Thats the first I heard that Whirlpool is releasing a FL steam machine. LG makes one. The latest release from Whirlpool was the Duet Sport and I know of nothing else. Where did you come across that information?

I think you may be referring to the Maytag Epic, built by Whirlpool.
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/18092006/6/n-usa-whirlpool-unveils-new-maytag-washer-home-depot.html

I have been looking at the Epic, I know that machine is not Steam. I am sure we will be hearing about new Steam Machines for a while now that LG has the Steam Machines.

Yep, there is a Duet with steam coming out - the "Whirlpool Duet 4.0 Cu. Ft. 14-Cycle Steam Washer." Here is the info on it @ Whirlpool's website...

Here is a link that might be useful: Whirlpool Duet w/ Steam ---- Whirlpool Website

I wish some more info would come out on it!!! I just can't decide between the LG w/Steam, the HE4t, the Duet, or if I should wait to see the Duet w/Steam. I really wish I knew when it was going to be available!! Please let me know if you find any more info. :)

Here is a link to it on Best Buy's website...

Here is a link that might be useful: Whirlpool Duet 4.0 Cu. Ft. 14-Cycle Steam Washer - White

I have the LG Tromm with steam. Its a great FL. A quick look at the specs on the Whirlpool shows that it doesn't even do an extra rinse. I think that feature is important. On my LG I can not only set it for an extra rinse, when the cycle is over I can set it to rinse and spin again. I have used the steam feature and it works great. LG also has a much better and longer warranty.

I have got to say it....I am sorry!
I am anxious to hear from all the Duet user's that doubted/criticized/demeaned the effectiveness of steam in cleaning clothes when LG was the only manufacturer to have this feature. Now that Whirlpool has copied this innovation and I am sure it will be on the Kenmore's and Maytags too. Welcome to the club...although 2 1/2 years late...welcome anyway.
Sorry if this offends anyone, but a few months back there was a heated discussion on the forum as to how LG has misled people and steam was only a gimmick and steam has not added value, ridiculous for paying a premium for that feature etc. etc. blah, blah and so on and so forth. I am basking in this that the Mighty Duets/HE5t's/Epics have jumped on the bandwagon.
I look for the omnipotent Miele and even GE/Fridgi's to pull up the rear soon! Let's not stop there...the HE TL's will not want to be left out and may want a piece of the action too! Too funny/ironic....

Just purchased the Aspen Green Steam Washer set and it looks awesome. Everyone I know who had a Duet loves it. I also have friends who recently purchsed LG's and love them. I made my decsion based on reliablity data. LG's reliablity is not known. LG is made in Korea, Whirlpool in Germany. I had a Whirlpool Calypso but they had a class action lawsuit and I think were just a lemon design in general. Kenmore called theirs Elite. Whirlpool also gave me a discount for going back with them so I decided to go with them again. Whirlpool's Steam Washer and Dryer looks impressive we'll see.

Although LG came out with the steam option first, Consumer Reports said that the steam feature on the Whirlpool machines worked better than on the LG washer. A bit of irony there? ;-)

Joe

No irony at all, IMO. Later entrants have time to study the original, and they should improve on it. Otherwise, they're just (fast or slow) followers.

Just changed my HE5t being delivered on Thursday to a HE5t-Steam. The Sears manager worked a fair deal so the new version was about $200 more. Made this change in spite of the fact it has steam. The big attraction of the new machine is that it uses it's internal heater now in: Normal/Casual, Bulky/Bedding, Kidswear, Heavy Duty and Whitest Whites. Now the machine is very very close to what the Miele should have been. Still believe the steam aspect is a gimmick but atleast Whirlpool/Kenmore positions it in a more straightforward way as a means of heating the water. They talk about the "Steam Treat" option as a profile wash that provides multiple temperatures. Some prior posts talked about Whirlpool/Kenmore going with steam as a validation of the concept; I view it more as a marketing "keeping up with the Jones". Wouldn't split hairs about the Whirlpool/Kenmore implementation vs. the LG system based on what CR said. Assuming CR did a valid test, the tone of their assessment was that the addition of steam was marginal for both, but between the two Whirlpool had a slight edge.

