This machine gave my wife her weekends back

Warning: long post. I hope you think it's worthwhile, though. I didn't want to do a drive-by post.

Simply stated, this machine is fantastic. First, a quick disclaimer: I am an appliance salesman. I am very picky about what I buy for myself, because I know what's out there, and I talk with all the manufacturer representatives, so I'm familiar with nearly all the good AND bad points of just about everything they carry. I'm also very honest with my customers, because a bad sale today means money today and nothing tomorrow. In commission sales, the two most important things to sell are what the customer needs today and what the customer needs tomorrow.

That said, let's get down to the nitty gritty.

The Duet HT has a 4.0 cubic foot drum in the washer. This uses the IEC measuring system for volume, which means it can hold about twice the clothing/towels/etc. as a conventional machine with a 3.6 cubic foot drum. In other words, you can wash a king size comforter with no problem. Or, if towels are easier for you to conceptualize, you can wash about 25 towels (24" x 44", not the 3'x6' bath sheets) in a single load.

It uses about 14 gallons of water for the normal cycle, excluding pre-wash and second rinse. This compares to the standard of about 42 gallons in a conventional machine.
It also uses about half the electricity of a conventional washer, as gravity does much of the work, while a conventional machine has to fight against the inertia of some 180 lbs of water and clothes in the tub.

It also saves on water heater costs, because it uses much less water to begin with, and hotter temperatures are possible thanks to the internal water heater in the washer. This means that garments that require higher temperatures, and sanitizing cycles, will have the hot water they require.

There are plenty of cycles to choose from, and every time you choose a cycle with the dial, default settings will light up on the control panel. The control panel has been idiot-proofed to prevent people from ruining their clothes and blaming it on the machine. For instance, if you choose the "Delicate" cycle, it will only allow water temperatures to reach "warm," and it will not allow high or extra high spin speeds (because delicates would not like such things). Likewise, if you choose "Sanitary," it will keep you from being able to choose "cold" or "warm" for the water temperature. You can diddle with the settings, but only within the parameters defined by the chosen cycle.

This machine also allows you to delay start up to 19 or 20 hours (forgive my memory). This is good for several reasons: you can run laundry in the middle of the night, when energy costs even less; if you're Orthodox Jewish, you can set on Friday to run on Saturday, and you can turn off the cycle signal and button sounds, too, so you can observe the Sabbath (I'm not OJ, or anything else, but for those out there who are...); you can run the machine strategically so you'll have extra-hot water for your shower.

Front-loaders in general are heavier than conventional machines. This machine weighs in at around 210 lbs. No lightweight, to be sure, but it has to be heavy to keep the machine from bouncing and rocking during the spin cycles.
It is much gentler on clothes, because there is no agitator, and because the clothes scrub each other clean, there is less friction wear and pilling.

Front-loaders also save money via the dryer, because you're using it for fewer loads, and the loads come out so much dryer from the wash that it has to work less to get them dry.

Not to mention reduced detergent needs, the ability to sanitize your clothes, and even being able to wash things you'd normally spend money to clean at the dry cleaners (like comforters). The up-front price of a front-loader is nothing compared to the savings you'll reap from using it. After a few years, it's like it's paying you to wash your stuff.

Now, on to the fun stuff.

The wife and I had been using a GE Profile washer that was about 6 years old. It had a plastic drum, fairly small capacity (5 jeans maximum at once), and used about 40 gallons of water per load. Every weekend, while I was at work, my wife would spend the better part of Saturday AND Sunday doing almost nothing but laundry. She'd do anywhere from 5-7 loads Saturday, and the same Sunday. Believe it or not, there would still be laundry left.

Meanwhile, I'd been watching for sales and closeouts on our salesfloor. This machine had been discontinued (the new version would have steam, so this one had to go), and every couple weeks the price would drop. Surprisingly, the matching dryer sold first, and at about $850, it was a good price compared to its regular price of about $1250. However, the washer continued to sit. Maybe because of the color (silver, or "Diamond Dust" as Whirlpool has dubbed it), maybe because people in our market are not fans of Whirlpool brand...who knows?

At any rate, in October, when the closeout price dropped below $400 (!), I called her up, and she said to go for it. I ended up getting the machine and a 3 year protection agreement (yes, I work at Sears) for around $550.
We rented a U-Haul truck (lower clearance in the bed) and dragged the two washers we had in the basement - one from a previous apartment we'd lived in - to a local charity, then lugged this behemoth home and deposited it in the basement.

