[quote=jstoesz]Buy the least energy and water efficient models you can find.
Screw all modern clothes and dish washer water efficient models.
Front loaders tend to vibrate your whole house unless installed on a slab, and do a piss poor job of washing and rinsing your clothes.
On the plus side they tend to be gentler on clothes, because they don’t actually wash anything.[/quote]
Not only clothes washers, but dishwashers, too. Back in the 80s, you never thought twice about a dishwasher cleaning and drying your dishes. Now, they might either clean them or dry them, but very rarely do they do both. All too often, they can’t do either properly. While the dishwasher itself might use less energy and water during the cycles, I’m willing to bet that we are using MORE water and energy for every load when taking into consideration the fact that people have to pre-wash their dishes and then dry them afterward (possibly putting them through the “drying” cycle twice after the initial wash).
Regarding the clothes washers, I’ve heard that even the top-loaders (which I will always use) have new governors that restrict the incoming temperature so that the “hot” wash is now just warm because it automatically adds cold water to maintain “energy efficiency” standards.
And how much water do “efficient” toilets save if you end up having to flush them all throughout the process because you’re afraid they’ll become clogged? (Not me, of course; I’m referring to other people.) 😉
This topic is a pet peeve of mine.
Oh, one more thing: If you try to buy a dishwasher that will last 20-30 years (like they used to — the MOST energy-efficient and non-polluting way to manage appliances) the salespeople will laugh you out of the store. The new appliances are now designed to last about 5-10 years if you’re lucky. Apparently, the energy required to…
-harvest raw materials
-build the appliances
-ship them overseas
-deliver them to the homes
…isn’t as much as using a bit more hot water (maybe, see above). Let’s not forget the pollution involved with all of these processes, too.
Then, you have to deal with the disposal of the old appliances which uses energy and causes even more pollution.
But hey…they’re “responsible environmentalists,” right?
