Monday, December 1, 2008

How is this efficient?!

About 4 years ago, My Mukor and I bought an energy efficient washer and dryer set.  We were trying to make certain we were minimizing our water bill doing our part for the environment.  However, I'm convinced these machines are just efficient in name only and don't actually do anything!

Yes, my clothes come out of the machines clean and fluffy.  And, yes, they have easy to understand buttons.  But does it really take an hour and 30 minutes to get your whites WHITE?!  And, HELLO, how is that efficient?!

I use Consumer Reports before making any expensive purchase. Most of the time I pay attention to the details of their report: which is loudest, which gets out stains, which stains does it get out, which uses less water, etc. etc. etc. I seemed to have missed the section that read: Waste less water and energy but waste most of your time!

This last week, I tried to pay attention to the machines to find out what the problem was, but I really have no clue. I think it has something to do with the machines turning mostly off during the cycle to conserve both and to marinate the clothes in their own filth. I dunno, but if the idea was to anger me enough to make certain I found ways to NOT wash my clothes, this is a WINNING strategy.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

We killed our last clothes dryer. It wasn't intentional, but it was murder. The builder had placed the dryer in the middle of the basement, with several twists, turns and dips in the exhaust hose.

We were surprised at how long it took to dry clothes. Eventually (read that: after an inexcusably stupid period) we suspected the lengthy hose run. I moved the machine against an outside wall and vented it almost directly outside.

The drying time was cut dramatically, our electric bill went down, and the overworked dryer died knowing its heir would have a better life.

Anonymous said...

Yeah ladies and gentlemen....
What about the outside.......
Clothes line
Pegs. Real cute little plastic ones now you know.
How about fresh air?
Dries even in cold weather.......
Bit stiff, but does dry......... I know you have to have the energy to go outside in sub zero sometimes.... Stamina!

Anonymous said...

I don't know much about washers and dryers and efficiency! It sounds like it is working harder and longer than a normal one!