Those are two sides of the same coin though. More durable machines (solid, thick components for example) will be heavier and in the example of a washing machine will require more energy to move. Washing machines have also become much cheaper than 40 years ago, making them more of a disposable item.

citation?

I never heard of Speed Queen, or even seen one, but someone recommended them on here a few weeks ago

I'm in Europe so we don't have these, but I got interested in what are speed queen. Turns out they are laundromat machines that are also sold for residential use.

This article does say it is not an efficient machine. they tweaked the normal cycle to pass the DoE efficiency test (but your clothes are not washed), and left alone the inefficient cycles which are not checked by DoE: https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/speed-queen-revie...

I’ve only ever seen Speed Queens in laundromats in Eastern Europe.

I will grant them this: the branding is not lying, they are fast as fuck.

I've only used them very occasionally in laundromats when travelling.

They are fast, but the clothes aren't cleaned properly.

I had no trouble with them cleaning some heavily dirty clothing (from doing construction works), I guess mileage may vary somewhat.

I did notice that the dryers (which I think are the same brand) have a hard time properly drying some articles such as thick wool socks within their programmed time.

Using a ton of water is a plus. Saving water is a necessity in overcrowded megalopolises maybe, imposed on all the rest.