Water capacity of washing machine ...
Discussion
Chaps,
A bit of an oddity, but I thought I would throw it open to the assembled PH intelligensia as someone is bound to know the answer ...
... What is the water capacity of a washing machine? I know that this will vary by model, but I am looking for an idea for a typical domestic machine.
The context is that I am thinking of moving the washing machine from it's current home in the kitchen of zcacogp towers, to the basement. A cold water feed will be very easy to plumb, but a hot water feed (from the gas combi boiler in the back of the kitchen) rather harder.
So, if I just have a cold water feed, and rely on the internal heater in the washing machine to heat the water, will it prove much more expensive to run? Hence, the question, how much hot water does a typical washing machine use for a boil wash?
And I guess a subsiduary question is do all washing machines have built-in heaters?
Oli.
A bit of an oddity, but I thought I would throw it open to the assembled PH intelligensia as someone is bound to know the answer ...
... What is the water capacity of a washing machine? I know that this will vary by model, but I am looking for an idea for a typical domestic machine.
The context is that I am thinking of moving the washing machine from it's current home in the kitchen of zcacogp towers, to the basement. A cold water feed will be very easy to plumb, but a hot water feed (from the gas combi boiler in the back of the kitchen) rather harder.
So, if I just have a cold water feed, and rely on the internal heater in the washing machine to heat the water, will it prove much more expensive to run? Hence, the question, how much hot water does a typical washing machine use for a boil wash?
And I guess a subsiduary question is do all washing machines have built-in heaters?
Oli.
anonymous said:
[redacted]
Interesting. When I plumbed in a washing-up machine for a friend about 9 months ago that was the same - cold feed only. I put it down to the fact that it was a washing-up machine rather than a washing machine. But, come to think of it, I think that was a Bosch item as well ...anonymous said:
[redacted]
Energy efficiency could be high, but still expensive to run as it is heating the water using (expensive) electricity rather than (cheap) gas. anonymous said:
[redacted]
Using the old machine, which has a hot input as well as a cold. Unless I decide that it really is past it when I try moving it, in which case it'll be buying-a-new-one time ... Oli.
afaik the water capacity depends upon the prgramme you use, ie the delicates / wool setting uses a lot more water than the cotton setting.
Personally I would just go for cold fill. Our last two machines have been cold fill only and it hasn't been a problem cost wise though don't have any figures to back it up. The hot and cold fill only use the hot on the wash cycle anyway, maybe also pre-wash.
Also considering the fact that the m/c will be plumbed in a long way from the hot tank would you get any hot water in anyway? Probably still running not much more than lukewarm by time fill is complete.
The last machine we had with both hot and cold fill was actually the cause of a problem. It was a Philips m/c with variable temperature but the mfr had designed it so that on certain programmes it was hot fill only. If your water temp was hotter than the setting (in this case 50C) you got the colours running. Turned out we were one of the first to discover it and got a new timer thingy and a cheque to cover the clothes. The m/c got the domestic appliance equivelant of a dealer recall according to what we were told by service engineer.
Hope that helps.
FiF
Personally I would just go for cold fill. Our last two machines have been cold fill only and it hasn't been a problem cost wise though don't have any figures to back it up. The hot and cold fill only use the hot on the wash cycle anyway, maybe also pre-wash.
Also considering the fact that the m/c will be plumbed in a long way from the hot tank would you get any hot water in anyway? Probably still running not much more than lukewarm by time fill is complete.
The last machine we had with both hot and cold fill was actually the cause of a problem. It was a Philips m/c with variable temperature but the mfr had designed it so that on certain programmes it was hot fill only. If your water temp was hotter than the setting (in this case 50C) you got the colours running. Turned out we were one of the first to discover it and got a new timer thingy and a cheque to cover the clothes. The m/c got the domestic appliance equivelant of a dealer recall according to what we were told by service engineer.
Hope that helps.
FiF
I bought a washing machine in Cyprus 2 years ago and plumbed it in the wash room, it only had a cold water feed in and no drain outlet.
The reason for this is that they don`t like to waste water if they can help it so i used a 5 gallon jerry can to catch the waste water.
It over flowed by about 2 gallon so i got a water butt and put the overflow pipe in that, now i can water the lemon trees with the washing water.
I would guess that it depends which wash cycle you have anyway so if its possible get a water butt and do your own calculations.
Hope this was of some help to you.
The reason for this is that they don`t like to waste water if they can help it so i used a 5 gallon jerry can to catch the waste water.
It over flowed by about 2 gallon so i got a water butt and put the overflow pipe in that, now i can water the lemon trees with the washing water.
I would guess that it depends which wash cycle you have anyway so if its possible get a water butt and do your own calculations.
Hope this was of some help to you.
Simple answer, ****ing loads. Ours packed up while in operation, and with a large volume of water in the drum.
As they are locked to prevent opening during operation, we had to get the machine out of the kitchen and into the garden while still full. Weighed loads, and had to fiddle to get the catch open from the inside. Knackered completely now
Obviously of no help to you
New washing machine, new fridge, and new tumble dryer - lovely
.
As they are locked to prevent opening during operation, we had to get the machine out of the kitchen and into the garden while still full. Weighed loads, and had to fiddle to get the catch open from the inside. Knackered completely now
Obviously of no help to you
New washing machine, new fridge, and new tumble dryer - lovely
.anonymous said:
[redacted]
Again! Thanks for good answers, all.
