Front Load Washer Buying Guide
A Front Load Washing Machine in your home can easily save you over $100 per year in energy costs. They also use half as much water so require up to 68% less electricity to heat the water, resulting in more energy savings.
Front Loaders also hold larger loads and save energy in reduced water heating. The best front load washers will save you time with fewer loads to wash, and will keep your clothes looking better longer.
What to Look For in a Front Loader
- High energy star rating
- A quick wash program (<40 minutes)
- Time-delay start
- Touch pad controls
- Stainless steel wash bowl
- Spin speed <1000 rpm
- Time remaining indicator
Best Front Load Washers Reviews
Inside our site we focus on just the best Front Loaders, as determined by pooling information from review sites like epinions, amazon and consumersearch. Feel free to view them at our No 1 rated machines page.
Top Loader Converts Need to Know…
Front Load machines do not have an agitator, the device used in a top load machine to move the clothes around. Your clothes won’t be underwater all the time - they just pass through the soapy water at the bottom of the machine on each rotation.
One area where Front Load Washers can be a disadvantage is wash duration. A Front Load machine can take almost twice the time as top load machines to wash the same amount of clothes. The advantage is that clothes come out cleaner and drier with less water and energy use. Also, modern Front Loaders have cycles as short as 30 minutes.
The other major difference is the ability to interrupt the wash. Top load units can be opened at any time and clothes can be put in or taken out, which can help when removing fragile items before the spin cycle, for example. On the other hand, Front Load models are locked shut while running (you can always fast-forward to the end of the cycle to unlock the machine).
