On Thu, 2009-06-25 at 09:26 -0300, Gerhard Fiedler wrote:
> Herbert Graf wrote:
> Besides, it's not only about water. Heating up water is expensive in
> terms of electrical energy, too: the more water, the more electrical
> energy for heating it up. 

Well, first off, in much of north america the hot water used by a
washing machine is sourced from the water heater in the house. In many
houses the water heater is gas/propane.

That said, I almost never wash in hot water anyways. Most of my laundary
is done with just cold water. The odd time I'll do a very small run of
hot, but that's rare.

> > As a result, the added expense of a horizontal washing machine simply
> > makes no sense for most from a purely economical point of view. While
> > the prices have come down, the fact is they are still more expensive
> > then the "water wasters", and over the life of the product, because
> > of our low cost for water, you'll never recoup those costs.
> 
> Have you factored in the increased electrical energy? 

Absolutely. Every machine has a sticker on it stating estimated annual
usage. That said, electricity for me is quite cheap (about
$0.10CND/kWh), the difference in the most efficient machine vs. a lesser
machine is perhaps $10-$20 a year.

> The diminished
> lifetime of fabric? 

I hadn't considered this. That said, I don't really spend that much on
clothes.

> The increased allergies? (Due to the lower numbers
> of clean water cycles after washing, the residues of detergent in
> clothes are more. This is probably just one (small) factor that helps
> explain the high incidence of allergies in the USA.)

Perhaps, I haven't been affected.

> Also, if the prices have come down (I assume you mean in relationship to
> the vertical drum machines), it seems that the price difference is not
> that much due to differences in construction (which haven't come down).

Absolutely. The vertical machines are "chic", they demand a premium
simply because they are "European better".

TTYL

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