We recently had occasion to buy a new clothes washer.  We used to have one of those old fashioned top loading washers that used something like 70 gallons per wash.  Our clothes washer drains into a huge, old-fashioned laundry sink so we can see exactly how much water goes through it.  Anyhow, we went shopping at the typical big box stores and found a high efficiency, front-loading Amana washer for $489.  On average, this washer apparently saves ~10,500 gallons per year compared to a typical top loader.  Figuring our water bill alone (let alone sewer and electric), this new machine will pay for itself in 4 years.  Really, I suppose it would pay for the additional expense over a regular washer in much less than that.  Anyhow, we jumped at it and got free delivery to boot!

(I don’t know if you can get a sense of how steep this is…when we pull up it at an angle, it lifts one back tire off the ground of the car)

The happy delivery day was last Saturday so we woke early and built an elevated stand on which to set the washer.  We opted to save $150 for the matching stand that was offered.  It’s going to be in our ugly basement so we didn’t care if it matched.  Actually, the stand looks awesome anyhow.

Ok, so the happy day came and we prepared the space.  The delivery guys called and we warned them (as we did when we bought the washer) that we live on top of a seriously steep hill that kills big trucks.  “Yes, ok, we’ll consider that”, they said.  Of course, they sent a couple of fellas up in a huge delivery truck anyhow.  They couldn’t begin to get the truck up our driveway, but they did manage to get it up the road.  We hauled the washer to our house and got it hooked up.  I dropped them a tip and waved good-bye.  I secretly watched as they started to back the truck back down onto the main road (our road is a dead-end, one-lane road with no turn around for a big truck).  Sure enough, the steep road claimed their truck.  The driver got the back end stuck on the main road below.  He hit the gas and it dug in good.  He tried to rock it back and forth and sent up an awesome plume of tire smoke and dug a big hole in my road.

(That’ll leave a mark!)

The police came as traffic was snarled in both directions…for 20 minutes.  My neighbors were stuck on our road unable to get out as well.  It was so much fun.  Anyhow, the driver finally was able to burn enough off of his tires and my road to get a grip and the truck slammed down off of my road and was able to drive off to a special location where the policeman had a talk with the driver.

(It’s better than the movies!)

So, the new washer is awesome.  It uses a ton less water.  We can tell based on watching the laundry sink fill up (or now, not fill up) as it spins.  This new machine spins and whirs and makes all sorts of musical sounds (click here to hear the music it plays when the cycle is done).  It’s a happy, magical washing machine.  We all like to sit and watch it go through its cycles as it washes.  We have even watched an entire cycle more than once…a cycle is 54 minutes…pitiful.  Anyhow, if you buy a new washer, consider an entry level front loader.  They aren’t much more expensive than a top loader and are so cool!