sue15c, I'll tell you my ideas about why FL's clean better than agitator TL's, and why some FL's disappoint some owners. They're based on long-time use of agitator TL's, followed by six months and counting with an FL. Sorry for the long post, but since you asked three times, I figure you really want to know :-) No opinion on HE TL's, having never used one. 1) Washing action: In an FL, the entire load is tumbling around, so everything is continually rubbing (but lubricated by water), flexing, and falling against the drum. In a fully-loaded agitator TL, only part of the load is exposed to vigorous washing action at a given time. 2) Length of wash cycle: Some FL's, like mine, have pretty long wash cycles on at least some cycle selections, with an option to make them even longer. A half-hour wash cycle gives plenty of exposure to the washing action, and to detergent and other products. A full hour wash cycle is even more exposure, and is great to have available for dirty stuff. Agitator TL's have shorter wash cycles, maximum of 15 or so minutes in my experience. Some FL manufacturers also use short wash cycles, to satisfy users who want quick turnaround of their wash loads. Obviously (to me anyway), a shorter wash cycle means weaker cleaning performance. Also, it takes a few minutes for a large load to be entirely wetted. So if a wash cycle time of, say, 8 minutes includes the time to soak the load, then I imagine there's even less time for actual cleaning. 3) Wash temperature: The advantage here can go to FL or to agitator TL, depending on your plumbing and the features of the particular FL. If your hot water runs cold for a while, before turning hot, an agitator TL may still fill with mostly hot water, because the initial cold water is only part of the fill. But the much smaller fill of an FL may consist entirely of the cold water, even if you wanted warm or hot. So if that's your plumbing setup, and you replace an agitator TL with an FL with no heater, or a heater that's not programmed to boost the temperature on all cycles, then your washes may end up being cooler than you're used to. That'll affect cleaning performance. Maybe this hit is balanced out by better wash action on the FL, in some cases? I don't know. In contrast, an FL with a fully functioning heater, which boosts and maintains the temperature on all cycles, with a wide selection of wash temperatures, can have a definite advantage over an agitator TL, since water temperature is an important factor in cleaning performance. Unfortunately many FL's fall short of this ideal. But most if not all FL's with a heater have at least a super-hot "sanitary" cycle, with exceptional cleaning for fabrics that can stand the temperature. Also re temperature: Even with an ideal plumbing setup, most any new washer, FL or TL, will do warm and perhaps hot washes at a lower temperature than the older machine you're replacing. Among FL's, Miele is the only exception I know of. Among agitator TL's, the Speed Queen seems to be non-temperature-controlled, but I hear it uses more cold than hot in its warm mix. So its warm could also be cooler than you're used to, unless your hot supply is very hot.

Thank you Richard, I am looking forward to the installation. I can't wait to try them out. I love sorting laundry so this set will be very useful I believe. I am ok with the lag time with the delivery because my remodel project will take at least the long. What I was told was that the service with this authorized dealer would be authorized service. I bought a 5 year warranty with the appliance store. They did not offer a Miele extended warranty. Several years ago I bought a Samsung fridge at this dealer and bought the extended warranty and they were very good with the 3 calls I had to make within the first 16 months. I asked the salesman what type of service provider would be called if a repair was needed. He told me an authorized service provider, that the insurance company contracts with, would be contacted. I have been happy with the sales department and I hope that the warranty will be dependable if I need it. It was in the past. I did contact Miele about the professional model "Little Giant" and it would have been 4K for the washer and 3K for the dryer, or there abouts. I asked about the warranty options for this set and he believed it would have been 2K but wasn't sure. That sounds out of line, so maybe he was wrong. I just couldn't justify the expense so passed.

Yes the LG turns both ways in wash and in rinse cycles. So it sounds like CR's June 2007 report was concerning TLs only. Is that correct? I did not read this report but I'm confused about some statements. TLs still have a hot wash. Isn't the temperature of the hot wash dependent upon your water temperature of your hot water? I know some FLs have a built in water heater so that would get and keep the temperature even hotter. How is the water temperature of the water helping machines meet energy standards when most did not have a built in water heater? Which brands and models did CR identify as reducing water temperature to meet standards? As far as water levels, TLs didn't reduce their water levels. Is CRs trying to say TLs use less water now? TLs rely on huge amounts of water. They won't clean well if you reduce the water levels. Can't you still control the water levels in TLs? True FLs for the house don't use the amount of water that we see in a laundromat. Did they ever? Have the water levels been reduced in 2007 for residential FLs? Many FLs sold in 2007 were being sold prior to Jan 07 like the one I purchased. Are people saying new models coming out for the first time after Jan 07 will have even less water or that the ones before Jan and sold afterwards had the reduction? Normally CR cites discontinued model numbers. How current were these model numbers? How do you test a wash using the energy savings cycle? What cycle is that? When I checked out the energy star info, it said that FLs automatically would achieve a better rating on water because they use at least half the amount of water compared to any TL. I never heard they were reducing water levels in FL. It also said due to the better water extraction of FLs they would rate higher than any TL as FLs require less drying time which really eats up watts. Some FLs like Maytag uses about the same amount of watts as TLs. The typical TL uses in the 400 range of watts so did the Maytag FL I checked. LG used 167 watts. Both units claimed energy star but you can see energy star rating can be achieved without lowering watts.

Congrats!!!!!! I had a cheaper 1 stitch model for many, many, many years and since I was a hand quilter it suited my needs. I bought a Janome MC something around Christmas and I absolutely never knew what I was missing before!!!! Mine likes to be cleaned often and it likes the same thread in the bobbin as the top. I can easily deal with both of those!!! Rosa