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-   -   New washing machine yes or no? (https://www.cableforum.uk/board/showthread.php?t=33711054)

alanbjames 19-05-2022 22:30

New washing machine yes or no?
 
I have a washing machine which Touch Wood! even though its 15 year old it still works fine.

What i'm wondering is, is it worth it in the long run to maybe get a new one that's more economical, would it save electric etc?

Thanks.

Jaymoss 19-05-2022 23:07

Re: New washing machine yes or no?
 
I have had to renew old appliances due to them dying and they have made quite a difference in consumption

Mr K 19-05-2022 23:07

Re: New washing machine yes or no?
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by alanbjames (Post 36122928)
I have a washing machine which Touch Wood! even though its 15 year old it still works fine.

What i'm wondering is, is it worth it in the long run to maybe get a new one that's more economical, would it save electric etc?

Thanks.

If it works don't fix it. It'll break eventually don't worry. Newer machines often aren't as robust. The energy savings will be marginal, and you may never recover the outlay.

Chris 20-05-2022 00:21

Re: New washing machine yes or no?
 
If it works, run it until it doesn’t. No point replacing it for the sake of replacing it. A newer appliance will be more efficient but the savings accrue over years, not weeks or even months, of use. If you want to use your existing machine as efficiently as possible, de-scale it (if you live in even a moderately hard water area, and most people in the UK do), find out which is the most economical programme and use it whenever possible, and never do part loads.

As we’re about to get new stuff in our new house I’ve been doing some research and discovered that the price difference between the most efficient and the second most efficient machine, from the same manufacturer, is about the same as the difference in running costs over a decade. In other words, it’s never worth the extra outlay just to achieve energy savings. Don’t be taken in by the little A/B/C/D stickers they put on them. When the time comes, buy what you can afford to lay out on the day, and no more.

alanbjames 20-05-2022 09:59

Re: New washing machine yes or no?
 
I was so surprised by how much my clothes drier takes in electric.

When I put it on I use an extra 51p per hour in electric according to the smart meter readings.

Halcyon 20-05-2022 10:14

Re: New washing machine yes or no?
 
I guess it is whether it is economical. Do you have any way of finding out how much electricity it uses?


If it is a lot then yes, change it, but if not, then no point.

heero_yuy 20-05-2022 10:28

Re: New washing machine yes or no?
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by alanbjames (Post 36122947)
I was so surprised by how much my clothes drier takes in electric.

When I put it on I use an extra 51p per hour in electric according to the smart meter readings.

Anything that uses electricity to make heat will cost a fortune. Your drier is likely to be 2 - 2.5 KW and will use 2-2.5 units per hour whereas a washing line is free.

Similarly a washing machine uses most when heating up the water so a lower temperature wash, say 30C, will save nearly 30% compared to 40C. Liikewise if it has an "ECO" setting that uses less water so less to heat up.

Use the highest spin speed to help dry stuff out first. Mine has a 1400 rpm and much stuff is almost dry when it comes out.

Taf 20-05-2022 12:32

Re: New washing machine yes or no?
 
When the anti-Legionnaire's Disease regs came out, home boilers had to be set to 60c. That would play havoc being fed into a washing machine that was set to wash clothes at 40c or lower.

So manufactures removed the "hot fill" inlet, and "cold fill only" became the norm. That added electricity costs to the machines, as their internal heaters would be used more often. And that, of course, dropped the efficiency rating.

Moves towards "direct drive" motors also happened, and they are more efficient than the old belt-drive ones. Our 8-year-old Samsung came with a 5-year warranty, and a 10-year warranty on the motor.

Then technology allowed less water to be used, such as Samsung's Eco-Bubble method. That increased efficiency both in electricity and water use.

Faster spin speeds added to power costs, but reduced costs for drying in the machine. So if you dry outdoors on a line or in a machine, the laundry dries quicker. So, once again, it's swings and roundabouts.

A colleague recommended the Samsung washer-dryer as it was the only model he never had to repair at that point. He still recommends the brand as they are the least frequent needing mechanical repairs. BUT, and it's a big BUT, the circuit boards for them are more expensive, and the cost of programming a replacement is also high as he has to pay rental on the "programming unit" which is basically a laptop with proprietary software loaded.

Halcyon 20-05-2022 12:42

Re: New washing machine yes or no?
 
We've just bought a drier for outside that coils back into the wall.
If the weathers dry and breezy then it makes sense to dry your clothes outside.
Save some money.

tweetiepooh 20-05-2022 12:49

Re: New washing machine yes or no?
 
We had a Zanussi that lasted over 20 years. We got rid of it when it last broke and the repairer said it could be repaired but it was now at the stage were spares were starting to get scarce and more expensive. So we got a new Mielle, the only brand he would recommend, partly because spares would be available for at least 10 years past end of production run but, mostly they are really good and reliable units. It is much quieter than the old unit but does only have cold feed so can't mix hot/cold like the Zanussi. (Mind you then gas was so much cheaper than electricity it made sense.)


He also recommends not running at the top spin speeds but just below them. That was easy on the Zanussi with a separate rotary spin speed control, less so on the Mielle but we are happy with the purchase. We also were told not to go for the bigger capacity units as 7kg would be close to double the capacity of the Zanussi.

Chris 20-05-2022 13:08

Re: New washing machine yes or no?
 
Cold fill is more efficient. for starters you usually only need the water to be 30-40 degrees so only a small amount of hot water is needed, and then what the machine draws from the hot pipe will initially be cold water that was already just sitting in the pipe between the boiler and the machine. So the machine is going to use its electric heating element to correctly regulate the water temperature anyway.

Hom3r 20-05-2022 18:57

Re: New washing machine yes or no?
 
I get those "your washing machine warranty has expired" call.


I say well I guess it would when we bought the washing machine in the 90s, and It's still going strong, then hang up.


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