7 Crappy Products From the Green Movement
4. Front-Loading Clothes Washers
Here is the dirty secret about energy-efficient front loading clothes washers: they suck. Before I owned one, a friend warned me, “they really don’t get clothes clean.” I didn’t believe her, but she was right. Front loaders utilize a technology still used to clean clothes on the banks of the Ganges in Bangladesh – small amounts of water and soap are used to beat damp clothes on rocks. Instead of rocks, American front loaders use a rough drum. The clothes gently swirl, then rest and thump in a puddle of soapy water. Sure they use less energy, but who cares when clothes stay dirty? And the mandatory “HE” detergent you must buy also costs more. The Green Movement hated the top loaders that cleaned clothes efficiently. In those good old days, clothes sat submerged in several gallons of water filled with detergent. Lots of electricity agitated the clothes to pure, clean beauty. So don’t be fooled by the neighbor or salesman who tells you front loaders are the way to go. Get yourself a big, wasteful, but effective top-loader before the government bans them.
5. The Chevy Volt
What can be said about the Chevy Volt that hasn’t already been said? Just remember back to that first perplexing moment when you learned that this electric car actually had a gasoline engine. Huh?
With all due respect, your Chevy Volt comment shows a lack of objective judgement of a new technology. These are facts:
1. The Chevy Volt is a product of the “George W Bush $7500 EV Tax Credit of 2007.” The car was launched nationally on 11.01.2011, a full four years later.
The purpose of the car is much more a product of reducing dependence on foreign oil and creating a new market segment than reducing greenhouse gases that cause global warming. The Champion of the Volt was conservative, loyal Republican, Robert Lutz, who does not even think that humans have caused global warming.
2. Despite the unprecedented campaign against it, the Chevy Volt is outselling almost 1/2 of the cars on the market… Including the Escalade and the Corvette.
Its first full year reaped higher revenue ($1,000,000,000… nine zeros, not a typo) than year one of the Toyota Prius. The Prius which was mocked for years, is now a cash cow and the #3 selling nameplate worldwide. Not a bad template to follow.
3. The Chevy Volt is #1 in Customer Satisfaction for its segment for BOTH JD Powers and Consumer Reports. Its 92% “buy again” rating is the highest of ANY car, regardless of class or price. Can you name any other
4. GM reported selling over 1M cars over 30MPG. Technology of the Volt has clearly been leveraged in products such as the eAssist which has boosted MPG in large, high volume cars by 35% in one year. Derivative technologies of the Volt are likely to generate another $5,000,000,000/year in revenue for GM.
5. Because it has a gasoline generator, the car can go 360 miles without stopping, but still get over 120MPG for the average driver. It also gets 273ft-lbs of instant torque and a top speed of 100MPH. Number of other cars that can match those stats: 0. There are absolutely no compromises by getting a Volt, unlike a gasoline engine car (frequent, costly visits to the pump) or an typical EV (limited range, poor performance).
Regular PJ readers… on your mark, get set…
Ooooh 273 ft lbs of torque..
No compromises in getting a Chevy Volt? Capitulate to the evil that has taken over our country, that has taken money from me to give to union (thugs) to get paid for doing nothing, to lay off non-union middle management and to cause dealers to sell off (I know one of these fine folks who had a Caddy dealership.)
100 mph in a volt? You, my friend, are full of baloney. You are a huckster.
Where to start: ridiculous price bracket; huge battery packs are an incredible pollution nightmare, both in the mining and production of materials, manufacture and especially disposal; said battery pack will fail sooner or later, incurring about $6K to replace at a time in the life of the vehicle that will give it an intense negative ROI or resale value. (Recent article in PJM re: no resale value on volts) Instant candidate for Cash for Clunkers, the Hybrid Version.
COLD WEATHER: electrics s l o w d o w n i n f r i d g i d temps, battery life gets short… who do you know wants to have a vehicle that does that.
I heard that a regular gas powered vehicle, allowed to sit for hundreds of years “at the end of civilization” will create a little lode of iron oxide and the oils and fuels will be broken down by the environment: a Prius or Volt will still leave a puddle of highly toxic heavy-metal sludge from it’s massive battery. (But without the catchy licks, questionable lyrics and crazy groupies)
Even I thought the Volt was all-electric for many months before I saw an extensive advertorial on a “How it’s Made” show. I think there was much purposeful misinformation.
The progressives want us to think the laws of physics can be disobeyed as easily as the constitution.
CHEVY and GM now remind me of everything that is wrong with our current governances.
Dark Cutter
Good one, Bobbleheadguru. very smooth. You had me going for a minute. An accomplished parody. Thanks!
I’m still laughing . . .
Dark Cutter, your piece is terrific, too!
Are you both one and the same maybe . . . ?
