Who would have thought that washing machine tech would be a hot topic for Lockergnome? (Okay, so I had an inkling that it might … after all, everyone’s gotta get their clothes washed, sooner or later.) All in all, last month’s piece on washing machines brought a mighty response from Gnomies across the land (and one very interesting deal) …

Gnomie Dan dropped a line to let us know how pleased his crew is with their LG WM1832. Those Korean LGs seem to be gaining in popularity. Gnomie Peter concurred on the choice of LG for his clothes washing chores:

When I had to replace our 20yr old Maytag I did a lot of searching on the net. I finally decided on a front load LG machine. I’m a mechanic and I liked the idea of direct drive and no belts to wear out. It cost about $900.00. We’ve had it for about 6 months and no problems. The towels come out and you can’t wring another drop of water out of them. I kept my 5 yr old dryer because there was nothing wrong with it. My electric bill is about $25.00 a month less then before.

Gnomie Peter picked a super-efficient clothes washer from the other side of the globe:

I just purchased a Bosch next washer and it rocks. Uses about 12 gallons of water per wash cycle and it spins at 1000 rpms. Needless to say 20 min dry time in the dryer for a full load.

Score two for Korea and one for Germany.

So are good old domestic washing machines doomed? Gnomie Dan mentioned that he’s “noticed that Maytag’s newest front loaders are made by LG.” Interesting stuff … when you consider that Maytag is running a deal (until January 18th, 2006) for a free three year supply of Tide HE when you buy a “qualifying Maytag Neptune Front-Load Laundry Pair.” Between the energy savings and the free detergent, we’d clean up! (cough)

Regarding my aversion to touch-screen LCDs, Gnomie David replied:

In response to having an LCD screen on a washing machine…A LCD screen has less moving parts and is less likely to break down then having the push buttons or dials which have a higher likelihood of break down because it is a moving part.

And in response to one of my biggest gripes with our 12-year old Maytag, Gnomie Robert suggested:

You probably have a problem with a $40 dollar device that you can easily replace. I believe it is called a water fill valve and most appliance parts stores have them in stock. Why spend $500, when $40 will do.

Truth be told, that valve’s been replaced twice already. It’s not just that we’re fed up with babysitting the old washing machine to prevent overflows, it’s that we welcome the energy-, water-, and time-savings that will come with a new high-efficiency (and high-capacity) washing machine. We want to get more laundry done in less time, while using less electricity and hot water (which we heat with an oil-fired boiler).