After hooking it up to the water and plugging it in (and, of course, after removing the shipping bolts!), I threw in an Affresh tablet and ran the "Clean Washer" cycle. This is to remove residues left in the machine from manufacturing, so they don't get redeposited on clothes/towels/sheets/etc.

Then, we ran our inaugural load: two sets of sheets and the accompanying pillowcases. Despite my wife's misgivings about how much we were putting in, I reassured her that the machine will be more than happy to wash it all. Sure enough, the machine started washing and after that load, she started washing everything in our basement.

Over the course of three non-consecutive days, in much shorter periods, she finished all the laundry we had to do.
My wife is absolutely over the moon, and it has given her so much more free time, because she's doing two conventional loads at once, and the dryer is done when the washer is done (unless sanitizing or running "whitest whites"). She even said she thought we'd always have piles of laundry waiting for the wash. Now, with much less effort, time, and money, everything gets washed on a regular basis.

The machine is extremely quiet. The second day it was in the house, my wife asked me a question about its performance, and I asked her if it was running right then. She thought about it, and guessed that it was. She guessed because she didn't hear anything, nor did I. Mind you, we were standing almost directly above the machine, and the floor where we were has a couple cut-outs for ductwork, and there was no competing noise in the house. Even during the spin cycle, we have to strain to hear anything.

The controls are very intuitive, and, as I said in the technical run-down, dummy-proofed. Where once I was banned from doing laundry, because I wasn't good at it with the old machines, I am now less-banned. That's progress, right? :)

As I stated above, I am an appliance salesman, so I made sure my wife was familiar with the maintenance and use of the machine. That means: HE detergent only; leave the door ajar when finished for the day; dilute fabric softener (if used at all, but avoid if possible); use powder for delayed starts; run Affresh tablets once a month (you can use "Washer Magic" instead, but it costs more and is less convenient; you can also use other products on the market for keeping HE washers clean, but Affresh is the simplest way, since it's just a little puck that you throw into the tub, and a pack of three is about $8).

No complaints thus far. It works like a dream, and we couldn't be happier with it!
Things to remember:

*Leave the door open when you're finished. If you don't, you WILL get mildew. It's not a defect, it's a fact. If you refuse to do this, it's nobody's fault but your own if your machine stinks to high heaven.

*Use only HE detergent. Every brand of detergent has an HE version. The only difference is that it doesn't make suds. Suds don't clean; they're just there to give you the feeling that cleaning is occurring. It's just like shampoo. They add ingredients specifically to make suds just because we think it's evidence of cleaning. 

Suds are the enemy with these machines, because the residue can foster mildew/mold growth, the suds can get to the control panel and render the machine unusable (resulting in a $400-$500 repair), they can break down the grease that lubricates the ball bearings that allow the drum to move smoothly (resulting in a $500-$700 repair), and it voids the warranty and will not be covered by any retailer-provided service contracts because it is considered abuse, similar to putting diesel fuel into a gasoline engine.

*Cycle times WILL be longer across the board, regardless of brand or model. I can put my clothes under Niagara Falls and they'll get clean in a heartbeat, but it took 100,000 gallons to do it. The less water and force is used, the more time required to do the same job.

*Despite longer cycle times, YES, energy use is cut in half. It takes far less energy to move clothes in a front-loader than it does to thrust against the inertia of 180 lbs of clothes and water in a conventional machine. Think of it this way: it may take you an hour to move 100 cinder blocks individually instead of all at once, but which would require more effort?

These are not like the older front-loaders that would fill 1/3 full of water and slosh around like a big mess. There will be some extra water, for soil suspension, but it won't look like a water park in the machine.

*Protection agreements for front-loaders are a wise investment. Repairs for machines like these can quickly become incredibly expensive, and with the amount of electronics inside them and the amount of work they're doing, wouldn't it be smart to err on the side of safety? Take advantage of the annual maintenance checks, too. They help keep small, unnoticed problems from becoming catastrophes. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

*GET IT DELIVERED. These things are freaking heavy. If this hadn't been a display model, no way would I have chosen to deliver it myself. I'm lucky; my front porch is the same height as the bed of the truck was, and the porch is open on all sides. It's a two-person job, and "fun" isn't the word I'd use to describe moving it.

Congratulations for getting this far. I appreciate your questions, comments, and feedback.