Yes I would say 6.5kg is too small for a family of four. I have a FL 6kg and am eagerly waiting for it to give up so that I can buy a bigger one. I seem to do a lot more loads in a simply because I can't fit in everything i want to.

We looked about a year ago at bigger frontloaders but they all seem to really go up in price once you get over the say 7kg mark. For my family (of four) I want at least 8kg. And every machine we looked at seemed to have lots of negative reviews on product review. When this one dies I will be looking seriously at a toploader, as much as I hate the idea.

Will be interested to see if anyone has any recommendations.