And just how is a washing machine going to do that without $100 worth of extra sensors and firmware? It would cost the manufacturer tens, maybe hundreds of thousands of dollars to re-tool his factory, purchase the additional pieces and install them, pay someone to write and support the firmware for the additional electronics, all so someone can pay $200 more for a washing machine that gets his clothes exactly as clean as the low-end model without all the bells and whistles.

Oh, boy -- more efficient. I can't imagine how saving two pints of water and 1/10 of a kWh per load is going to save me $200 over the life of the machine. At 10 cents/kWh, two loads per week, it would take nearly 200 years for the payback.

If my clothes sit in the washing machine for an extra hour (or even an extra day) before I put them in the dryer... Well, dilligaf?

tanstaafl.