Forgot to add...

Sears charges $390 for their 5 year extended maintenance contract on this item. They make a big deal about how much better this is than an extended warranty and can't really be compared with the 5 year extended warranty from HD for under $100. Of course HD doesn't sell Kenmore so you'd never be able to get this contract price for this machine.

Called GE warranty service and got a price of $237.42 for a 5 year extended warranty on the Kenmore HE5t-Steam. HD does their extended warranty program through GE. Just goes to shows the power of bulk purchasing!

Anyone find other vendors who will write a contract on a Kenmore?

Hi Gordonr
In your location, you will appreciate the HE5T for less vibration. I think both Crooks 101 and I found that out after taking the long route. Good luck !!

Just to clarify what gordonr stated earlier...from the HE5t w/Steam Treat using the heater in said cycles.
(you HAVE to use the Steam Treat option to activate the onboard heater in said cycles) right?

From the online manual:
When STEAM TREAT is selected, the water temperature of the selected wash cycle is automatically set to warm. The water will then be slowly heated to the temperature selected, along with steam, to aid in the stain removal. This option is available on the following cycles: Normal/Casual, Bulky Bedding, Kidswear, Heavy Duty, Whitest Whites.

If you don't use the Steam Treat option then it looks like the only cycle that will heat or maintain the temp. with the heater is the Heavy Duty cycle. What happened to the Whitest Whites using the heater?

georgect,

What I saw that got my interest was in the "features and benefits" page of the manual. There is a section titled, "Thermal Optimizer with Smart Wash Technology"

It says,

"The heating system ensures that the wash water is heated to the preset temperature for Normal/Casual, Bulky/Bedding, KidsWear, Heavy Duty, Whitest Whites and the STEAM TREATÂ option. It also provides Smart Wash Technology with "Stepped Cleaning" when you are using the STEAM TREATÂ option. "Stepped Cleaning" starts the wash cycle with warm water to remove stains."

I interpret the first sentance as saying it uses the heater in those cycles even if you don't choose Steam Treat.

My experience is that the manuals and other literature are not entirely accurate. While the quoted text seems to imply that the heater is used for the normal cycle, it may not be unless you use the stain option.

If I want to be sure the heater is used, I just select the heavy duty or whitest whites cycle on my washer.

While the preset warm temp is 104F on the Kenmore, sometimes when I do a small "normal" load in the winter, especially after the drum is cold from the cold final rinse of the previous load, the wash temp does not reach 104F. It may end up being closer to 95. Not a big deal for me. While the Bosch uses the heater on all cycles, warm is only 90F for the Bosch, so to me there is no significant difference. Larger loads don't have that problem since there is the opportunity to add more hot water to reach the proper water temperature.

Joe

Joe,

Good point - tech writers don't always get it right. The reason I'm optimisic on this one is that the same section of the manual for the HE5t (non steam) read,

"The heating system ensures that the wash water is heated to the preset temperature for Heavy Duty, Whitest Whites, Sanitary, and the Stain Treat option."

That very similar statement ended up being true it that the heater is used in those cycles whether or not stain treat is selected.

In a couple of days I'll know for sure.

gordonr,

Please let us know. I can hear the heater on my nearly 5 year old HE3t turn on and off with a relatively loud click, which occurs exactly one minute after the fill stops (on cycles that use the heater). I know the heaters on LG models don't make such a noise when they activate, and perhaps the newer Kenmore models don't either.

Are you taking bets on if the heater works on the normal cycle or not? :-)

The text you quoted sure sounds like the heater should work, but then this note in the manual is less promising:

NOTE: For the best energy performance, use the Normal/Casual Cycle.

Joe

If there's no audible click of the heater relay activating, then another way to tell when the heater is running is check the amperage draw, with either a clamp-on ammeter or a device such as Kill-A-Watt. My neighbor found that his Neptune 6500 apparently only runs the heater when using Heavy Soil or the Stain Cycle option (which also sets Heavy Soil).

