Energy star water factor question

[suburbanmd]

For The First Time From Me...

People say the manufacturers aren't at fault for making crippled machines (water-wise and internal heater-wise) for the US market, because the government made them do it. But in the US we have something called "lobbying", where you pay someone to influence legislation. I believe appliance manufacturers could successfully lobby for more reasonable washer standards, if they wanted to. But that would be for the consumer's benefit, not their own, so they don't invest the money and time to do it.

 

[dnastrau]

Raised water level and more detergent

Hi Mark:

Yes, we do use a bit more detergent than we did earlier as a result of the water level increase - just to make sure there is enough. Since we have hard water here, oversudsing is not normally a problem anyhow.

On your Duet I would try increasing the level adjustment by 1/8 or 1/4 turn at a time until you get the desired results - if you are still interested in trying that. The switch does seem to have a threshhold where it adds way too much water. Mine seemed to hit that at 2 full turns. When I tried using it at that setting the machine would actually drain some of the water as it must have sensed that there was too much for the normal cycle. 1 and 1/2 turns of adjustment from stock (5 and 1/2" water level at the back of the empty drum) has been great so far.

Andrew S.

 

[mark_wpduet]

Dnastrua

Thanks. If I get bored late I may do some more adjusting. I'm surprised that mine when it filled to such a high level, didn't drain on its own, I didn't let it get to that point I guess. But it was literally half way up the door and still filling when I paused/canceled. When I did hit pause/cancel, the machine drained all the water, but once the water was gone, it KEPT running as if it were still draining, it got locked up so I had to unplug it. Will post pictures if I get it right.

 

[mark_wpduet]

Andrew

Question. With your water level in that picture is pretty high. If you use delicate or soak, does in not trip an overfill fault? I was reading another person in another forum adjust back down, that the water level she had was great for normal/heavy duty/whitest whites cycles, but that delicate and ultra hand wash uses more water so it tripped an overfill fault. I'm guessing you don't have that problem since you didn't mention it. I wonder what the point is where the overfull fault is tripped?

 

[mark_wpduet]

Well I got bored and made another very very small adjustment at about 1/8 of an inch. I now have just over 4 inches in the back of the drum, just over 2 inches in the front. Not quite as high as Andrew's but almost. I think I'm going to leave it at that.

 

[alr2903]

Was this issue ever a discussion during the american made w/d combo units . I always wondered did they spray only, with water accumulating in a sump for recirculation. Or did they have a small pool of water similar to above pictures. Combo owners please weigh in... alr2903

 

[appnut]

Arthur, the w/d combo you are referring to was made by Whirlpool and predominately for the Kenmore brand. There was a small pool of water at teh bottom of the tub in addition to the recirculating spray, which was quite powerful and strong--so washing was not simply accomplished by spray only. You couple this with quite a large drum and fabrics had quite a bit of room to open p and flex while tumbling

 

[dnastrau]

No Epic (Duet) overfill fault so far

Hi Mark:

On delicate I have not seen an overfill fault with the increased level - we are actually doing a delicate load this evening so I will pay close attention to it. I will take a picture as well.

When I had the adjustment screw turned 2 full turns the machine did drain some water prematurely from the normal cycle, but there was no error code displayed. It does not do this at the current setting of 1 and 1/2 turns.

Andrew S.

 

[mark_wpduet]

Anderew

I just did some laundry. After the very last adjustment I made, it was almost as much as the water level in your pic above but just a tad under that. Anyway, I did some laundry on heavy duty and whitest whites cycle. The water was touching the bottom of the glass! If I were to have opened the door, water would have ran out! I also noticed the clothes were sort of rolling in the water as opposed to lifting and dropping. Not sure why the water level looked ok (like your pic) without anything in the washer but a large load was TOO high for me. I adjusted back down slightly. It amazes me that on my adjustments are so very small, like less than 1/8 of an inch this last time and it was too much for my liking. Now I have it back down to the level I had in my pic above. Can't wait to see pics

 

[DADoES]

Water level on these machines is more complex than just being controlled by the pressure switch. There's probably also a flow meter involved.

 

[mark_wpduet]

Yeah. What I don't understand is why when I made that adjustment, I started the machine on a normal cycle with no clothes to see what the water level was and it was not quite the level in Andrews pic and when I did an actual (decent sized) load the water level was Way up there almost exactly like Newwave's pic above. An ever so small adjustment I made. I went ahead and did three loads of laundry like that and the clothes seemed to be clean but watching the wash action made me wonder if more water was better.

 

[suburbanmd]

US gov't energy "mandates" aren't mandator

I just found the link below, which confirms what I've been suspecting: US-market washers' increasingly parsimonious water and energy usage is because of tax credits, not government mandate. Plenty of buyers would probably be willing to shell out an extra $200-$250 for a washer that does what they want. But the market hasn't developed, because no one realizes there could be a choice.

http://www.thomas.gov/cgi-bin/cpquery/?&dbname=cp110&sid=cp110TwN2f&refer=&r_n=hr214.110&item=&sel=TOC_302258&

 

[launderess]

Yeabut

Consumers have been brain-washed into seeking out the "Energy Star" information. Also states are starting to get into the act with their own energy/water restrictions. California probably will lead the way, and other western states may follow. This probably isn't a bad thing as drought conditions seem to be getting worse, not better.