I have some sad news for you concerning #4:
The ban has happened — while new top-loaders are in appearance the same as those you remember, the water capacity of the tub is greatly reduced, as is the cleaning performance. I naively purchased a brand-new top-loader recently, and am quite happy that I was able to unload it and replace it with a 20-year old machine that actually cleans clothes. Running it with reduced-size loads and elevated water levels also worked, but sometimes I like to launder something like a king-size duvet cover.
Also, concerning both #4 and #7, I wonder if your complaints have more to do with the reformulation of the detergents than with the performance of the machines.
My repairman today (another visit while on warranty) said my old washer fills with about 30 gallons of water, the new ones with 3 to 7! I am keeping it until I die and then bequeathing it to a lucky heir.
He said the companies are ORDERED to comply with water and energy standards set by the government. They hate it because customers are complaining and suing, and it’s an engineering impossibility to accomplish. When mine goes off warranty, I’m doing my own damn dishes, as are my friends. Will Obama bail out an industry he helped destroy UAW?
Please, someone needs to write a book, “How the EPA Ruined the Appliance Industry and Is Trying to Ruin the Auto Industry.”
Sorry Christian. I’ve used front loaders for years including a now 60 year old GE. They get clothes cleaner than top loaders and don’t ruin the clothes. Gotcha!
If you are using a 60 year old front loader, you don’t know what I am writing about.
Great article. My simple rule is: Everything the government touches turns to sh!%.
I will tell you that front loading machines have been around for a long time in Europe (Miele and Bosch brands). Having owned one myself for the past 12 years I can tell you they are very effective at cleaning clothes (I don’t care if they are more water efficient, but great if they are).
There is a difference between the old front loaders and the modern ones.
Mr. Adams,
Fred Upton’s grandfather founded Whirlpool, so my bet is the same bill that produced the mercury lightbulbs had goodies in the form of tax credits for his family company. So he benefited from the front-loading washers AND the weaker dishwashers, making him 3 for 7 on your list. He does have a hot niece, though.
The clothes washer complaint probably has a much to do with the dramatic reduction/banning of phosphates in detergent as it does the water reduction. You left phosphates off your list.
I have tampered with the governor on my washer to put more water into the front-loading system. I’d tell you how but then I might get into trouble with your great friend Mr. Eric Holder. Good piece–thanks.
Boeing engineers aimed for light weight and energy efficiency in designing the 787 just to please the Greens? The way that the price of oil has settled at or just above $100 per barrel had nothing to do with that, of course! What a weak argument.
Pay attention to the marketing my friend. “Lower emmissions” has nothing to do with the price of oil. You dropped the word “just” in your comment. The article said no such thing. If you dispute that they aren’t trying to make the Greens happy in part, then you aren’t reading their website and marketing.
I agree with most of your article, but I have to take issue with your call on front-loading high-efficiency washers. I’ve owned a Samsung front load washer and dryer set for about 3 years now, and I find it does an excellent job. Mine were toward the cheaper end of the available models. I’m a mechanic, so I often have some pretty filthy laundry, and I find my new washer has done a much better job than any of the older ones I’ve used. Maybe it has to do with the manufacturer or model?
Re: dishwashers
Another reasons ALL dishwashers suck nowadays is that the use of phosphates in detergent has been mostly regulated out of existence. None of the substitutes are worth a plug nickel compared to the old phosphate variety. What makes it even more galling is that the vast majority of phosphate water “pollution” is due to agricultural fertilizer use (not banned). Banning effective dishwasher detergent addressed maybe 0.5% of the hypothetical “problem”. Thanks a lot, environmentalists.
“The reason new high-efficiency dishwashers are so quiet is that they don’t clean dishes.”
THANK YOU for writing about this! My new dishwasher has had major repairs 3 times already in the first six months and does not clean the dishes. My new range already has bad burners (pilot lights are evil) and my furnace blows cold air for a minute before it heats up (again, pilot lights are evil). The repairman says the computer consoles are just toys that fool the govt into giving them a Energy Star rating. I’m keeping my old washing machine for the rest of my life!
Don’t forget the burst water mains in L.A. because of conservation. Everyone turned on their sprinklers at 6 p.m. and busted them. And the sewers that are deteriorating b/c low flow toilets don’t wash the waste away as well.
You being very anecdotal, and I don’t know why your experience should be more “pertinent” than anybody else’s. I put compact florescents into a house moved into five years ago, and they’re all still burning.
As to the rest of it, I’ve been making some sad observations. Americans is spoiled. Americans don’t want to 1) pay attention and 2) exert themselves, either intellectually or physically, at all, in any way.
Nobody needs a dishwasher, and them as insist that they do, are going to be completely traumatized by the composting toilet. But the way things are going, i.e., if your three kids have three kids, you will live to see it.
Chortle.
Ah! A malthusian comes to PJ from the Church of Scarcity.