For good basic energy efficiency, cleanability etc...
Frigidaire Affinity.

They start at around $799 and go up from there.

Begin by educating yourself about energy efficiency.

That gas dryer you could do "if it makes sense" is absolutely cheaper to operate in almost every corner of the country than an electric equivalent.

The Speed Queen washer you'd "love to stay away from due to the energy efficient department" is rated to cost $29 per year (gas water heater) in operating costs according to the federal Energy Guide sticker. How much do you think you can save with a high efficiency model?

Buy whatever you want, but do it from an informed viewpoint.

Here is a link that might be useful: Speen Queen AWM542 Energy Guide

LG WM2250CW is rated to cost $10 per year.

But most people that want the most efficient appliances are not concerned primarily with money.

They are concerned with conserving valuable resources that, like water, are sometimes priced cheaply.

Here is a link that might be useful: Energy Guide

This post was edited by deeageaux on Sun, Jul 14, 13 at 21:55

Thanks for the feedback guys.

@georgect: I'll take a closer look at that one. From trolling these forums I don't recall seeing that pop up too much... but it's been a bit quiet so there's some research to be done.
@knot2fast: Agreed... this is the beginning of the education process. I'm pretty sure I will end up with a gas dryer...
With respect to the SpeedQueen, I recall that the top load washers (the more popular ones from what I can tell) are not EnergyStar certified. That's one point that I'm using to make that comment. deeageaux was correct in saying that this concern is more from a natural resource vs cost standpoint.

@deeageaux: I'm guessing the LG WM2250CW is your vote?

I think the LG is good at basic washing and if it last 10 years you should consider yourself lucky and if it last 8 years you should consider it fair.

It uses "cold water technology" which means it does not have an internal water heater. There is only so clean a front loader can get whites without an internal water heater, much less kill bacteria.

Asko W6424W cost $1282 and has a substantial internal water heater. It can get to 205 degrees F. It is rated at $15 per year. But it will get whites white. It will kill just about all bacteria at that temperature. But that heat is optional. You can run cold washes when you want to.

And it is likely to last three times as long as LG. Buying three appliances and putting two in a landfill is also a waste of resources. When you can, instead, buy one appliances.

Another vote for Firgidaire. They're like the cheaper version of the Electrolux washers. I think CR liked them, too.

Alex

Since your concern is more for natural resources than cost, the gas versus electric may not be such an obvious choice. You'd need to look into whether fracking was used to produce the gas versus coal, hydro, or nuclear generated electricity.

Of course, circuit board manufacturing isn't exactly a clean process either, but most of it is done in other countries. Deeageaux smartly pointed out the landfill issues related to disposal of end-of-life appliances, but also consider the manufacturing resource costs of multiple appliances over an expected service life.

All in all, you are correct. It's wise to use natural resources judiciously, but It's not always a simple calculation.

but also consider the manufacturing resource costs of multiple appliances over an expected service life.

I thought that was implied in my comments.

Anyways, you can analyze this ad infinitum.

How is the electricity generated? The electricity can be generated by the same fracking generated natural gas.

Or you can go off grid and generate your own solar power. :)

While burning natural gas (i.e., methane, a greenhouse gas) does produce less carbon dioxide than burning coal, it's been argued that during the production and distribution of natural gas, more carbon emissions are released into the environment, overall, than coal. Needless to say, the validity of the claims behind the eco-friendliness of natural gas, hydraulic fracturing ("fracking"), and fossil fuels in general, remain highly controversial.

That said, in more practical terms, residential energy rates for natural gas will typically be significantly lower than for electricity (however it's been generated). In major metropolitan areas such as Los Angeles, this cost difference is huge, making the choice of a gas dryer an easy decision (providing you have gas in your home, and are able to properly vent the dryer).

For whatever reason, so-called, "Energy Guides" (the ubiquitous yellow stickers found on most appliances) aren't published for either gas or electric dryers, making direct comparions near-impossible. Modern front-loading washers are pretty miserly on both electricity and water usage, and the minute differences in efficiencies between brands should be negligible.

This post was edited by studio460 on Tue, Jul 16, 13 at 6:45

I have the Fridgidaire Affinity set, we bought last fall. I really like them, shortest wash can be done in 20 minutes :) It has NFS certified sanitizing and steam and allergy settings. We only paid $1100 for the set, and had a $200 rebate, so $900 for the set! We have kids that get dirty, so I can attest that they clean well.

To close out on the very useful news, I ended up purchasing Whirlpool. It's been a while so I'm not quite sure why I opted for that over all the other recommendations here, pretty sure it was about availability and discount.

washer: WGD70HEBW1

dryer: WFW70HEBW1

Haven't had any issues with them so far... quite happy with the purchase. Only one thing (though for some reason I feel like this was also an issue with other ones) is that the speakers are so quiet. With an appliance this size, I would've guessed this could fit in a speaker with a bit more presence.

Speakers in a washer, I am confused. Do you mean the buzzer or bell that rings when a wash or dry is done? Or is there something I don't know about?

Yeah... the buzzer. I find mine is so soft that I can barely hear it. I'm better off listening to whether the drum is still moving than the buzzer sound.

Oh, thank you for clearing that up. My washer doesn't have a buzzer. I just go back and check on it after a set period of time.