- According to consumersearch.com, top-loading washer has an agitator that stands upright and turns to move the clothes around the tub and a door on the top through which you can load and unload the clothing. Front-loading washers usually do not have an agitator, but instead they have a drum that sits horizontally and a door that opens from the front.
- Top-loading washers use more water because clothing is washed in a full tub, unlike front-loading washers that work by moving clothing in and out of a shallow pool of water. According to the California Energy Commission's Consumer Energy Center, most top-loading washers use 40 gallons of water per washer load. Front-loading washers, on the other hand, are estimated to use about 20 to 25 gallons per load.
- The EPA's Energy Star Program stresses that both front-loading washers and the most advanced top-loading washers are more energy efficient than the earlier top- loaders were. The key ingredients, this program points out, are that the washer has no agitator and that it has an efficient high-speed spin setting. In washers with no agitator, the clothes are moved through a smaller amount of water. A high-speed spin cycle shortens the time it takes to wash the clothes. The Consumer Energy Center cites a US Energy Commission study n which homeowners who were given a new front loader washer to replace an older washer saved an average of 56 percent on energy over the course of the study.
- A top-loading washer is convenient because you do not have to bend over to load the washer. On the other hand, front-loading washers are often used in stackable laundry pairs, which is a practical solution for small spaces. Because front-loading washers have no agitators, they are gentler on clothing and cause less wear and tear.
- Top-loading washers are cheaper to purchase, but they cost more in terms of energy use. Front-loading washers also require the use of low-sudsing detergents, which are more expensive than regular detergents.
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