Washer111 & company
I do not really want to start another FL vs TL thread....
But I can read you say some Inaccuracies...first of all networks and voltage in US does not limit that always, there are models of Miele and Bosch with a built in heater working with 120 volt....
Front load vd top load:
I can speak from an italian persepctive, and PERSONALLY having used and seen lots of FL machines with heaters and that can boil, not to mention the US fl's machine whenever they are set up to fill water not hot enough, and can say you here that NONE of them used to give a performance paragonable to a Top loader agitator machine*, both in warm, hot or boil washings and with the so acclaimed staged, hours long cycles.
* (accordingly that you use it with proper water temperature so I mean hot enough and proper cycle).
Based on my experinces, from what I could see and my way of thought, I think that the method of washing of a front loader cannot be paragonable to an agitator washer in matter of cleaning simply because there is no way that wet clothes tumbling in a drum have the chanche to have washing solution forced into them in a way able to remove dirt and stains as effectively as an agitator washer does by beating clothes through water and having the solution forced through them, freely with a greater force, homogeneity and effectiveness, before you mention time, I say that I think that even if they tumble four hours would probably never get clean enough.
I could experiment that also.... When using a front loader I used to extend further the wash time by crank back the knob trying to schieve cleaner results, having wash times as long as 3 hours and half and sometimes with bio soak overnight, but even in those occasions had laundry came out with spots and halos I knew my Filter-flo would have never left back...
Can also tell you that it is the same for the many italians that spend fortunes in these machines and find them way better than the previous FL machine they had including former Miele owners, what I can read and hear most of the times is that people can finally achieve the results without the usual pretreatring and or manual prewash soak they always had to do before (practice very common over here since the advent of automstics, , that me indeed of course never had the need to do, toss in and dah dah...clean!)
So, very different from you....
So here is the thing, since it all started from it:
Out there there are lots of people who don't find front loaders being as good as toploaders, and you can read it in many reviews, the same way there are people who find them better than their previous top loader...
So who's right?
None you can tell, unless you start an endless speech taking in exam lots of variants that made them to arrive to this conclusion, it would really be nice if we would do further investigations in both the cases and do a factual speech, like the former top loader owner that loves his new heating front loader, well perhaps that one could not reach an enough hot temperature and then he comes to find the front loader better as it finally reach a proper temperature heating his own water...
Then there are the ones that regrets having their old top loader back after having bought a new front loader and share their fond hate toward front loaders, HE and such...
Lots of other variants can make one's opinion....
As for everything, the best one could do, is sharing his own opinions and findings based on own experiences or ones he knows of....especially in threads requesting an opinion like this one.
Nobody is wrong or right, so if one finds that front loaders sucks compared to top loaders should be free to say so without objections, the same way who thinks otherwise....
Let's just don't start wars over it......
[this post was last edited: 3/17/2014-00:34]