efficient washer/dryer

[ALBALD1]

not to sound ignorant, but how much difrence can it make in your septic systm. I just took delivery of my new duet set on 6-20. i know its supposed to use less water, but how much less. will it make the wet spot in my leach bed stay dry?

 

[gsxr1100]

I think a general rule is like 3 to 5 loads a day on septic. I am on sewer now so it does not matter... /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[BlueRidge]

Tain't an ignorant question - it's a very GOOD question.

For my family, we currently do about 20 loads per week in a top loader. Average usage for a top loader is 45-60 gallons. That's 900 to 1200 gallons per week, or 46800 to 62400 gallons per year.

For a front loader, they hold about twice as much, and use about 15 - 18 gallons per load. That's 10 loads per week, so figure 150 to 180 gallons per week. That's 7800 to 9360 per year.

That's a savings of 39000 to 53040 gallons per year that isn't going into my leach field. Call it about 3000 to 4000 gallons per month.

That just might make the difference for your leach field.

And a side benefit is that you didn't have to pay for the electricity to pump that water out of the ground.

For me, moving my family of 8 into a house with a 2 bedroom septic, it's a no-brainer. If I have to replace the thing every 2 years, it still makes sense. (Along with low volume toilets, a hot water recirc system, and all of that stuff to reduce water usage.)

Do the math for your family and you'll soon see if it makes sense for you.

 

[moss2940]

Well I made the mistake of reading this thread.
I have had a Maytag Neptune since 1997 and never had a problem. I read about problems people were having with them here and thought mine has worked pretty well so far no problems. I looked at the web site about replacing the gasket on it and realized after looking that I don't have the receipt on it so I was disappointed about that.
Yesterday the washer quit working properly. The door won't lock and the spin cycle won't work. I am guessing the two are related.
So I go down to an appliance dealer to see about fixing it. They thought it would be about $300 to replace the door latch and computer board on it and that would probably fix it.
While there I noticed they had Fisher Paykel washing machines. He had one that was scratched on the front for $429 dollars so I bought it to try out, figured it would be hard to go wrong at that price.
The top load dryer is not cheap it is more than the washing machine.
I thought I would hold off on the dryer till I used the washing machine for a while.
I am curious if anyone has tried the new top load dryer they make?

 

[rogdan]

Interesting: http://www.aceee.org/consumerguide/topwash.htm

 

[BlueRidge]

Well, I just got back from the Sears Outlet store. What a waste of time! Oh, they had the Duet and HE models alright - probably 50 dryers, and maybe 6-8 washers.

The prices were not that far below new, and the delivery charges to our house would have taken us almost up to new price. (There's only one outlet store here in Northern Virginia, about 65 miles from our house.) And they had only a few electric dryers, so we'd have had a charcoal washer and a bone dryer.

Why bother with dented & scratched washer & dryer in ugly colors that don't even match, when for another hundred or two I can have new delivered?