A twin tub does take a little more time, because you have to manually move the clothes back and forth between the tub and the spinner, but in the long run it actually washes faster than an automatic (because you are doing some of the work an automatic does). This of course, is partly what saves energy. My favorite things are that you can re-use the water (i.e. wash dirtier clothes in the rinse water of the previous load) and also, that you can simultaneously wash things while spinning other things. Other perks are that the washer is lightweight, the spinner does an exceptional job spinning out the water, and it washes better compared to the automatic washers (down here at least).