Need Advice on replacement washing machine

[Delbert_99]

My 4 year old integrated Bosch Washer Dryer bit the dust last week 😥 .
Came home to find the power tripped out at the fuse box. Eventually found it was the washing machine. Looks like one of the suspension springs broke whilst it was spinning. The whole drum dropped and smashed the electronics and things at the bottom, and completely distoring the rubber seal at the front. The repair guy said £370-00 minimum on parts ( i have checked on the Bosch spares part site too ), and still no gaurantee when those are replaced that it will still as there may be more wrong…. advice was to scrap it.
So i am looking for a new machine. As i work for Siemens in the UK, i tried the staff discount, but found that the machines are ‘cold fill’ only.
As i have a solar hot water system on the house, i want a ‘hot fill’ machine to take advantage of the ‘free’ hot water i get 6 months of the year.
Tried 2 Indeset machines that said ‘cold and hot feeds perferred’, but found that the hot feed was never used !! Both went back.

One retailer has suggested a Caple WMI1012… but i never heard of them.
Another is a SMEG ( do not know the model ).

Any opinions on these manufacturers ? And any other suggestions on intergrated ( built in ) washers which have cold & hot fill ?

Any help greatly appreciated. TIA.

[Goatboy]

Re: Need Advice on replacement washing machine

Almost no new machine uses hot water!* Because recent research shows that bringing in hot water onto a stain, will just fuse the stain into the clothes.

All model-day washers use so little water, that they fill cold only, or use both feeds at the same time. Soon, all machines will be cold fill only!

I’d say stick with the Siemens :tup: Especially if you can get a staff discount! I’ve seen those staff prices, and they’re lower that my buying price sometimes :eeek:

* I think the American style Whirlpool Toploader doesn’t have a heater and has the option of filling just from the hot feed (but has no dryer, of course).

[kwatt]

Re: Need Advice on replacement washing machine

Not so much fusing the stain, more how do you know what temperature that teh incoming water is? With current trends towards lower temperature washes to accomodate modern clothing a hot fill makes no sense from that angle, less still when you consider that by the time a modern machine fills then all it’s probably done is fill with the cold water that was lying in the pipework.

I’d agree with GB, get the Siemens. 😉

K.

[Bill]

Re: Need Advice on replacement washing machine

Or buy an ISE

Bill Ellis :scot:

[leavemetogetonwithit]

Re: Need Advice on replacement washing machine

An alternative might be to fill the machine using a measured amount of warm water from the tap via a funnel into the soap dispenser. This would be too troublesome for most people but if you want to get the maximum benefit from your solar installation it may be the simplest way. Once the user got used to doing it it probably wouldn’t be that arduous. It would be interesting to calculate how much/little fossil fuel energy you would save by using such a system. It probably wouldn’t save you much money at today’s fuel prices but the time may not be far off when your investment in solar will be saving you a lot more. 😉
Mike.

[kwatt]

I think that’s a bit of backward step LMTGOWI as the whole point of an automatic is that it is automatic.

Apart from which please refer to my previous comments about the incoming water temperature and the possible adverse effects. Surely you don’t advocate that the poor chap measure the temperature of every fill as well simply to utilise solar heated water do you?

And, environmentally, it’s pretty much a non-starter if you ruin garments, kinda defeats the purpose does it not?

K.

[leavemetogetonwithit]

Re: Need Advice on replacement washing machine

Not sure but thought I read somewhere that very cold water could also “set” stains. Anyway, I said warm water not hot. I was envisaging a careful user filling a large jug from the tap, testing temp. with finger, then pouring it gently down a funnel with a bit of rubber hose on the end so the soap drawer didn’t need to be open too far. This would only be for the main wash fill, obviously. It’s far more time consuming and complicated to describe this process than to do it. I’ve known people use this method to ensure the use of their gas heated/econ7 water in preference to using the machine’s heater. Maybe it is a bit fanatical but some of us live that way. 😉
Mike.

[admin]

Re: Need Advice on replacement washing machine

I have Solar heating which provides water at 85 degrees in the summer months and 42 in the winter ones. However by the time we have done our washing there,s no hot water left for the rest of the house requirements. My system cost £4,000 back in 1980 and is still running perfectly well and efficiently.

Nowadays, the cost outweights the savings in a family home who actually need lots of hot water for bathing the kids and the rest of household use.

My American T/L washes really well in cold water, all 18lbs (the load) of it, using Ariel of course.

Kevin

[Author]

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