Washer / Dryer - earliest / latest time you have it turned on?

74jax

barbiedoll wrote: »

Yes, that's why I don't run mine after I've gone to bed. My colleague got a phone call at work telling her that there had been a fire in her flat. Her washing machine caught fire, everything she owned was ruined and her cat died from smoke inhalation. :(

I am sorry to read that. I really didn't mean to turn this thread down a frightening/scary route, but it's my job and I feel passionately about it. Yes it doesn't happen every night in our service area but it does happen probably weekly and it is something that can be controlled by the owner simply not running the machines at night.

It's really not worth it.

SqueekyMouse

We program the washing machine to come on between 1am and 2am to take advance of the cheep electricity (economy 7) We hardly ever use it during the day because we see it as wasteful. I wouldn't use the tumble drier during the night though due to the risk of fire.

I'd not considered that the noise might disturb our neighbours, but since the washing machine doesn't disturb our sleep it can't be that loud next door

koalamummy

I put my washer and dryer on at any time of day or night that I need to use them. I have 2 small children with reflux and when they are sick overnight the sheets/duvets/blankets/clothes/rugs or whatever else is affected go straight in to wash as the smell would be intolerable by morning. If it has been a bad day and lots of clothes have been changed and washed I have also been known to put the dryer on late at night so that there are clothes for the next day. They are in no way short of clothing but sometimes they can work their way through their entire wardrobe in a day.

I am not as inconsiderate as I may seem. Our house is detached with an external utility room and we only have neighbours to one side and as our houses are separated by my driveway and garage and some garden so I doubt they have a clue that at times I am single handedly draining the national grid!

sparrer

I've been using the wm to come on at 5.30am on Econ 7 since I moved in 9 years ago, and the neighbours have said it never disturbs them as they get up about that time. However I've just learned that as I use so little elec overnight (less than 25%) it would pay me to go onto a different tariff without Econ 7. Having read 74jax's post I'll definitely be contacting my supplier on Monday.

Shelldean

I often turn both of mine on as I go to bed about midnight, but OH is usually still up and around by then.

And if it annoys the neighbours then GOOD.
Just to explain......
Their smoke alarm beeped every 30sec from just before Oct 1/2 term to mid Feb. In fact by Feb there was 2 of them going off. I did question the man and he denied flatly it was his. Took the Housing assoc threatening them with further action (He refused to answer the door or respond to letters orginally sent, it took several letter to get them to respond) And not one of the family can close a door without slamming it. I can feel the vibrations while in bed, when they close a downstairs door. And considering am on the top floor of a town house that some slam....... Sorry for the rant but just explaining why I dont care if I annoy them with my machine noise.

System

We don't have a dryer, but don't use our washing machine any later than around 8pm. Then again, we live in a flat with paper thin walls, and our washing machine sounds like it's about to take off when it's mid-cycle! As others have said, maybe it's worth a friendly chat with her to see if there's a good reason for it (or if she'd mind changing the time). Depends on how good your relationship with her is, and how open to the conversation you think she'd be!

Gemmzie

Interesting thread. We also live in a flat and our neighbours keep complaining about us running our washer/dryer in the early evening :mad: - I get home from work at about 8pm in the evening and never run it past half 9 but they've complained that it ruins their whole evening because they can hear it. I don't think that's too late but they seem to!

catch_me_if_you_can

We hear next door's washing machine in the evening usually. Worst time was when he moved in, and was drilling and doing some form of DIY and still noisily working at 1am :mad:

We were still up, unsurprisingly, (well there was wine left in the bottle!) so OH put on Highway Star full volume I swear the house jumped about a foot in the air :rotfl:

Withing minutes he stopped. And the next day apologised that he hadn't noticed the time and was just finishing off the job.

BitterAndTwisted

What other people do is irrelevant. We don't all live in buildings which are constructed in the same way and we don't all have the same working-patterns either. Or the same amount of laundry to get done.

OP: if your neighbour is disturbing you she needs to know that. She may be completely unaware that she's causing you any noise-nuisance. I'd be mortified if I discovered I was disturbing my own neighbours. They both have young children so I never run any appliances before 9am or after 8pm. Even though I never hear them or their kids I don't imagine that they cannot hear me.

74jax

SqueekyMouse wrote: »

I wouldn't use the tumble drier during the night though due to the risk of fire.

The ratio of washing machine fires v tumble dryer fires is pretty even.