Energy efficient commercial soft-mount clothes washers save energy relative to less efficient clothes washers by using less hot water to wash clothing and by leaving clothing dryer, which results in less drying energy being used. Machine energy use and savings are relatively minor. The RTF's savings estimates use federal performance metrics to estimate hot water load and dryer load. This information is coupled with regional estimates of annual laundry loads, real-word hot water heater efficiency, and dryer moisture removal efficiency. Front load washing machines tend to be more efficient than top load machines, and even front load machines that do not qualify for ENERGY STAR save energy, relative to the market average.
No measure applications are provided for top load machines because of a lack of efficient products in the market. Measure applications are provided for front load machines that meet the ENERGY STAR criteria and those that do not; for the possible combinations of water and dryer fuels; and for multi-family common space and laundromat applications. This UES measure was most recently updated in September 2017 to reflect updates to the federal standards and ENERGY STAR specifications, which become effective in January and February 2018, respectively. This is a Planning measure because of uncertainty in how accurately federal performance metrics, which these savings estimates rely on, reflect typical usage patterns in the region.