HE Toploader Water Usage

[DADoES]

 
This topic is largely aimed at GELaundry4Ever/Jerome but everyone surely can participate.  I recently bought a digital water meter device which attaches to a faucet and records the volume of water that passes through.

I ran a moderate-size load this evening in one of my HE toploaders, a Fisher & Paykel AquaSmart (the one I picked up from Kirk Rivas).  Four pairs of cargo shorts, two boxer shorts, one shirt, one small bath towel (used as a rag-towel), and sixteen briefs/underwear.  Normal cycle which operates only in eco wash mode but I selected a deep/softener rinse (no softener used!).

What is your reasonable (no eco-outrage, please) guess as to:

1) Gallons of water for the Eco Active pretreatment phase (fabric saturation and recirculation period).

2) Total gallons of water in the eco wash after fill is completed (Eco Active + top-off fill).

3) Gallons total for the three spin-sprays.

4) Gallons for the deep rinse.

5) Add those figures for the total of the complete cycle.

I'll post on Tue 3/28 the numbers I recorded.

 

[combo52]

Total Water Use

I would guess around 24 gallons.

 

Hi Glenn, Post a picture etc of the water meter you got.

 

John 

 

[gelaundry4ever]

no eco outrage reasonable

1. It doesn't get your clothes clean. All it does is spread dirt around. 2. It leaves dry spots, again not enough water. 3. rinsing is horrible with shower rinses, forcing you to use deep rinse and that's even questionable. 4. There are no spray rinses during high speed spin before deep rinse, leaving soap in the clothes. Bottom line: You cannot wash a full load of clothes in just a bucket of water. That's how much these "eco" machines use. They use far more water because you have to run loads several times to get what you would with old washers. Speed Queen is the only one that gets your clothes clean when you use heavy duty because it uses the right amount of water during wash and rinse. I'm sure Maytag85 would agree as far as older washers and speed queen tc5 washers are concerned. I just want clean clothes.

 

[drummerboy928]

Water Usage

I have no idea as to the extent of the High Efficiency of these machines, but i’m going to guess in total, it’s probably around 18 gallons total.

In terms of actual cleaning ability, these F&P aquasmart are absolutely amazing machines. The “Eco Active” (if i recall correctly) is very similar to the “catalyst” phase on the catalyst machines. Despite being an impeller machine, they throw clothes around like you would not believe. I would definitely own one of these if I could find an affordable one in good condition.

 

[henene4]

Gonna approximate that guess via liters

1) The load appears to be medium - small ish for a F&P machine of more current generation.
I would guess 8lbs - so probably about 2gal for saturation.
Maybe 3gal in total.

2) Since this is a floating tub design, it will probably need slightly more water for the agitation period than a mode shifter design might.
I would guess 8gal after the full fill - maybe more, maybe less.

3) The sprays might be between half a gallon to a gallon each.

4) The deep rinse might take slightly less than the main fill. So, 6-7gal?

5) That should be between 16 and 18gal in total. Less than 70l, basically

However, this appears to be a rather small load.

I don't think that - on HE mode - it could use much more than 25-30gal even when packed full.

The Australian versions are rated at up to 10kg, 22lbs and uses 102l - that's 26ish gallons.

That is for a load consisting of:
- 4 double sheets
- 8 bath towels
- 3 table cloths
- 4 shirts
- each 6 T-Shirts, pillow cases and shorts
- 4 wash cloths
- 2 handkerchiefs.
Regular cycle with only spray rinses (but more of them).

So I guess 30gal for an HE wash and deep rinse tops, and about half that for a small loaf makes sense.

Keep in mind though - the EU had compact FLs that could wash and triple rinse with the same water usage per kg - 20+ years ago.

 

[Marky_Mark]

Fun game!

My estimate:

 

1. Pretreat phase:       3 gallons

2. Total for wash:       10 gallons

3. Spray rinses total: 3 gallons

4. Deep rinse:             8 gallons

5. Total: 24 gallons.  This is equivalent to 90 litres or approximately eighteen thousand thimblefuls of water LOL.  It would seem that my total also just happens to be the same as John's total.  If we're both right, do we split the prize money between us?!

 

Mark

 

 

 

[gelaundry4ever]

HE topload washer

So why are there so many complaints on these washers?

 

[henene4]

People always complain about things when they are different.

Reality doesn't matter once one has an opinion.

@mark

5ml for thimble actually sounds realistic.
Impressed!

 

[Marky_Mark]

Hey Henrik

 

Yes ha ha I thought I ought to use the "thimbleful" measurement, as this is a common unit used to express the water consumption of HE washers LOL.

 

[pierreandreply4]

if i look at my curent daily driver

if i look at my current Maytag washer (top load) my only complaint is one if i use another cycle other than quick wash (46 minute 57 minute if big load) it takes 2 hours to wash my second complaint is the clean cycle with afresh and the fact that on rinse (*clean washer cycle it sometime leaks) witch leads to my question why did they not keep the option of mechanical timers or classic machines that where pull to start the load push to stop and whats the advantage of a deep wash fill option when there already auto sense for the load?

 

[logixx]

Due to its height, it looks like it's being squished between those pillars.

I noticed the Sanitize cycle is one that needs oxi. I also had to laugh at his "a full-sized load... of 10 pounds" statement. Not quite sure what to think of GE being able to track how much time passes between the end of the cycle and the user opening the door. With connected everything, it's not surprising - but I was a little surprised nonetheless.

Will be interesting to see how this unit performs.

 

[tomdawg]

Eco active - 1.5 gallons
Wash phase 7 gallons
Spray rinse total 1.5 gallons
Deep fill rinse 8 gallons
18 total
I’m probably far off, but I have a fisher paykel agitator version and it didn’t use much more water.

 

[wayupnorth]

My 1984 Maytag LA511 uses 20 gallons on Small and 40 gallons per load on Extra Large. I only use Ex large loads, about 1 every week. Just like I only run the dishwasher with a full load maybe once a week. Use your Cascade every night I am not wasting extra detergent. Dishwashers used to be known as the hide a dirty dish and thats what I do.

 

[DADoES]

 

 

[DADoES]

 
Question for Jerome:  What size in gallons is your bucket for washing a full load of clothes in an HE toploader?

 

[gelaundry4ever]

answer to dadoes

Try doing a full basket of sorted laundry in an HE Cabrio or Bravos or any other machine. Trust me, they leave your clothes dirty with that stupid wash plate. I've seen videos of them in action. The only good washer is speed queen.

 

[DADoES]

 
Jerome, you're not answering the questions.  You haven't stated any specific numbers for your expectation on gallons of the cycle phases for the load I ran, or your bucket reference.  Is it a 2 gallon bucket?  5 gallons?  10 gallons?

 

[gelaundry4ever]

bucket reference

If you try doing a full load of laundry in an HE washer, you'll only get a bucketful of water, which is not enough for a giant load of everyday cottons. Say a 5 gallon bucket. It never works! Just search the web and you will find hundreds and thousands of complaints on these washers! They leave your clothes dirty![this post was last edited: 3/26/2023-18:55]

 

[luxflairguy]

Jerome! You need to start proving what you preach! And stop bashing every brand and washing action yo don't like! It shows a lack of maturity and respect!