Very serious question

This is something I've been thinking about for awhile and have come to no clear answer for myself: is it more energy-efficient to do many small loads of laundry, or fewer large loads? It takes less water to run a small load, and smaller loads dry faster, but is that negated by the need to do more loads?

In choosing your answer, bear in mind that my washer allows you to set the load size (so it uses less water but runs for about the same amount of time) and my dryer automatically shuts off when the clothes are dry.

[Poll #1102835]