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Hot & cold for washing machines


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We will shortly be moving out of our rented house and into our new house (yippeeeee) and I want to plumb the washing machine into the hot and cold water system. Does anyone know any reasons why I can't.

I know that it's common practice to plumb into the cold water pipe here in France, but I can't really see the sense in having solar water heating and then paying the electrifical supplier to heat more water from cold? I also realise that some if not most French washing machines only have a cold connection. I have had to fit a 'y' connector on our U.K. bought machine.

Before anyone goes on about using a high wattage machine, U.K. machine over here. It was bought a couple of years ago to replace the 18 year old machine that gave up the ghost and I was budgerigared if I was going to dump it and buy another new one here...

John.

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The water temp is not known yet, but a VERY good question to ask when we go for the test drive/explanation from the guy selling the house! Lots of things to explain, pool, underfloor heating, automatic drive on the included Rolls Royce, etc (I wish)...

John.

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If you think about it, there is no reason why this should be a problem here any more than in the UK. Different boilers have different hot water output temperatures.  It is not a problem here or in the UK as I think that you will find that only the boil washes take in hot water on most automatic machines, all the low temperature washes load up with cold.
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The hot would be around 60 deg. Surely the machine can cope, it is connected to both hot and cold, has a thermostat, and can mix both water inputs.

We use our UK macine here, water was similar temp in UK and the low temp washes were and are no problems. There was no reference to avoiding the use of hotter water in the English instructions! Didn't even think of this problem when I connected it here.

MikeW

PS We are on 6KW supply (previous owners were 'careful' I think!), have all the usual apliances, use them wisely, and havn't tripped out yet. (Frantically looks for wood!)
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when replacing our UK washing machine within the last year we were hard put to find a hot and cold fill one, as most are now cold only (market forces, they said!) as we got free hot water we insisted on a hot/cold fill.

Our water came out of the hot tap at 98.9 degrees c (yes it boiled in the tank frequently) as the thermostat on the aga (not ours) was faulty. We never had a problem with the water being too hot for any of our washing machines over the last 16 years (and with 4 kids I've seen a few off!)

The only problem I can see is the hot water being at mains pressure in france unlike over here, but the temperature certainly isn't an issue!
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Having lived in a country where the washing machines were not only cold fill but cold wash - with a washing powder called Elephant it never fails to amaze me that we still have to use a hot wash to obtain the same clean wash.

We were told by a UK repair man that washing using a hot fill for washes over 60 degrees (this is normally when the UK machines fill with hot water) can actually set stains such as blood and make them impossible to remove. Red wine is another problem. Starting with a cold water fill will loosen the stains and give a cleaner wash or use a pre wash which is always from cold.

If your hot tank is far enough away, you may never get much hot water from the hot pipe, the hot water will come through the pipe and stop when the drum is full, the pipe will be full of paid for hot water which will slowly get cold - so it is more economical to use a cold fill machine unless your hot water is 'free'.

Sorry if this is boring but I really got into this when I got back from Africa and tried to find a cold water washing powder - some have got down to 40 degrees (25 years later) and claim to get the white wash clean but they do that mainly with optical brighteners which gives the whites a blue tinge.

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I must say that I rarely use any other cycle than 30°.  My washing is clean.  Occasionally I will boil the tea towels but I can do that on the stove.....goodness, I'm old!

I don't see the need for hotter temperatures.  My Nana would boil stuff but 1. all her stuff was natural fibres and 2. they didn't change their clothes as often as us.  Who washes really dirty clothes now?

Do people use 60° say and is it any better?

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I'm sure that a washing machine can mix the hot and cold water to give the right temperature - we too only ever wash at 30 or 40 degrees. Our machine has hot and cold fill, but it's in the same room as the boiler, which heats the water and has a thermostat set to 60°. Had it been necessary to run a hot supply to the washing machine I'm sure we would not have bothered. Most hot and cold fill machines can be run on cold water only, you just need a 'Y' piece to join the two inlets into one.
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If,as we do you put the machine on a timer for cheap rate overnight electric, it should not matter that much. We have a UK hot/cold fill machine but only use the cold fill.  I wish that was all I had to worry about in terms of sorting out the house!

Regards,

Bob

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Because of skin problems all our sheets and underclothes/tee shirts and shirts are pure cotton and to make life easier I just buy all sheets and towels in white or cream so I don't have to wash multiple sorted loads at high temperatures.

