Why Does America Have Top Loading Washing Machines?

anotheruser

Why does America have mainly top loading washing machines, yet ours aren't?

I know the UK can get top loaders but surely they're easier to... well load?

glentoran99

Easier to load but not easier to empty

missbiggles1

Top loaders don't go very well in a fitted kitchen or utility, you lose work surface space.

Jonesya

Top-loaders are also inefficient and use lots of water and energy.

Think about your front loader - with a small quantity of water in the bottom of the drum all the clothes get wetted as the drum goes around. With a top-loader you've got to almost fill the whole drum to ensure everything gets washed.

springdreams

I have a Samsung top loader. It fits very nicely into my small fitted kitchen and is also very easy to empty.

It uses less energy that the standard front loader as it has shorter wash cycles.

I'm not on a water meter so am not worried about the water consumption.

EssexExile

As Jonesya says, energy efficiency. Until recently the Americans didn't give a damn, then they did & started introducing (enormous) front loaders, then they discovered shale gas & now they don't care again.

vivatifosi

America is finally cottoning on to front loaders. They are more economic to run and use less water. In ten years time top loaders will probably be in the minority in new sales terms.

I spend about a month a year there and virtually everywhere I stay now has frontloaders instead of top, that's happened over the last 3-4 years. When I have a look at shops such as Sears, they are prominently displayed also.

shaun_from_Africa

Jonesya wrote: »

With a top-loader you've got to almost fill the whole drum to ensure everything gets washed.

The newer models are fairly energy efficient (okay, not as good as in the EU but still not too bad).
They generally have settings for small, medium and large loads so you don't need a full drum of water for a small load of washing.

What I like about them (I'm currently living in a country that uses US supplied appliances) is that unlike the majority of front loaders, they don't tend to have dozens of different cycles.
The one I'm using has only 6 wash cycles (and I only ever use two of them), no digital display, only one indicator light which is for power and is very reliable and robust.

You can buy lots of different models of front loaders in the USA but many people still prefer the simple, reliable and strong top loaders.

EssexExile

I feel for the repair man, if your European front loader packs up full of water it's a bit heavy with it's gallon or so of water. If your American top loader needs moving out when it's full it's got 30 gallons in it!

shaun_from_Africa

EssexExile wrote: »

I feel for the repair man, if your European front loader packs up full of water it's a bit heavy with it's gallon or so of water. If your American top loader needs moving out when it's full it's got 30 gallons in it!

However, if a top loader fails, the water can very easily be syphoned out of the top using a hose and bucket (or straight into a drain), something that would be very difficult, if not impossible to do with a front loader.
My one has a door that locks when in use but it unlocks after 2 minutes if power is removed so if the machine did fail, emptying it wouldn't really be a problem.

coffeehound

Also front-loaders are more gentle on the clothes..