The average American family washes about 300 loads of laundry a year, according to Energy Star, and some front-loaders tested by Consumer Reports take nearly two hours to get clothes clean. It's enough to make you a basket case. That's why we put the machine's normal cycle time in our Ratings—something you'll really appreciate if your family does more laundry than average.
Many front-loaders tested by Consumer Reports deliver excellent wash performance, despite using little water. But that improved water efficiency means longer wash cycles. It helps that most of these washers have large capacities, holding 17 to 22 pounds of laundry. Front-loaders also spin faster than top-loaders, extracting most of the water so clothes spend less time in the dryer, saving time, energy and money. The LG WM3470H[W]A, $1,100, tops our front-loader Ratings, offering superb washing in 85 minutes without sacrificing gentleness or making a racket. Front-loaders performing nearly as well shave off 10 minutes, but machines with the shortest times, 40 to 50 minutes, were so-so in cleaning and near the bottom of our Ratings.
The top-rated LG's TurboWash feature is supposed to trim 20 minutes on larger loads. We expect it to perform similarly to Kenmore's Accela-Wash option, since LG makes both. In our tests of the Kenmore Elite 4147[2], $1,100, Accela-Wash cut 15 minutes off the normal 85-minute cycle, and not the 30 minutes promised for an 8-pound load, but it did deliver almost the same excellent cleaning performance without giving up gentleness.
Another time saver? Consider a high-efficiency top-loader. Some of the best offer impressive cleaning in 45 minutes to an hour and use less water and extract more of it than conventional top-loaders. And since high-efficiency models don't have a center-post agitator, they hold more laundry than their conventional counterparts.
Via: Some energy-saving front loaders spend more time per load
Some energy-saving front loaders spend more time per load Gallery
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