Hot fed washing machine

keyring1

I’ve finally bought my first house (in May)
always lurking on the site but never posting but thought I should now.

The house I bought has an American top fill washing machine in the garage (the utility room for the house) this machine was left by the previous owners. It has both a hot and cold feed, so I assume it requires the hot feed for doing a wash.

The garage is not linked to the house hot water system, and instead there is a megaflo 90l water tank with immersion heater.

I have not used it yet, but I assume that it is going to cost a small fortune over time for doing washing if I have to use the hot water tank every time I do a wash (maybe twice a week and I work away 2 weeks out of every 5)

Am I wrong in what I said above, would you just use it and I’m over estimating the cost of running? Or should I sell the machine and get a modern washing machine that is cold feed only?


Thanks :beer::D:D

jk0

Doesn't the machine have a heater inside it then? How would you do a boil wash if there isn't?

EssexExile

I don't know what the numbers are but you are right that it will cost the earth to run. Not only will you be paying top wack for the hot water but also the machine will use an awful lot of it. Top loaders fill to the brim, front loaders only have a couple of inches of water in the bottom.

keyring1

jk0 wrote: »

Doesn't the machine have a heater inside it then? How would you do a boil wash if there isn't?

It takes hot water from the hot water system, or in this case, just straight from the hot water tank but then yeah, like you say it must have a heater too?

EssexExile wrote: »

I don't know what the numbers are but you are right that it will cost the earth to run. Not only will you be paying top wack for the hot water but also the machine will use an awful lot of it. Top loaders fill to the brim, front loaders only have a couple of inches of water in the bottom.

Ahh, I didn’t even consider the amount of water it would be using(I’m in Scotland so no charges) but I imagine it won’t be leaving much in the hot water tank meaning having to heat a full tank again.

Aylesbury_Duck

Can you make an estimate of what it costs per cycle by using a smart meter (if you have one) or discounting the "background usage" of other household items and seeing how many units the machine and immersion use on one cycle? I suspect that heating 90L of water to a certain temperature (probably anything up to 60ish) and then the machine heating it to whatever temperature the machine needs (for a 90 degree wash for example) will cost you a lot of money. A quick calculation of what it would cost versus a "normal" machine per week would tell you how many washes or weeks a new machine would take to pay for itself.

If you can sell the toploader on eBay, you might find it's sensible to swap as soon as you can.

keyring1

Aylesbury_Duck wrote: »

Can you make an estimate of what it costs per cycle by using a smart meter (if you have one) or discounting the "background usage" of other household items and seeing how many units the machine and immersion use on one cycle? I suspect that heating 90L of water to a certain temperature (probably anything up to 60ish) and then the machine heating it to whatever temperature the machine needs (for a 90 degree wash for example) will cost you a lot of money. A quick calculation of what it would cost versus a "normal" machine per week would tell you how many washes or weeks a new machine would take to pay for itself.

If you can sell the toploader on eBay, you might find it's sensible to swap as soon as you can.

I don't have a smart meter unfortunately, I've not yet used it, as I expected it to cost a fair bit, but thought I would ask on here to check I wasn't exaggerating. Due to me working away and living alone, I guess it might take a little longer to pay for itself, but I'd think it would still be cost effective over time.

My plan was to try and sell the top loader on

ic

If you don't want it, who else will? A scrap man might take it away for free if you drag it to the footpath. There'll be a reason the previous owners left it behind.

keyring1

ic wrote: »

If you don't want it, who else will? A scrap man might take it away for free if you drag it to the footpath. There'll be a reason the previous owners left it behind.

No harm in trying.... May be bought for commercial use?
They're basic machines, all mechanical and no electrics, so will run forever with basic maintenance and very little to go wrong (usually a broken belt) so worth trying to sell it, it's just not suitable for my needs. Worst case I'll take it to the tip

coffeehound

Used Maytag top-loaders have sold for £155, £156, £205 and £375 on ebay in the past month, so there's still some demand there.

jk0

I think it's wasteful (& not money saving) to throw away a working machine. How much energy are you going to save by replacing with a new (say £300) machine that will last maybe 5 years?


Even if you spend £60 per year extra on electricity, you'll only be breaking even by getting rid of your existing machine.

peachyprice

You'll need to find the instructions for your machine, but not all top loaders fill to the brim nowadays. So depends how modern it is.

If it's a modern machine it may not make a great deal of difference, if you buy a cold fill front loader it will heat water by electricity, if you use the current one it will use the water heated by electricity.

So it all comes down to how much water it uses and how well the 90l water heater is insulated, remember a single wash won't necessarily use the whole 90l it will mix it with some cold to get to the correct wash temp, and if it's well insulated you could get more than one wash out of it. Give it a go before you make any rash decisions.

One thing I will say about top loaders, which would sway me into keeping it, is they are so much quicker.

ic wrote: »

If you don't want it, who else will? A scrap man might take it away for free if you drag it to the footpath. There'll be a reason the previous owners left it behind.

Probably that most UK homes are plumbed for front loaders.