@georgect No, the manufacturers don't get kickbacks. The only thing they get to do is put a little energy star logo on the box and marketing labels and literature hoping it prods consumers to buy their machine (at a higher price) for perceived payback in energy savings. There are occasional rebates, sometimes offered by the government or local utilities paid directly to the consumer for energy efficient appliance purchases, but those rebates don't go to the manufacturers. That said, how many of you have to flush the toilet TWICE to swallow up what normally went down the drain with one flush? My non-government issued plunger gets way more work with the modern HE toilet than those 80s and 90s style toilets. But I will concede some foresight is needed to deal with dwindling water supplies out West to speed consumer choices. Free market metrics would say that consumers would pay more willingly to save money from water, sewer, and energy costs. Regulate/price the resource (water/sewer/energy) right and you probably would not have to regulate the downstream user (appliance) of said resource, free market economy would drive the correct choices on its own, but possibly not at the speed/rate of the government interests. Cars/trucks somewhat work that way. CAFE standards slowed big SUV sales possibly, but it was the price of the resource (gas) that made big consumer movements out of Large SUVs rapidly. Your government, saving the world one drop of water at a time! Laundryvet

Our Kenmore Elite front loaders died at age 9 - two years after the spin feature was fixed on the washer and the drum was fixed on the dryer (both went at the same time and we hardly used the dryer). The tech told us that we might get 2 more years out of them at age 7 and he was right. He also told us that many of the newer units will die at 5 years. I bet he was right. We had to buy Bosch subcompacts at a horrific Cdn. price due to space requirements. The washer plugs into the dryer. The only thing I really put in the dryer is bedding. So it isn't used all that much. However, I won't use the washer and dryer at the same time. Apparently you can but I asked a woman who works for Bosch and she said she won't do it and that was good enough for me. I wish there was a clean laundromat nearby because it is starting to look good to me. Especially considering the subcompact nature of our machines. We do leave the washer door open as well as the detergent holder. I don't use fabric softener - just liquid HE detergent for sensitive skin that doesn't stink of fake botanical scents that I am allergic to. We were told not to use any of the washer cleaners in the unit - that they could damage the rubber etc. Same with the dishwasher. Who the heck knows?

Grew up with the Frigidaires. Nothing like them since, cleaning or spin wise. The tall SQ agitator also familiar. Relative had one of those which you set the water level by gallons on the timer dial. Does take me back--not to mention ages you.(me)

One of my sisters washes everything in cold water for years. Her old-style (1984) Maytag toploader carried a smutzy odor. She was always loaded-up on dryer sheets and highly-scented detergents. I couldn't convince her to at least use warm because "our t-shirts will shrink" she said. They took the grandmother's machines when granny died, being some years newer. The bro-in-law connected them up and got the hot/cold hoses reversed ... so they were washing (and rinsing) in HOT for several weeks without realizing it. The washer would beep an error code every time they ran it for not getting cold water but they thought the beeping was normal behavior, until they brought it to my attention and I figured out/explained the problem. No mention that anything had shrunk in the interim ... Happenstance came along and now they have a frontloader, given to them by friends (after a catastrophic failure due to bad usage habits), and which I completely disassembled and repaired last February. I gave sister instructions to run hot and/or Sanitary cycles on a regular basis, and the machine's cleaning cycle (which heats to 130°F) monthly. She's not doing any of that. Last time I was there, the machine had slime and mold around the door seal and an odor, developed in 7 months after I had it refurbed to pristine condition. Go figure. Toploader, cold washing, smutz. Frontloader, cold washing, smutz.