Need to buy a Washing Machine - how many RPM would you recommend?

mookybargirl

As the title says, need to buy a wm, I'm sure I was told once that I need at least 1k rpm, any advice appreciated

Thanks

tanith

I would buy one with at least 1200 RPM mine is a Hotpoint and I like it because I can turn the speed down when the weather is nice and I can Line dry....

jobbingmusician

Just wanted to check - do you know what rpm are?

In case you don't, rpm is rotations per minute, which is how many times the drum turns on the spin cycle. When I read your post I was sure I'd seen something about this recently, so I did a little Google and came up with this- not what I was looking for, but interesting! Hope this helps

tomstickland

45rpm or 33rpm for albums. I'll get my coat.

alanobrien

Logic suggests the faster the better as it will centrifuge the water out of the clothes quicker.

My only problem with that is the wear and tear on the bearings increases with higher rpm as does the need for dynamically balancing the drum.

In fact the faster you go the higher potential for vibration and of course increased power consumption.

Never thought about it before guess we will stick with a 1000 rpm ish one when ours croaks.

abisnail75

Would go for a minimum 1200 but 1400 would be better really. It's particularly useful if you don't have much room for drying clothes or have a damp/cold hous as if you get a slow spin machine, it leaves more water in the clothes and takes ages to dry.

Had this problem before when clothes take so long to dry, they dry with a musty smell and you have to wash them all over again and that's definately a waste of money.

Would avoid anything 1000rpm or less personally as you'll only grumble about how cr*p it is.

hazzie123

I used to manage a washing machine shop and to be honest I dont think it really matters what spin speed you have. A 1000 spin spins slower but for a longer length of time and a 1400 spin spins faster for a shorter period.Me personally dont go for the spin speed I go for whether it`s an A engery rating.

Or better still just take a bin bag of washing round to your friends and test their machines out.

SeldomSensible

I bought a 1200 - the slower ones are too slow, the faster ones apparently are more liable to break down. And the faster ones tend to crease the clothes more and I hate ironing!!

andrewmoorcroft

jobbingmusician wrote:

Just wanted to check - do you know what rpm are?

In case you don't, rpm is rotations per minute, which is how many times the drum turns on the spin cycle. When I read your post I was sure I'd seen something about this recently, so I did a little Google and came up with this- not what I was looking for, but interesting! Hope this helps

You mean well but are technically wrong. RPM stands for revolutions per minute! A rotation is an angular movement. The drum could do several short rotations in a minute without actually doing a revolution. Every time the drum turns it is rotating and the drum normally does one big rotation for the whole of the spin cycle. A rotation of 360 degrees is a called a revolution and it is the number of revolutions per minute that is quoted at its peak angular velocity during the fast rotation period known as the spin cycle. I'm sure everyone knew what you meant but if you are going to try and be clever with quoting technical meanings you need to get your facts right!
I have a friend who is in the buisness. He tells me that there are many good performing slow spin machines such as miele that out perform some higher spin speed machines. As mentioned in one of the links above there are machines with different spin speeds that use the same motor. Machines rarely reach the quoted speed and don't necessary reach the max speed for the whole spin cycle due to durability/performance capabilty. The advice i was given was - get a miele, cheaper in the long run and it should last 25 years of excellent performance.

mookybargirl

jobbingmusician wrote:

Just wanted to check - do you know what rpm are?

In case you don't, rpm is rotations per minute, which is how many times the drum turns on the spin cycle. When I read your post I was sure I'd seen something about this recently, so I did a little Google and came up with this- not what I was looking for, but interesting! Hope this helps

I thought is was revolutions per minute - and someone later suggested this is the case. I read through the link - thanks for this, quite interesting.

Thanks everyone for the advice - I'll aim for around 1000 or 1200 rpm and with an A energy rating

mikeywills

Hi Mookybargirl,

Just one further point for you to think about, I recently did a cost exercise for someone on washing machines price verses expected lifecycle. The miele brand stood head and shoulders above any other make, on average cost of load against cost of purchase. At present some miele appliances are offered with a 10year manufacturers guarantee. As opposed to the industry standard 1 year.
Most manufacturers base their washing machines on a life expectancy of 5 to 8 years, where miele is 20. When you calculate the cost per load against guarantee cover the miele although about twice as expensive to buy, costs half as much to run.
Personally I wouldn't look any further as their spin speed are realistic not excessive, and they have a unique honeycomb drum which lets water be directed to the holes which are smaller than in standard models. The drum as a result create less wear and tear on your clothes.
(Note: I have no vested interest in Miele, but have sold laundry appliances for 10 years)