If you have allergies you will find that washing at 30 or 40 does not kill off mites and other allergy producing horrors, also if your children are unlucky enough to get nits a warm wash just cheers them up . Living in a renovation with someone who works in dust, muck and grime each day, white cotton tee shirts go a very interesting colour unless they are given a good wash. I also have to use pure cotton hankies as I am allergic to paper dust (YES I know, they would shoot a horse in my situation) and I make sure that they are sterilised and clean when washed.

I do not use washing powders for clothes that are not dirty, I use a 40 degree wash with washing balls plus for whites I also use oxygen bleach, not the expesive stuff but the cheap stuff you can get from specialist stores. This works for me.

If you can get away with man made fibres and don't have mucky children or adults I would think that 30 or 40 degree washes would suffice so a hot fill would not be needed at all.

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Last time I bought a washing machine the only one available immediately was cold fill. It is very slow compared with a hot and cold fill and annoyingly heats the water itself when I have already got a tank full of hot water

Redcap - I hope you have a smoke alarm close to your washing machine ?

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We certainly brought out a UK machine so that the wash didn't take the customary 2-3 hours of a French machine.  However, when the hot water is being sucked into the machine it makes an awful racket as if the hot water pressure is TOO LOW not too high.

Also can anyone help me to find the thermostat on the chauffe eau as ours is dangerously hot.  I have looked on the underside but can't see anything obvious.

Suggestions about how to lower the thermostat gratefully received.

Valere.

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[quote]We certainly brought out a UK machine so that the wash didn't take the customary 2-3 hours of a French machine. However, when the hot water is being sucked into the machine it makes an awful racket a...[/quote]

Turn off the power, remove ( normally two screws) the white plastic cover which is shaped like a bowl, you should find either a knob sticking down or a wheel like those you find on the back of electric clocks.
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[quote]We certainly brought out a UK machine so that the wash didn't take the customary 2-3 hours of a French machine. However, when the hot water is being sucked into the machine it makes an awful racket a...[/quote]

Turn off the power, remove ( normally two screws) the white plastic cover which is shaped like a bowl, you should find either a knob sticking down or a wheel like those you find on the back of electric clocks.
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My new Siemens machine takes about 2 hours for most programs.

And thinking about it, my hot water from the tank here was always very very hot, but as I depended on it getting heated during the cheap electricity moments, I wouldn't have wanted to use that water in my machine anyway, so was happy enough to go onto cold fill. As it was I used to have to boil pans and kettles to get a hot bath sometimes or wash up at the end of the day. This was both in our appt and in this house........ the gas heating and water heating we have now is wonderful.

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[quote]Last time I bought a washing machine the only one available immediately was cold fill. It is very slow compared with a hot and cold fill and annoyingly heats the water itself when I have already got a...[/quote]

Hi Gay,

The machine is in the basement, so we would not hear the alarm anyway.  I had thought about one, we ahve them in the house.  I have always used the machine on a timer for years.  Do you think there is a risk of fire from the machine?  I suppose like anything electrical there is a risk, the machine is in a room with little else, all solid concrete.

Regards,

Bob

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"If you all had a Solar absorber you could enjoy the benefits of washing in hot or warm water - free from the sun"

That's the point I made when I posted this. The water is solar heated! The central Heating is LPG, low temp under floor heating. So after living in the house we are in now, which is electrifical radiators it's going to be wonderful. The house is also classed as 'Bioclimatic' with all the trimmings and nothing to do when we move in other than relax! Oh yes and trim about 100 yards of pyrocanthus hedge!!!! That stuff makes blackthorn look friendly .

Bob, our washing machine is never on when we are in bed, nor when we go out. We were advised by the Stroud fire service that it is a VERY dangerous peice of kit on its own. When ours gave up the ghost the cable going into the motor had chafed through and it was only our dog that alerted us to it. Otherwise there would probably have been a fire.

John.

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A friend of mine left both her sons and husband sleeping off a 'heavy night' and went to work, just putting the dishwasher on before she left (it had only been repaired/serviced the week before). Apparently her son tried several times to turn his alarm clock off before realising it was the fire alarm going off, the fire was caused by the dishwasher.

The damage to the house resulted in them spending several weeks at an hotel.

Washing machines, dishwashers and tumble dryers should never be put on at night or when you are about to go out, as John says any fire brigade will tell you.

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