Bern clothes washer study. Final report

The US market for domestic clothes washers is currently dominated by conventional, vertical axis washers, which typically require about 40 gallons of water for each load. Although small for an individual load, the fact that 35 billion loads of laundry are washed annually in the US results in a substantial quantity of water and energy use. Although much smaller, today`s market for high-efficiency clothes washers which use much less water and energy is growing albeit slowly as manufacturers are making washers based around tumble-action, horizontal axis designs available, information about their performance and benefits is being developed, and consumers are made aware of these benefits. To help build awareness of these benefits and to accelerate markets for high-efficiency washers, DOE, under its Energy Star Program and in cooperation with Maytag Appliances, conducted a field-evaluation of high-efficiency washers using Bern, Kansas (population approximately 200) as a test bed. Baseline washer performance data as well as customer washing behavior were obtained from data collected on the existing washers of more than 100 participants in this instrumented study. Following a 2-month initial study period, all conventional washers were replaced by high-efficiency, tumble action washers, and the experiment continued for another 3-month period. Based on measured data from over 20,000 loads of laundry, the impact of the washer replacement on (1) individual customers` energy and water consumption, (2) customers` laundry habits and perceptions, and (3) the community`s water supply and waste water systems were determined and reported