I have read a lot of comments from people who highly recommend the Speed Queens, but Consumer Reports has them at the bottom of the list. And the capacity of some of their machines is only 3.3. I'll take a look at that model Speed Queen and others, thanks.

Dan - I went to the Speed Queen website, and they only have 3 models and one has a 7 year warranty and the other two have a five year warranty. I looked at what is available at the local appliance stores and the model you mention is available but is actually selling for $879, All dealers are offering the same price. And it is a 3.3 size, no larger size offered. The two models offered both have stainless steel tubs, but one offers a time remaining display for an additional $20.

Model # AWNE82SP113TW01

Otherwise, they look like the same machine. I am considering buying it, but wonder why you thought it was $750.?

Also it would seem that they have had to comply with some government regulation and their 2018 machine will be made differently although the company is being very vague about what kind of changes they made. I'm thinking I should get the older model?

Hurry up and get a 2017 model Speed Queen. the new ones won't wash as you are expecting. Dealers will run out of old inventory fast

Try Whirlpool.

You couldn't pay ME to buy a washer without an onboard heater, and the Speed Queens do not have onboard heaters. I think you should "move to the dark side" and look at front loader washing machines. There is a Laundry Forum that just discusses washing machines. Here is the link: http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/laundry

You don't need an internal heater for a TL to wash with hot water. We have at least a dozen residential SQ TLs in our business and have to do wash that has a temperature greater than 160F. For the TL, because of the large amount of water used and shorter wash cycles, you only need to deliver water about 5F higher than the temperature you want. At work we have hot water heaters close to the machine so no issue at all. The large amount of water allows some heat loss to the clothing and machine frame and there might be another 5F cooling as the wash cycle proceeds. At home, there is a little more distance so I run the faucet closest to the machine to purge the cold water. I don't run the wash that hot at home. The water comes in at about 142-145F during the fill and by the time the machine is agitating it drops about 5F. I could turn the water heater up some more if I wanted to. You do need one on a FL they make now because you use much less water so any heat is lost to clothing and machine frame. You would also need to reheat as you go along because the cycles are longer.

You can also make the rinse warm on the SQ TL by changing the feed into the cold water fill.

The capacity is a little smaller but all of the other benefits outweigh that for me. I have a King comforter and it fits but doesn't agitate well. I fit it in there and fill with detergent and water. I let it run and soak and then spin out. We have a really nice laundromat close and I run it through the oversized FL machine they have to agitate and rinse. We have severe detergent allergies and the deep rinses are great on the SQ TL for all other loads. I really hate to see the old SQs go. Ours have taken such a beating, being used commercially. The oldest I think is more than 10 years old and gets used Mon-Fri all day, some use in the evening and weekends. There is a lot of unknown with the new SQ TLs.

You have to take CR with a grain of salt. They mark SQ down because it uses more water. I love that it cleans and rinses so well. Periodically my son does a load and leaves it for a few days and I find it. Still no smell of any kind. It beats even some of my other TLs. CR also rates the BlueStar range low but most people who have them on the appliance board them love them.

Prairiemoon -- On choosing the 2017 AWNE Speed Queens over the new design in the 2018 "TR" toploader models, I always try to avoid buying a first generation of a new product design. You might find comfort in Lorain Furniture's testing which makes that recommendation. Here is the YouTube link.

There also are more videos in this long thread at automaticwasher.org (a site which will give you more information and biases than you might want to know about.) Looks like maybe the new TR design is not up to par, yet.

We decided to go with the Speed Queen and bought the older model this morning. Our Front Loading Frigidaire washing machine bought in 2011, would have had to be repaired this week, out of warranty and instead of spending the money for the service call, we are junking it.

Friedajune - You couldn't pay me enough to try another front loading machine. [g]. I feel like I haven't had clean clothes since I bought ours. And they definitely do not rinse out the detergent residue, even with repeated rinse cycles. And as far as conserving energy, I don't see how that happens, when a wash cycle takes 3x longer in a front loader than these top loading agitator machines. As far as I'm concerned they took an exceptionally well made and high performing machine and ruined it with the front loading design. And with the amount of vibration, it's not surprising that it now leaks. The spinning probably loosens half the bolts in the machine. And it sets wrinkles even in clothes that are treated to reduce wrinkles. And last but not least, mildew and mold issues around the seal on the tub. I have no idea why anyone buys a front loading machine.

Wekick - Thanks for the info about keeping the hot water temperature high enough on the washer. Our machine is in the basement, so I have no sink nearby to run off the cold water before filling, but we'll have to check out the temperature of the water as it fills. I agree, I used to depend on CR a lot more, but now I do take what they have to say with a grain of salt. I thought that too, that due to the lower use of water, in the front loaders, that is the reason they only recommend front loaders. Personally, I think they are wrong, to value the lower use of water above actual performance.

Priairemoon:

Good to get that taken care of, eh?

With you having laundry in a basement and apparently using a standipe drain, I'll suggest checking the height of the standpipe. The manual for the 2017 SQ top-loaders specs the the max drain height at 48" above floor level. Drainpipe
height will be a function of the depth of the basement and where the
sewer line runs in relation to the floor. Totally a YMMV thing. Something to confirm before the new washer is delivered.

FWIW, I've had a Frigidaire front-loader for ten years with none of the problems you mentioned running into with your 5 y.o. model. I suspect Frigidiaire's quality control tanked for a while after I bought mine. Judging from the survey statistics I've seen (CR membership surveys, Yale Appliance Blog, sweet home, etc.), it looks like one in four Frigidaire front loaders have been having major problems in the first five years of ownership.

