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Another example is modern washing machines. A friend of mine lives in an apartment complex that just replaced an old machine from the late 80s / early 90s that
by coolso 9y ago
Another example is modern washing machines. A friend of mine lives in an apartment complex that just replaced an old machine from the late 80s / early 90s that finally died, with one of those new top-loading ones that has a load sensor and fills the basin accordingly with the "ideal" amount of water.
He noticed that ever since the new machine was installed, his clothes and bed sheets often came out feeling soapy (yes, he was using detergent designed for HE machines, and the recommended amount). So one day he opened the lid mid-wash, and... the machine was so "efficient", the very stop of the clothes weren't even wet, even after they had been agitating for several minutes! This was with a medium sized load, with the basin less than half way full.
He stuck around for the rinse cycle and noticed it doesn't even fill the basin up with clean rinse water; it just continually spins the basin and sprays water for a little while. No wonder everything came out feeling soapy.
This was with a major name brand commercial/heavy duty machine by the way, introduced within the past 2-3 years.
- kw71 9y agoSounds like a terribly designed machine with bad software. I bought a Korean machine in 2006 and still own it. However, unlike your friend's, mine is a front loader. Immediately I noticed a lower electricity bill because it's using much less hot water. It adds a small amount of water and tumbles the clothes. If the water level in the tub does not go down, the contents are saturated and no more water is needed. We are also using very little soap and softener - we buy soap once a year! We typically fill the scoop for soap halfway up to the first mark, and enough softener to just cover the bottom of the dispenser. I also feel better knowing there is less water and soap being drained into our septic tank. Our machine has an extra rinse option - it normally does two rinses anyway - and fills more water on certain cycles ("hand wash.")
- alphabettsy 9y agoThe last two apartments I lived in had the same crappy machine. It’s the cheapest and it works like crap, but it seems the investors/property managers don’t care.
- fjsolwmv 9y agoModern efficient washing machines are front loaders, so gravity does the work of water distribution.
- ansible 9y agoThey have very efficient top loaders now, which work well. There should have been water spraying on both the wash and rinse cycles. The GP's building owner maybe didn't read Consumer Reports to find a good one, or it is just not working right.
- patentatt 9y agoNo, these anecdotes clearly demonstrate that regulation is bad, politicians are evil people who want your clothes to be soapy, free markets solve everything perfectly, and the environment will just take care of itself somehow.
- opencl 9y agoThere are HE top loaders which are basically front loaders tilted 90 degrees with an additional water pump to deal with the gravity problem.