Update your Washer

Benefits

Environmental Benefit: ★★★★☆
The average American family does 400 loads of laundry a year. You can cut the related energy costs by about a third, and the water usage by almost a half, by going to an efficient front-loading washing machine.

Money Saved: ★★★★☆
Over the life of a front-loading washing machine you can more than pay for the matching dryer just with the energy savings alone (hopefully you'll line-dry instead!). With the water savings you could fill 3 backyard pools. Many communities also have reimbursement programs for putting in efficient appliances.

Lifestyle Benefit: ★★☆☆☆
There isn't a lot of lifestyle benefit, except that the kids like to sit in front of it and watch the clothes go round-'n-round instead of the TV. Not sure what it's doing to their minds.

What We’re Doing
We had a little top-loading washer on wheels that we got when we first were married and lived in a little apartment. It was quite reliable, but took a lot of loads with a family of 6 to do the wash as it was quite small. It is much more efficient to do large loads, and a front-loading washer is also much more efficient than a top-loader. So we gave the still-working smaller washer to someone who needed it, and purchased the item pictured. You will also note the environmentally friendly "7th Generation" laundry soap that Shannon gets for it.

A Little Humor
Sign in a launderette: Those using automatic washers should remove their clothes when the lights go out.