FreidaJune & Wekick:

I understand the preference for onboard heater for when one wants truly hot water washes and does not have a Speed Queen. For me, one of the attractions of Speed Queen washers (both top and front loader models) is that the hot setting is as hot as the water heater will deliver.

That has not been so with my past and present heater-less major brand washers, top and front loaders.

My heaterless front-loader is maybe 6 feet from the water heater. The water heater is set for 145°F. (Okay, for any out there who want howl and writhe in self-righteous fury about how dangerous they think that is, let me say that there is a tempering valve for the water to the household faucets other than the washer.) Thing is, my current washer and many major brand models seem temper the incoming water temperature with their own mixing valves. According to the manual for my Frigidaire, the "cold" setting tempers water to 65°F, the warm to 85°F and the hot to 120°F. When I've checked it with probe thermometers, those temps are pretty much what I get in the clothes after the first fill/soak.

I have had a front loader machine since 2005, and have not had one of the problems you mentioned. Not one. Admittedly, I did spend $$$ on a Miele in 2005. Worth every cent IMHO.

For fun, and because I am a geek, I just ran an insta-read thermometer under the cold water faucet in my bathroom which is next to the laundry. The water is 50 degrees on Jan. 3. My water heater is another 20' away. When I run the hot water for the showers or kitchen sink, I need to let it run for a while at this time of year. That cold water is entering my washing machine too, for a few minutes. Even if the incoming water is eventually blazing hot, we've had several minutes of cold water coming in. We want the washing machine's water temperature to achieve two-and-a-half times the temperature from that incoming water temp of 50. For the machine's tub's water to recover from that, I need an onboard heater. For that reason, for me it's a must-have.

@ jwvideo - We had our new SQ delivered on Tuesday. No issue with the standpipe and the delivery went without a hitch despite 18 inches of snow on the ground and having had to dig a path for the expected delivery to the basement bulkhead the weekend before. A little sand applied on ice that had developed and we were good to go.

We had to wait over a week for it and we had quite a pile of laundry waiting for it, so I've already put about 10 loads of laundry through it. [g]. I'm already happier with this machine than the old one. They had two models available and I ended up with the one that has the electronic buttons, only because the warranty was 5 years on it and the other machine that I believe had dials, had a 3 year warranty. Why I have no idea. You'd think it would be the other way around.

One of the first questions I asked the delivery team was how to get the hottest water in the wash. He told me, just don't use the normal cycle. Evidently it doesn't allow for hot water, but mixes the hot and cold. On Permanent Press cycle or Heavy Duty, when you set it to hot, you get straight hot.

Keeping this conversation in mind, about water coming into the tub, initially cold that lowers the eventual temp of the water, I asked him how I could overcome that, since I didn't have a sink nearby that I could run off the cold before filling the washer. And what we figured out, was that I could start the cycle, allow for water to begin to fill the tub, keep lifting the lid, to see when the hot water was coming out and cancel the load and spin out the small amount of cold water before starting the load. I did do that a couple of times, but once I got the water for the first load all set, subsequent loads had hot water entering the tub from the beginning. The water gets hot enough that even the exterior top of the lid is hot to the touch. lol. I love that.

I can see that this machine is not the same as the old washer I had for 30+ years, and the biggest difference seems to be in the agitator action. That old top loader had quite a vigorous agitator motion, up and down and I think this Speed Queen has less agitation. I can't tell yet, because it doesn't continue washing when you lift the lid, as the old one would. I know you can put some cardboard somewhere to prevent the wash from stopping when you lift the lid, but, I haven't felt the need to do that.

I felt my stress level lower after a few loads of laundry. :-). The clothes were coming out of the wash in much the same condition I remember having with my old top loader. Cleaner, more well rinsed, less wrinkled. I was able to run some of them in the dryer for 5 minutes and hang them to dry with much less wrinkles then the front loader. Ahhh! Hot water for towels has been great. Some of my old towels look so much better.

So thank you all for the input and pointing me in a good direction! Now if anyone knows of a non toxic laundry detergent that really cleans, I could stop thinking about the laundry.

@ freidajune, there seems to be a number of satisfied Miele owners on this forum and they've mentioned how much they like the on board heater. One of the other people who was happy with their Miele machine had paid $2,000 for just the washer. Many people are unwilling or unable to spend that much on a washer. Fortunately, there are other options and I'm just as happy with my less expensive SQ, at less than half the price. Lucky for me. And in my area, it's not easy to find a Miele. The appliance company where we buy appliances chooses not to offer Miele because their parts are hard to get. So to each his own. We all have different needs and wants. Someone else was able to purchase a used Miele at $100 for a pair, because someone in their family could do repairs for them. I'd be happy in that situation too, probably. We thought of spending the money for a more expensive Miele dishwasher after having an awful time with our last dishwasher too, but the nearest Miele dealer was 40 minutes away and they wouldn't offer service for us if we bought from them. It seems nice that we've made different decisions but we are both happy. :-)

As 2018 comes to a close soon, thought I'd update, that we are still very happy with the Speed Queen washer. Clothes are coming out clean, fresh and well rinsed. I did not need to do anything special to get hot water right away to the tub. When I turn on the hot water cycle as soon as I lift the lid, the water is already hot.

I’m not a laundry expert but I do a lot of laundry. It never seems to end. We just moved into a new house and put the new SQ top load in. I really like this set.

I gave my front load set away because I wanted something that washed my laundry quickly. So far, so good.