Either Consumer Reports or Consumers' Research Bulletin tested the claim that this machine heated the wash water hotter. They reported that the machine with the Magic Heater activated, did not heat water above the temperature at which it entered when filled with hot water, but that the temperature dropped less when the Magic Heater was used than it did without the heater.
This washer apeared after the Duomatic was introduced. The 230 volt Duomatic had a 3800 watt immersion heater behind the tub that was energized when Hot wash water was selected. The relatively puny 120 volt heater in the Snow White washer did not match the performance of the Duomatic's heater.
It is interesting to note that water heating did make a difference in washing performance, although the testing organizations did not make the connection at the time. Remember that the washing performance was tested with soiled swatches of fabric attached to white cotton and then washed on the hot wash setting. When tested in the big 1954 report of washers and dryers, the Duomatic ranked just below the WP in washing ability and the WP ranked near the top of the washers. Later, when CU tested combos, the Kenmore and WP, both with not only water heating, but a thermostatic hold in the timer so that the timer did not advance until the water reached the proper washing temperature, were ranked best in washing ability. CU recommended that if the household ran short of hot water, a larger water heater would be a better solution, not realizing how much heat was lost from the initial hot fill into a large steel inner and outer tub at room temperature or below (such as if it were in a cooler basement or service porch). No combo manual that I have read recommended that the residual heat in the machine after a load finished drying could be put to good use by adding heat to the hot fill when washing a load of whites. I guess we were not thinking about those things back then.
Post# 668895 , Reply# 1   3/28/2013 at 15:50 (4,018 days old) by Supersuds(Knoxville, Tenn.)  
I had just assumed that this was the same heater as in a Duomatic.
Never had a Bendix, but I've noticed that "hot water" in a top loader is not all that hot once the cold wash basket is filled, compared to the faucet temperature. And it would, naturally keep getting colder during the wash.