If your washing machine is making strange sounds, struggling to drain at the end of the cycle, or sending other signals that it’s reaching the end of its usable life, do yourself a favor and start looking for a new one before your old one completely dies. Your preferences and needs might have changed since you bought your last washer, so keep an open mind as you start your search for the best washing machine. To help you figure out which washer is right for you, our appliance experts at Garner Appliance and Mattress have summarized the advantages of top-load washers, front-load washers, and smart washers.
Traditional Top-Load Washers
- Most affordable: Top-load washers with agitators (the tall plastic post with fins that moves laundry around inside the machine) are often the most affordable washers on the market since these basic, no-frills machines don’t include the costly sensors and computer chips you’ll find in more technologically advanced machines.
- Shorter washing times:Â Traditional top-load washers typically complete an entire wash cycle in a fraction of the time it takes to complete a load in a front-load or high-efficiency washer.
- Longer lifespan: In general, top-load washers tend to last longer than front-load washers (although many factors affect your washing machine’s longevity, including your usage patterns and maintenance tendencies).
- More flexibility: If you frequently discover essential items that need washing moments after you’ve started a load, most top-load washers will let you add extra items in the middle of a cycle.
Front-Load Washers
- Gentler on your clothes and household linens: If you’ve ever had to discard a favorite item of clothing that ripped or stretched when it got tangled around your top-load washer’s agitator, the thought of a washing machine without an agitator might be particularly appealing. The drum in a front-load washer spins at high speeds to clean your laundry, so you don’t have to worry about an aggressive agitator ruining items within the load.
- Easier to clean large, bulky items like pillows and comforters: Since the drum in a front-load washer isn’t obstructed by a cumbersome agitator, it can easily wash large items like pillows and bedding.
- Minimal water consumption: Front-load washers use significantly less water to clean laundry when compared to top-load washers, so investing in a front-load washer is an easy way to reduce your household’s water consumption.
- Efficient spin cycle reduces drying time: While a wash cycle in a front-load washer tends to take longer compared to top-load washers, the spin cycle in a front-load washer is so efficient that it will significantly reduce each load’s drying time, which can help reduce your power bill.
Smart Washers
- Stay on top of laundry: Set up notifications on your smart washer, and it will notify you when a cycle is complete or needs attention, so you’ll never again forget to move a wet load to the dryer.
- Reduce energy costs: With smart features like delay start, you can toss your clothes in the washing machine and program it to run during off-peak energy hours to reduce energy costs.
- Coordinate with family members: If your kids and significant other tend to slack on laundry duty, program your smart washer to send reminders to everyone in the family when a cycle is complete. You can finally stop nagging your loved ones about the laundry, and you won’t have to ask (repeatedly) if anyone moved the clothes to the dryer yet—you’ll already know the answer.
- Get maintenance reminders: When you integrate your smart washer into your smart home system or install the app on your smart device, it will send maintenance reminders as needed, and it will alert you of any issues in real-time.
To learn more about the advantages of each type of washing machine, stop in and talk to the appliance experts at your local Garner Appliance and Mattress. If you’re looking for a low-stress, aesthetically pleasing shopping experience, come check out the selection at our new North Raleigh showroom.