Hot/Cold fill washers?

miniemma

Our hot and cold fill machine was running off a combi boiler and, as mentioned already a few times, it finished filling before the hot ever got to it.

We solved this by running the hot tap for a little while, maybe 30 secs, before turning the machine on.

Not sure if it saved money or energy as I don't know which is more efficient at heating water but hey ho we got rid of that machine last month and have a cold fill one now

calleyw

miniemma wrote:

Our hot and cold fill machine was running off a combi boiler and, as mentioned already a few times, it finished filling before the hot ever got to it.

We solved this by running the hot tap for a little while, maybe 30 secs, before turning the machine on.

Funny that if I am doing a machine wash and want to run a sink full of water for washing up. I let the machine fill up first and then run the water for the sink. And it is always piping hot.

So if all machines are going to be cold fill I assume there is no economy button anymore for the choice to heat the water or not.

Yours

Calley

MiserlyMartin

I'm going to disagree with all the views here. My mother just bought a new Bosch machine and I was dismayed to find it did NOT have a hot fill hose. This means that the machine has to heat the water which surely must be less economical, when you already have a tank full of hot water that your gas central heating has heated for normal day to day use. Also its accepted that using gas to heat water is cheaper than electricity unless they have improved the efficiency recently. I accept that some of you have combi boilers but I'm not convinced about the machine being more economical to heat the water than even those boilers. I mean the whole idea of Combi's is that you don't have to heat a whole tank full.

Why are they leaving off the hot fill on new machines? There must be an official reason apart from annoying me!?

As far as the hot water not getting to the machine in time, well I think thats normal if you haven't run the hot tap in the kitchen for a while. It can take a minute to get it down there. I usually run the tap for a while, then turn the machine on.

Katykat

you are right in a way miserly. Thats exactly how I uesd to think, which is why I originally bought a duel hose machine, but on researching for my new Bosch, I discovered a couple of things. The main one is still concerning the combi boiler, and yes I did run the hot tap prior to turning the washer on. However, new machines now use VERY little water for the wash cycle. I couldn't believe how little mine uses, I'd estimate perhaps the equivilant of a washing up bowl. Also, the new generation washing powders are designed to be more effective at low temperatures, so I never need to use more than 40 degree wash. The powders are actually LESS effective at higher temperatures. I was pleased to see that Penny Poyser ( from the new programme on TV) advises the same. The rinse cycles are all cold water, so there is less need for hot water fills. I think most manufacturers will be producing this way in the future, they have to , to conserve energy. The upshot is, my new washer washes better than my old, dont know yet how it will affect my bills, but I'll wait & see :cool:

gromituk

The bottom line is that it's cheaper to make a machine with cold fill only - fewer valves. But Katykat's points do make sense - lower temperature washes and less water used.

You can't improve the efficiency of an electric heater - all the energy going in is converted to useful heat, unlike with a gas heater where some goes up the chimney. Electric heating is more expensive because of the inefficiency of generating the electricity (the heat goes up the chimney in the power station) and of distributing it (nice warm power lines and substation transformers).