Joe,

I think betting probably is one of those no-no according to the iVillage terms of service, but the drama heightens nevertheless. Maybe the Las Vegas bookmakers have picked up on this event!

Yea - I saw that phrase as well about the normal cycle being best for energy. Hope that's just a carry-over from the previous version of the manual. Of course you have to heat the water somewhere and energy star counts the energy used at the DHW source.

Really hoping for a good result so this doesn't turn into a 150 response post like the crooks101 Miele thread.

I have both Kill-a-watt and a watts-up meters so will be able to disect the energy profile of a wash cycle.

YES, I also have the Kill-A-Watt AND Watt's Up

I like the Watt's Up (about $100 a few years ago) because of the built-in cord and easy modes, but the Kill-A-Watt was cheaper ($25) and has a few extra functions (power factor,ect)

I happen to have the LG WM2688 steam washer & DLG8388 gas dryer and love them both.

About a year ago they came out with a USB version of the watts-up. It now has power factor and a bunch of other stuff. It was a bit over $100 as I remember. They are coming out with network version of watts-up. Cool but kind of expensive. The new version has a real time clock which is the one missing thing from lower-end versions I'd most like to have. Found a couple of minor bugs in the USB version and sent it back to the company for a firmware update once they were able to duplicate the bugs and make a fix. Nice company to deal with.

I am looking at buying a kill-a-watt, but probably should check the watts-up. Any thought on which is the best deal?

gordonr,

I will look forward to your report on how your heater works. The cycles on my 2003 HE3t seem to be shorter than on the newer models, so I suspect the heater will be activated for a longer period of time if necessary.

On my washer, the Whitest Whites (WW) and Heavy Duty (HD) are exactly the same, except that that WW cycle has the extra rinse option already selected, and the HD cycle has the stain treat option selected. The max amount of time the heater runs depends on the soil level setting.

Light = Heater does not activate
Normal = 7 minutes
Heavy = 16 minutes

When stain treat is selected, the heater can run for over 35 minutes, with a max wash time of over 40 minutes.

The wash time for the Sanitary cycle extends automatically if necessary. While washing a huge load of towels with the stain treat option activated, the heater has run over 90 minutes. [The wash water starts at warm (104F) and is heated to extra hot (153F)] If you include the "catalyst" fill time and the wash time after the high temp is reached, the wash portion of the cycle can last up to an hour and 45 minutes. If stains don't come up after that, they probably won't ever come out.

Joe

Joe,

The Kill-a-Watt can't be beat for good fuctionality and low price. The watts-up adds several extra functions and it can datalog and have the results downloaded to a computer. You can set the logging interval, and decide what parameters you want logged.

I'm starting to gather data on the HE5t-steam and it's heater use. Ran one load with steam/stain treat. It ran the internal heater for a long time. Watched it for a while and didn't see any overt steam even though it was on a stream cycle. From my brief experience it doesn't appear that the machine clicks when using it's heater.

More in the coming days.

Are there any steam washers that are more compact and not so large as the Trom and Whirlpool?

Well, after reading about the steam function my question is: Is it worth the extra $200 or not? If so, which would you buy (Brand and Model) for an older couple who doesn't wash really large loads?

The steam dryers look promising as they are supposed to be able to freshen items that can't normally be washed in a home machine. (Pillows, sofa cushions, etc)

What are the really useful functions that are touted? Does 1000rpm washer spin out significantly less water than the 1200rpm? Well, you get my drift!

Buying a w/d has become as confusing as a computer purchase.

I liked Henry Ford's version. "Give 'em any color they want, so long as it's black."

My wife and I purchased the Whirlpool FL washer (model 9600) and the matching dryer about 4 months ago. Outside of a cold water valve that failed upon testing at delivery, it's been near perfect.

As for the steam function, my wife wanted that feature since she wanted to have to option of being able to steam a garment every now and then if she was going out somewhere. We haven't used the feature much, but it's useful when you need it. If your spouse complains about wrinkled garments before you go out to someplace nice, then pay for the feature. Otherwise., save your money.

I can't speak to 1000 RPM drying but 1200 RPM drying works real nice! It's also stable on my subfloor laundry room, which is great.