Sheesh, I wonder whether the lady from Whirlpool came up with that lie by herself, or Whirlpool taught it to her. A few facts: 1) Government regulations, both the mandatory ones and the voluntary ones, don't specify temperature. Rather, they regulate energy (and water) consumption. 2) The only mandate (hard requirement) for US washing machines is the Federal Standard. This is a very loose standard, especially as applied to front-loaders. The current one, up until the end of this year, doesn't even include a limitation on water consumption. Well, for the rest, I'll copy something I posted a few months ago in another thread: =========================================================== [Gardenweb member name omitted], your statement "Getting HOT water on a regular cycle is a joke, just like all Energy Star machines" expresses a nearly universal misunderstanding. I'll try to set the record straight here. First, a little background. Clothes washer efficiency is expressed in terms of Modified Energy Factor (MEF) and Water Factor (WF). Higher MEF is more energy-efficient, and lower WF is more water-efficient. This page Clothes Washers Key Product Criteria defines MEF and WF, and says the Energy Star standards require MEF >= 1.8, and WF Do a "Quick Search" for model number WF419 on Find ENERGY STAR Qualified Clothes Washers to find that the Samsung WF419 has an MEF of 2.86 and a WF of 3.11. So, the WF419 is way more efficient than required by Energy Star. Why? The answer is likely found on Tax Incentives Assistance Project where you can see that the WF419 exceeds the criteria for earning a $250/unit tax credit, with no annual cap. So your washer, and many others, go way beyond the Energy Star requirements, in order to earn a very substantial tax credit. I don't know why they go beyond even the tax credit requirements. So, while everyone thinks that appliance manufacturers have had standards forced on them by the government, and therefore forgives the manufacturers for performance compromises, the fact is that the manufacturers are getting money for selling compromised machines. Not being familiar with the economics of the industry, I don't know how much of that money improves their bottom line, and how much it reduces the price you pay. I'm not opposed to conservation, and I'm not opposed to tax credit incentives. But if the facts are known only by one side of the transaction (the industry), then it isn't truly a "free-market incentive", and the consumer is at a disadvantage.

Thanks for the input. A pro painter painted the Duration over my builder's white, 2 coats (no primer:( and it looks fine. But a neighbor's kid splattered some watery mud off their hands on the walls and I don 't think its cleaning anything like its reputation. I had the extra paint so did the bathroom in it, two coats over primer, looks good. Low odor going up, went on fine. Just don't know that it was that big a difference between other paints I've used in the past. So I'm not slamming it as bad paint - just don't know that its the big break through that it gets marketed as. Plus when putting up the christmas tree I made a chip in the pain to drywall in it fairly easy. Maybe its my expectations, I had plaster walls in my other old house - this drywall stuff just seems to dent, chip and get holes poked through the paper real easy. And I'm not tough on it, just a sedate 50 year old. I may try the Cashmere just as an experiment. Don't think I can go wrong either way, just to see the difference. Wish there was another BM dealer in town.

Lol I figured it'd be you who'd respond, almost pm'd you directly. I did a search to read all your prior posts on spraying. Thanks! So if the orifice is too small for the solids in paint, clogging or tip blowout is the result? Why would manuf. put such large tip req. on cans if so many pros use way way smaller sizes -- that's not just "a little under" spec. About prepaint, yeah you're right I'm sure. My wife isn't picky whatsoever: doesn't see the need for caulk (even when I show her gaps between the base and wall), she'll splash paint over fasteners and let it flash saying "Let's not look from this angle". Gotta love her... She would however be bothered by dirty caulk (no pun) as that happened horribly once when we used cheap caulk, unpainted, at our entryway. Trying to balance her expectations, my perfectionist tendencies, labor efforts, and hatred of brushing.

klem1: I don't know if this meets your criteria or not. You may consider it my "opinion of weird consumers", but on the other hand if a consumer recognizes him or herself, her or she may find this quite useful. I posted it at Pro-Pro and got a positive response as well as on other sites. Here goes: Not Spanked Enough I've probably written about my "previously spanked customers" and how much I like them. These are the folks who call when their handyman/"contractor"/brother-in-law hasn't shown up in weeks or has done a poor job. Their priorities have shifted from "lowest price" to "get this finished before my wife kills me". They realized their mistake and when I'm finished they are some of the most grateful customers I have. I've realized that there is a sub-group and I'm calling them the "not spanked enough". These are the folks who want me to finish what the handyman/"contractor"/brother-in-law has started by paying me the balance they owe them. The fact that the previous proposal was much too low has not yet entered their minds. I just walked away from a nice young couple who hadn't been spanked quite enough. The usual half-finished stairway with no railings, door casing, etc. Just the kind of thing I do, but not for them. They had a very expensive deck problem that had to be addressed before they could sell their home and she became a bit hostile when I started throwing numbers around. Buh-bye. Another this morning. Lady has a leaking sliding door that was installed by "schmuck contractors" in her words. What are my rates? She's not the least bit interested in my customer satisfaction ratings. Sorry ma,am, but that's the only thing I'm sellin'. I've done this repair many times, always alone, but according to her, I'm going to need another guy. Strike two. You pick the what, I pick the how. I mapquested her and she's in a fairly nice area, so she's got the money. She just needs a bit more paddling. I'll wait.