Find Out Why Consumer Reports Call This HE Top-Load Washer One Of The Worst

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If you're in the market for a new washing machine, you might be interested in purchasing a top-load high-efficiency (HE) washer. When comparing high-efficiency and traditional washing machines, you could save up to 6,000 gallons of water during the year for an average family, according to Maytag. They also reduce energy usage. 

If you're shopping for a new washing machine, you can expect an HE model to cost between $500 and $1,600. If you're going to spend that much money to gain the energy and water savings, you may want some help from experts in finding the best model for your needs, such as from the non-profit Consumer Reports organization, which works to create a fair marketplace for consumers. Consumer Reports has created a list of the best high-efficiency top-load washers to help in your search. Sometimes, though, it's helpful to also understand which machines are ranked among the worst. After all, you don't want to buy a lemon when you're spending several hundred dollars or more. Consumer Reports named the Avanti STW30D0W HE top-load washing machine as the worst among 28 models included in the rating. CR says it has a small capacity and doesn't clean clothes as well as others on the list.

To create its rankings, Consumer Reports relies heavily on in-house testing to measure success with removing various types of stains, gentleness on fabrics, water- and energy-efficiency performance, and noise levels. When testing washing machines, Consumer Reports purchases them at a retail store, just like you would do. The team uses this method instead of accepting test units from manufacturers to maintain CR's independence.

Not only did Consumer Reports give the Avanti STW30D0W ($671) the lowest score for all the top-load high-efficiency washing machines it tested, but only three other washers received an overall lower score among the 125 washing machines CR tested (front-load, compact, and top-load agitator washers included).

Consumer Reports gives the Avanti machine its lowest scores in the categories of washing performance and noise generation. Only two other machines on the list for top-load HE models received a score on washing performance as low as the Avanti STW30D0W. Although Consumer Reports' testing found that the Avanti machine was gentle when washing clothing, its cleaning performance was "mediocre."

In addition to hands-on testing, Consumer Reports normally uses results from its member surveys to generate scores for each appliance. Consumer Reports received 33,753 surveys from members who had purchased a top-load high-efficiency washer over the previous decade. However, not enough members had purchased the Avanti appliance, meaning CR did not have enough data to include owner satisfaction in its scoring of the Avanti STW30D0W. Instead, it received a weighted average score versus the other models on the list.

Even though the Avanti STW30D0W is available at several major retailers, including Home Depot, Lowe's, and Walmart, it only has a few dozen customer reviews combined on those websites. A small drum is a problem with the Avanti model that several customer reviewers mention. One of the common mistakes people make when buying a new washer is not considering the capacity. Picking the right drum capacity to match how you want to use the machine generally improves your satisfaction with it. "The tub is pretty small, so for optimal use, be sure to do only small light loads," says one customer reviewer at Lowe's, who purposefully chose the Avanti machine for its small overall size.

Compared to the other top-load HE models on the Consumer Reports list, the Avanti STW30D0W has a far smaller capacity at 3 cubic feet. The next smallest washer capacity for the 28 machines on the list is 3.9 cubic feet. Half of the machines on the list have a capacity of between 5 and 5.5 cubic feet. 

Small-capacity washers are known to struggle to clean laundry as effectively as larger units if you overload them. Even though Consumer Reports gave the Avanti STW30D0W below-satisfactory scores in its cleaning performance, the size of the load it used for testing is unknown. CR mentioned using a mid-sized load during tests, but the testers did not mention whether it was a mid-sized load for a small machine like the Avanti or a mid-sized load for an average-capacity unit.