I guess, in the light of the above, the question should be "How much hotwater does a washing machine use for a typical wash?" I have a similar opinion that rinses are probably done in cold water.
Good point about the length of pipe meaning that it only really gets a small amount of hot water. Thanks.
Oli.
I asked this question before from a friend in the trade. He recons that hot fill are less economical becuase they fill up with water too hot then they add cold water, but because teh process ain't that accurare they have to heat it up again. Or he couldhave just been told this bya Bosch rep trying to folog him a olad of cold fill machines.
BM's 7 gallons is a lot closer to the mark than Plotty's 100-150 litres. (Which is a pity; if Plotty was right then I wouldn't find it necessary to put everything through a second wash cycle with no soap to get it rinsed properly.)
Maybe one or two gallons of that will include hot water depending on the programme. (Funny how a washing machine has "programmes" not "programs".) Those fills won't be all hot water, especially if you follow the modern trend of using really not very hot wash cycles.
The biggest awkwardness will be that you will need to provide an extra pump to get the waste water up to sewer height from the basement.
Maybe one or two gallons of that will include hot water depending on the programme. (Funny how a washing machine has "programmes" not "programs".) Those fills won't be all hot water, especially if you follow the modern trend of using really not very hot wash cycles.
The biggest awkwardness will be that you will need to provide an extra pump to get the waste water up to sewer height from the basement.
ledger said:
now i can water the lemon trees with the washing water.
I would have thought that the water was unsuitable for watering the garden (especially fruit trees) due to the detergents and chemicals from the washinf powder and conditioner ?.
We water everything in the garden with this water and my wife says the leaves on some of the plants positively glow.
I think the plants over there have got used to second hand water over the years.
bmw114 said:
bmw114 said:
now i can water the lemon trees with the washing water.
I would have thought that the water was unsuitable for watering the garden (especially fruit trees) due to the detergents and chemicals from the washinf powder and conditioner ?.
We water everything in the garden with this water and my wife says the leaves on some of the plants positively <b>glow</b>.
I think the plants over there have got used to second hand water over the years.
would that be glow in a day of the triffids or chernobyl type way
Having just checked.
Older machines use in excess of 100 litres
The average modern washer is 80 litres of which 20% is hot water. So some modern washers use a lot more than 80 litres as some use a lot less.
I find it very difficult to believe that 7 litres of water is all it takes, remember they empty and refill at least 3 times and if you got a pile of clothes and poured 7 litres of water on it, it would be barely damp.
Older machines use in excess of 100 litres
The average modern washer is 80 litres of which 20% is hot water. So some modern washers use a lot more than 80 litres as some use a lot less.
I find it very difficult to believe that 7 litres of water is all it takes, remember they empty and refill at least 3 times and if you got a pile of clothes and poured 7 litres of water on it, it would be barely damp.
Plotloss said:
Having just checked.
Older machines use in excess of 100 litres
The average modern washer is 80 litres of which 20% is hot water. So some modern washers use a lot more than 80 litres as some use a lot less.
I find it very difficult to believe that 7 litres of water is all it takes, remember they empty and refill at least 3 times and if you got a pile of clothes and poured 7 litres of water on it, it would be barely damp.
You can probably see now were you read 7 litres instead of 7 gallons, but there is always the possibility that more than 2 gallons was spilled so i`ll check it out when i go over there next time.
Oh i bet we can`t wait can we
Chaps,
Good replies, thanks.
I am rapidly warming (ha ha ha!) to the idea of only putting in a cold feed. Your responses have convinced me - simplicity has alot to recommend it! Thanks!
Pies, yes, you are right, the cycle times will be longer. But that's not the end of the world.
If we re-use the existing machine, we will need to make sure that the heater in it works (if it has one). If not, it will be a new machine for sure. (The current one was in the house when we moved in around 3 months ago, but is not that old and works very nicely.)
Pidgeon - yes, some form of pump to get the waste water out of the basement will be necessary - see my earlier thread on here! (PH - answer to everything!)
www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=179825
Oli.
Good replies, thanks.
I am rapidly warming (ha ha ha!) to the idea of only putting in a cold feed. Your responses have convinced me - simplicity has alot to recommend it! Thanks!
Pies, yes, you are right, the cycle times will be longer. But that's not the end of the world.
If we re-use the existing machine, we will need to make sure that the heater in it works (if it has one). If not, it will be a new machine for sure. (The current one was in the house when we moved in around 3 months ago, but is not that old and works very nicely.)
Pidgeon - yes, some form of pump to get the waste water out of the basement will be necessary - see my earlier thread on here! (PH - answer to everything!)
www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=179825
Oli.
Blimey. Whilst our kitchen was being rebuilt we considered running the washing machine in the garage as a mate told me it would only do about a bucket of waste water. Glad I didn't bother in the end! 
Some hot & cold feed machines need both connected in order to work but usually you can get a 'Y' adapter to run cold into both from a single cold feed. It'll then try to fill from the "hot" supply and decide to heat it anyway...
Some hot & cold feed machines need both connected in order to work but usually you can get a 'Y' adapter to run cold into both from a single cold feed. It'll then try to fill from the "hot" supply and decide to heat it anyway...
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