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Washers and Dryers: Capacity, Energy Efficiency and Features

This is the last of a series of articles to help you choose the ideal washer and/or dryer for you. Here you’ll learn about the appliance capacity, energy efficiency and features.

Before getting into these specifications, you may want to decide:

• Washer and Dryer Set, All-in-one Combo Unit or Separate Machines?
• Front load or top load washer?

These decisions impact in your laundry room layout a lot, so it’s important to start with them. Now let’s see the last details before you get to the best appliance.

How to determine the capacity of a washer or dryer

There are machines ranging from 1.5 to 18 kg / 1.6 to 6 cu.ft. in capacity. The choice depends on the volume of clothes to be washed, so keep in mind how many people live in your house and how often the clothes are washed.

Machines with the capacity of:

• up to 6 kg / 1.9 cu.ft. are very small and suitable for those who live alone. Or for those who have very little space at home and are willing to wash clothes several times a week.
• 7 to 9 kg / 2 to 2.9 cu.ft. are medium capacity machines, suitable for one to two people homes.
• 10 to 12 kg / 3 to 4.9 cu.ft. are suitable for families with children, up to 4 people, or couples who want to wash clothes only once a week.
• Over 13 kg / 5 cu.ft. are suitable for large families, over four people, or smaller families who want to wash clothes only once a week.

Also consider the type of clothing you need to wash. Bed linen requires more capacity.

Energy efficiency of washers and dryers

If you want to save energy, the biggest difference won’t be at the moment of the purchase, but by avoiding the most advanced functions.

What consumes the most energy are washing with hot water and drying clothes, as high consumption is due to heating water or air.

Using hot water is interesting for washing very dirty items, such as children’s clothes. This washing mode better eliminates dirt, germs and bacteria, and better removes soap.

But for a more energy efficient use you can wash with cold water and naturally dry your clothes on a clothesline whenever possible.

Features of washers and dryers

Always be aware of the features that the machines offer to make your life easier. There are several brands, models and each of them has different details, such as:

• Economical washing function, which allows the water used for washing to be reused for other domestic tasks, such as washing the yard.
• Different types of washing, which promise to be suitable for each type of garment, such as underwear, bed linen, jeans and blankets.
• Smart sensors are internal sensors that calculate the amount of laundry to be washed, dosing the ideal amount of water, soap and fabric softener, avoiding waste.
• The “turbo performance” in centrifuging is interesting if you don’t want to buy a dryer or an all-in-one combo. This option provides greater agitation, so clothes come out with less water.
• Dry cleaning and deodorization are options for washing and drying all-in-one combo units. These functions use hot air to wash clothes.

So, have you decided which machine model is right for you? I hope this guide has helped you finding out the perfect capacity, energy efficiency and features for your washer and dryer.