Comments on: Used clothes washers aren’t great deals for everyone

By: Lord

Lord — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 00:58:22 +0000

Even in places where water is an issue, water is generally cheap. It is infrastructure costs that are expensive whether you use much water or not. By far the largest cost is not water, but heating it, which can be expensive even with a low cost energy source.

By: VT

VT — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 23:51:16 +0000

Not everyone has the cash up front to buy a $1,000 washer, either. Seems like financing it would negate some of the savings … especially in an area where water costs aren’t yet an issue.

By: nessili

nessili — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 02:36:19 +0000

One thing to be aware of with the newer “water efficient” models is that some of the designs do not clean well. Sure, they use less water, but if you have to run each load twice to get them clean, that kinda defeats the purpose. I was all gung-ho for getting one of the new Energy Star top-loaders with the short agitator, until I started reading the reviews. You also have to use a special kind of soap (the HE) which can cost more than the regular soap(another thing to factor in). The price of water isn’t really an issue around here, so I ended up with a used regular washer, and instead will attempt to save some money and energy by setting up a clothes-line in the backyard.