How Many Gallons of Water Does the Average Washing Machine Hold When Full?

Top vs Front 2

TopLoadVsFrontLoad

Top vs Front

Typical Washers

A regular washing machine is going to be a top-loading washer, which means that the door to insert the laundry is at the top and an agitator spins the laundry through the water. In the past, these washing machines used around 45 gallons of water or more for a full load, but modern washing machines can use around 40 or less.

High-Efficiency Washers

Front-loading washers have a door for the laundry at the front, like a dryer, and they tumble the clothes through the water similarly to how a dryer operates, too. These are considered high-efficiency washers in part because they don't need as much water as older washers; some top-loading washers are also designed specifically to be high-efficiency washers. Both types use around 15-25 or 30 gallons of water, though some are capable of less.

Front Loading Machines

Water consumption has become a big topic of discussion recently, and this is obviously the first topic we’ll talk about. If you have an older top loading washing machine, you probably have no idea just how much water you’re using each time you do a load of laundry. Many of those older machines typically used somewhere between 45-55 gallons of water per load. This may not seem that bad on paper and may look like just

a number, but imagine going to the grocery store and having to purchase 50 one gallon bottles of spring water. This is an average of how much water that is used each time a load of laundry is done in one of those machines. Many of them did have the ability to adjust the load size to help lower that number, but it’s still too high by today’s standards for what is needed to effectively get the clothes clean.

In a front loading washing machine (and even in the majority of newer high-efficiency top loading washers) that number is lowered dramatically. Most of the newer front loading washers use an average of somewhere between 10-18 gallons (depending on the model). However, one key difference is that you’re using this amount of water with a load of laundry that could be as much as 2-3 times larger than what could be washed in a regular top loading washer. As you probably have seen, front loading washers don’t have an agitator, so as long as you can comfortably close the washer door (without forcing it) you can completely fill the drum full of clothes. The machine will then sense how full the drum is, and it will fill with the appropriate amount of water. So whether you’re doing a small or large load, you’ll always use the correct amount of water.