Maytag, supported by field testing by the Electric Power Research
Institute and the Energy Division of Oak Ridge National Labs (DOE)
reported water savings of 30% (approximately 20 gallons per load) and
energy savings of 35% compared to current generation standard washers.
Additional dryer savings will be realized because the washers operate at
a higher RPM (200 g force) during spin cycle and attain a 30%
imporvement in extraction. The DOE Energy Factor was said to be 3.7 and
electricity consumption was reported as 0.77 KWH/cycle. Maytag
indiocated that these savings will translate into $100 per year on
average.
Maytag would not specify a retail price, since that is set by their
local distributors, but it appears the retail price will be in the
$1,000 range.
On the savings end, Maytag made two notable announcements. One is that
they are communicating the annual water savings as being equivalent to
one person's drinking water for a lifetime. The association with
resources for our children and grandchildren is powerful. Second, they
said that in cooperation with EPRI and DOE, they were planning to
collect baseline water and energy consumption data for Burns, Kansas and
then replace a large number of washers and measure the changes in
consumption. A very ambitious project.
Members of the project advisory team included staff from EPRI and DOE
and Seattle Water Department Conservation Director Allan Dietemann
(dietema@water.ci.seattle.wa.us).
Maytag is not selling the "Neptune" line primarily as a high-efficiency
product, but is emphasizing other features of the horizontal-axis
technology, including: greater capacity (no agitator and the ability to
wash large items like blankets and multiple sheets), better cleaning
with less wear on clothes, lower detergent requirements and less noise.
While most people equate horizontal-axis with "front-loading," the tub
in these washers is actually tilted up well above the horizontal and the
door is large and does not require the user to stoop. Maytag also
claimed that unlike other horizontal-axis washers, theirs will not
develop excess suds if the owner uses too much detergent.
Maytag appears to be ready to make a significant effort at marketing
this product. In addition to Maytag's CEO and senior staff, the event
included the TV Maytag repairman (Gordon Jump) and a series of
TV-Moms-through-the-years to illustrate Maytag's long history and the
new product as being the step into the 21st century. Tongue planted
more-or-less in cheek, Barbara Billingsly ("Leave it to Beaver"), June
Lockhart ("Lassie"), Florence Henderson ("The Brady Bunch") and Isobel
Sanford ("The Jeffersons") posed next to Maytag models of the 50's,
60's, 70's and 80's and testified to their importance to their TV
families. Yes, it could be argued that the role of women in American
society took a momentary shudder backwards, but no one was taking this
any more seriously than an episode of Gilligan's Island.
Utilities in Washington State have already begun offering point-of-sale
incentives to retailers to discount and market efficient washers. For
information on the "WashWise" effort in Washington, you can contact Nora
Williams at Puget Sound Energy (206-462-3763) or Suzan Hill at Seattle
Public Utilities (206-684-4150).
-- Warren C. Lieboldwliebold@waonline.com wliebold@pppmail.nyser.net
Director of Conservation New York City Department of Environmental Protection
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