count, but you may as well check.
True, but its cheaper because the motor is smaller. Moreover the fron loaders always have a stainless steel drum, which increases the cost and the life of the machine.
>> Not sure how you came to that conclusion. Even the sharp has a stainless steel drum and also has a rust proof body
Yes, mine also needs the heater on depending upon the cycle chosen. And trust me its always better to wash clothes in warm or hot water than normal room temp. or cold water. Ever since we switched to the front loader, my mom has always ensured she turns the water to at least 40 Deg or 60 Deg (for cottons) so that clothes come out more cleaned. And when your mom says it cleans better in hot mode, it sure must be.
>> Heater in any form will consume a lot of power. Hence, to say that a FL is power efficient would be wrong in that sense, because if you need water heater to heat clothes, it cannot be considered power efficient. My guess is when the heater is on it uses around 1500-2000w of power.
True, as it saves on drying costs if you were to use a dryer later, but in India we really don't; except for monsoons/winters.
>> Yes, drier is one area the FL wins. If you need dry clothes you need to buy a FL. Hence, this will depend on case to case basis. Or you rightly mentioned, you might need to have a separate drier for drying clothes.
Again, I would like the clothes to be soaked in detergent solution for a longer time, i really doubt soaking them in detergent for a short would clean them really nice. It may be, but will require quite a large amount of detergent.
>> For a full load of 9 kgs we need less than 1 measuring spoon that comes with the detergent. I guess a similar amount is also needed for FL.
Well, you get bigger front Loaders as well comparable to any big top loader nowadays!
>> Yes that comes at a cost and the cost is close to double that of a Top Loading.
But its good, we now have a reference area so we can discuss more regarding Pros and Cons of each the top loader and the front loader.
