Do you leave your washing machine unsupervised?

Zanderman

BethP said:

My washing machine takes 2hrs 39min or 3hrs 59min.  I don’t put it on after 7pm as it beeps many times to tell me it’s finished!  As long as I start a wash before 6.30pm, it’s finished before I go to bed.  Yes, I turn it on and go out occasionally during the day. Am confident the washing machine won’t cause a fire because we have a circuit breaker fitted to our electrics.

That confidence might be a bit displaced!  A circuit breaker won't necessarily stop appliance fires - it only stop electrical faults and those aren't the only cause of appliance fires..

For example if fluff gets caught on a heating element (which has been the cause for many tumble dryer fires) no electrical protection will help - a circuit breaker can't do anything about fluff on the element.

Brie

Yes I do leave it unsupervised.  It's usually well behaved.

Grabs39

Yes, but my washing machine is in the utility room (which is actually just the back half of the garage) - I'd be very bored and cold if I supervised it!  It normally goes on first thing in the morning and is left until it is finished.  Mine takes about 3 hours on the "cotton" mode, but if I use any other mode everything comes out very wet.  Not an issue in summer, but can be a pain to then dry in winter.

The dishwasher goes on at night when we go to bed.  It's a newer one so defaults to "eco" which takes hours by using just a little bit of warm water but sloshing it around for a longer time.  I suppose it shouldn't really go on at bedtime, but I'm not sure there's that much risk of a fire and I don't know when else it could really go on.

coffeehound

Grabs39 said:

The dishwasher goes on at night when we go to bed.  It's a newer one so defaults to "eco" which takes hours by using just a little bit of warm water but sloshing it around for a longer time.  I suppose it shouldn't really go on at bedtime, but I'm not sure there's that much risk of a fire and I don't know when else it could really go on. 

In that situation I'd want a smoke alarm near the machine that is linked to another alarm in or near the bedroom so that you would reliably be awoken.  

Something troubling I heard recently is that one's nose swiches off while you are asleep, so you would not necessarily be woken by the smell of smoke

Brie

coffeehound said:

Something troubling I heard recently is that one's nose swiches off while you are asleep, so you would not necessarily be woken by the smell of smoke

I doubt that one's nose actually switches off but assume it's more likely that should there be smoke or some other smell one would incorporate it into a dream  - think you're having a bbq or sitting in front of a log fire or similar.  I'm sure my nose didn't turn off when Mr Stinky used to invade our house - he was an intact tom that used sneak in the cat flap to sleep in our lounge and you could smell him from quite a distance.  Woke me up every time (I think)

MrsPanscrubs

I am usually in when my washing machine is on. I do my washing one day a week with two loads, one dark and one whites as I live alone. I would not leave the dryer unattended though. But, I would happily leave the washing machine to run its cycles if I nipped out. 

Alanp

Left my washer unsupervised once, it had an affair with the microwave and gave birth to a bouncing baby coffee machine, and is now claiming benefits….

twopenny

No I don't. I was horrified when my new washing machine took 3hrs to do a wash.

Both in time and money !!

I'll use the quick wash most times and then a soak in a bucket before a wash every now and again to really get stuff clean.

In true MoneySaving style ;-)

Slinky

I was really peed off when I discovered the quick wash (25 minutes) on my dishwasher as I've been wasting an extra 113 minutes of electric for the past couple of years.  Dishwasher goes on every 3rd day so that's a heck of a lot of wasted electric.

And yes, I'll put the washing machine and dishwasher on at night, but wouldn't leave the tumble dryer on at night or when we are out.

EssexExile

Slinky said:

I was really peed off when I discovered the quick wash (25 minutes) on my dishwasher as I've been wasting an extra 113 minutes of electric for the past couple of years.  Dishwasher goes on every 3rd day so that's a heck of a lot of wasted electric.

And yes, I'll put the washing machine and dishwasher on at night, but wouldn't leave the tumble dryer on at night or when we are out.

It probably uses less electricity on the longer wash. The only reason for a long wash is to get A rating for energy.