Hot feed for washing machine

[Russell griffiths]

Evening. 
wife is shopping for a new washing machine and I’ve noticed a couple come with hot and cold feeds. 
what’s anybody’s opinion on the hot feed models, is there a massive saving on not having to heat a cold water feed, but if it takes hot from our cylinder, then that has to be replaced, and washer running during the day with solar making electricity during the day. 
 

are we talking a couple of pennies saving rather than just a cold feed machine. 
 

confused as usual 🤯

[saveasteading]

Because its confusing. 

Solar complicates the calculation.   Without it, the tank water should be cheaper.

With it?

Will the team work to the required times?

 

Let us all know your decision, with reasoning.

[JohnMo]

Really depends on distance from cylinder. May just take in cool water so it will heat anyway and deplete the cylinder. Solar only really applicable in summer.

 

Different washers are/ can be more efficient energy wise. We just move our Bosch washer to the garage (it used loads of electricity) and moved to a Samsung it seems way better on electric. 

[DamonHD]

One huge energy saving (~80%) is to run washes as you can cold, so buy a machine that can do that.  We do everything except bedding on cold.

 

https://www.earth.org.uk/note-on-Zanussi-ZWF01483W-freestanding-washing-machine-REVIEW.html

 

Also as @JohnMo says, a water- (and thus energy-) efficient machine may not draw enough hot for it to reach the machine at all from the tank/boiler.

Edited yesterday at 18:20 by DamonHD

[Oz07]

I had one next to combi in last place and thought about feeding it via a blended hot. Never did in the end.  Depends how close to source or if you have a circulating hot in your place?

 

Another vote for samsung here sick of pissing around with less than 5 yr guarantee. As for washing cold that's a no call me a luddite but most gets 40c towels get 60c. 

[DamonHD]

Both circulating hot and washing unnecessarily at 40C or above are huge consumers of energy.  (And washing too hot ages clothes prematurely.)

 

That costs money and climate emissions.

 

The OP was talking about 'savings' from a dual-fill machine.  Better savings would come from NOT having circulating hot and NOT washing hotter than actually needed.

Edited yesterday at 19:57 by DamonHD

[SteamyTea]

It is pennies difference.

My Bosch uses between 30 litres and 110 litres, with temperatures ranging from between 30°C and 60°C.  It can also take up to 9 kg of load.

So taking the worse case, cottons at 60°C, max load of 9kg, the manual says it uses 1.75 kWh.  So even at my day rate, that is about 61p.  As I usually run it at night, it is 25p.

On the mixed load 40°C setting, which can take up to 4 kg, it uses 0.64 kWh.  So either 23p or 9p.

 

I usually use the 'speed perfect' setting at 30°C and I seem to remember that it uses 0.3 kWh.  So 11p or 4p.

 

So really, washing machines are pretty good.

 

The big saving is is not using a tumble dryer.  I am on my second Poundland washing line (I still have some left from the second one I bought), so that has cost be 10p/year.

 

 

Just thought that at about £8/m³ for water and waste, the small, 30 litre wash costs 24p.  Have I ever mentioned that we have the most expensive water in the country, which will also make it one of the most expensive in the world.

 

Edited 23 hours ago by SteamyTea

[Mike]

3 hours ago, JohnMo said:

Really depends on distance from cylinder. May just take in cool water so it will heat anyway and deplete the cylinder.

Yes, that's essentially the reason most modern machines are cold only; they use so little water that the hot water often won't reach the machine - it will just cool down in the pipe, so it's more energy efficient to use cold.

[Nickfromwales]

If the hot water is heated by solar in summer and off peak electricity during winter, via a HP, then DHW will

cost pennies, but heating water in the machine via direct electricity will be almost 100% efficient, whereas transporting hot water across the length of the house, sporadically, will be very much less efficient; setting aside the subject of how cheap it was to actually make the hot water.

 

If you’ve a hot return then that would help obvs, but would need to be on.

 

Cold fill afaic, savings would be very little, if any, unless the machine was next to the hot water tank, as you can use the PV to heat the washing machine if it’s used 2 hours prior > 2 hours past midday eg in that ~4 hour window.

[Russell griffiths]

So get the wife to pick the machine she likes, and sod splitting hairs over a pound hear and there. 
cheers all. 

[DamonHD]

Well, get one that is water- and energy- efficient, that she likes, I suggest.  Cold only is fine.

[saveasteading]

Efficiency of stacking can delay use til the next meal. That will save more energy, and water, than anything else.

Apparently long, smart programmes are also efficient.

I don't know what is smart? Perhaps how mucky the water is.

 

If you get it fitted by the delivery guys, double check after they've gone and check for leaks. They arent employed for their plumbing skills. My last 2 have both leaked from the water connection causing great problems. In each case it was simply mis-threaded.

[SteamyTea]

1 hour ago, DamonHD said:

Well, get one that is water- and energy- efficient, that she likes, I suggest.  Cold only is fine.

Yes, I think total capacity is the important part. Less washes needed.

 

1 hour ago, saveasteading said:

don't know what is smart? Perhaps how mucky the water is.

Think it is the mass of laundry. Water needed to be replaced as the soap powder has to be washed out.

 

I recently got so decarboniser for work, it is mixed with water and you dump the blackened pots, pans and grills in it.

Looked at the chemicals in it for the COSHH file, same stuff as washing powder.

Worth knowing if you have a blackened kitchen tool.