Electro-mechanical last until they rust out. You'd almost need to buy a spare electronics package to keep the other type going.
No none that I can think of..
Front loading supposedly uses less power and hot water.
It's the total life cycle that is important.
Have you saved anything if you had to buy two front loaders while I had to buy only one top loader during the same period of time?
I run the wheels off my cars. I still drive a 15 year old jeep. I know people who have traded in their cars every 3 years. Which is better for the environment and for my pocketbook?
Al
I used to own an old Bendix I bought used and kept going with the odd part. It was a front loader.
Until the first lightning storm! Actually, our dryer is partly digital (still has an electromechanical timer knob) and it has survived several strong lightning strikes that fried other appliances. Our dishwasher is all digital, no problems yet. But, it is something I worry about when this sort of discussion comes up. I think the manufacturers have gotten transient protection under much better control than the first generation of digital appliance controls.
Jon
Well, maybe. We've repaired our clothes washer several times, I think 3 new pumps, new water inlet valves a couple times, wash/drain valve once, etc. The transmission is obviously wearing out, and I think that will be the one that finally kills it. I bought it in 1979! It has at least a chance of making it to 30 years! I do all the repairs on it, which saves a lot of money. Our dishwasher had several repairs, too, until my wife just abandoned the thing for 3 months with dirty water locked inside. When she finally opened it up, it made everyone leave the house quickly! I made some attempts to clean the sludge out, but it seemed unlikely to ever stop stinking, so we had to have it replaced. The clothes dryer had a number of breakdowns, and a few years ago we replaced the electrically-heated one with a gas-heated one, hoping it would cut energy costs. Then natural gas went up in price! Wouldn't you know it would happen! One downside to the gas dryer is you can't bleed off the exhaust to heat and humidify the house in winter. We used to do this with the electric one.
Jon
Just run a few cycles with bleach and no clothes.
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