I don't worry about the temp, I wash everything except white linens on cool. My clothes come out clean. A few months ago I bought a new set the least expensive I could find which was a GE set. Since they were so cheap I bought the extended warranty and I love both of them. The washer is far better than the expensive one I had before. It's very quiet and does not move when it spins. Appliances don't last very long anymore, but with what I bought I will have a washer that lasts at least 5 years with no cost to me if I need it repaired.

I thought the washer was a non HE, it is advertised as such, but the machine never fills full like the older washer do, but fuller than my last HE did. The dryer is an optional HE. I use that on most items.

The 4800, although not labeled HE, will still regulate the incoming temp during warm and hot wash cycles. I'd opt for the Speed Queen with its stainless steel drum.

I own a few 4800 and similar washers that I have in my rental properties. They are definitely more cheaply made than the previous generation Whirlpools, but they wash well and are very easy to work on should it be needed. Make no mistake, the Speed Queen is a better quality washer with a much better warranty, but the entry level Whirlpools are fine for what they are.

As whirlpool_trainee said, this washer will dumb down the temperature. The warm setting is more luke warm/tepid, and the hot setting is like warm on an older agitator top loader. There is no true hot setting.

It does have a lid lock, but it fills similarly to a traditional agitator top loader. To use it you can close the lid without adding any clothes, pick a cycle, water level, load size, rinse option, and hit start. The washer will start to fill, but the lid will not lock. At this point you can open the lid and add clothes and laundry products as it fills. The fill flume on this washer is quite SLOW and I'm not really sure why. If you finish adding stuff before the washer is done filling, all you have to do is close the lid. When it is done filling the lid will lock and it will start agitating. If it finishes filling and the lid is still open, it will automatically pause the cycle. To continue from that point you just close the lid and press start.

"The fill flume on this washer is quite SLOW and I'm not really sure why."

This has been discussed on automaticwasher before. Someone removed the flow restrictors from his 4800 and the time the cycle needed was reduced dramatically (by "almost 40 minutes").

I very much appreciate all your replies. Thank you. Not sure what we'll do.

They work. They sound like someone is squeezing a cat every second for 45 mins. Let's look at the economics. It's 400 at a sale you need a warranty with it so there's another 130. That's 530 and the speed queen is 700. You don't need a warranty with a speed queen and probably won't replace in three lifetimes of that whirlpool. So if it is still out of your budget I suggest you find a used whirlpool direct drive top loader and save some money and it will work better than a 4800

>They sound like someone is squeezing a cat every second for 45 mins

LOL that is a very good description of what they sound like. I much prefer the THUNKA THUNKA THUNKA of a direct drive. I would never have a top loader in my house again but if I were forced to that is probably what I would try and find. If you can find a pre 2011 model you will actually get a full fill rinse instead of that idiotic puddle rinse that gives you rashes. Find a pre 2007 model and you'll lose the dumbed down temperatures, hot will mean hot and warm will mean warm.