Washing machine using hot water from water tank instead of heating it itself?

QuiteInterestin · 15-03-2013 09:10PM #1

Moved into a new apartment recently. Have a Whirlpool AWZ 410 washing machine and have only started to use it today. I noticed that it has a hot and cold water inlet, with the hot water being supplied from the hot water tank (heated at night at night saver rates). Just wondering if anyone knows how much hot water it takes from the tank? Will it be leaving me short of hot water later on in the day? Would it be worth my while getting a Y connector and connecting both water inlets from the cold supply? Would usually be doing either 30C/40C and the odd 60C washes.

I'm a bit anxious about the hot water supply as I had problems with the water heating when I moved in. It wasn't heating the water at night but the boost was working ok-ish. When the electrician came to fix it, it seems the thermostat in the upper heating element (the boost) had gone and so the previous tenants had changed the wiring and wired the boost switch to the lower heating element so they could still have hot water (of course they didn't tell this to the landlord when they left so I ended up having to deal with all these problems). The electrician set the temp to 60C but it wasn't heating up hot enough so he came back and increased it to 70C, which I'm guessing is more expensive but it seems the only way to get the water hot enough and so I don't want to be wasting it washing clothes. Not sure what the set up was in my previous houses was, but I'm living alone now so have no one to share the bills with so want to keep the costs down so any suggestions welcome!

Billy Bunting · 15-03-2013 09:17PM

QuiteInterestin wrote: »

Moved into a new apartment recently. Have a Whirlpool AWZ 410 washing machine and have only started to use it today. I noticed that it has a hot and cold water inlet, with the hot water being supplied from the hot water tank (heated at night at night saver rates). Just wondering if anyone knows how much hot water it takes from the tank? Will it be leaving me short of hot water later on in the day? Would it be worth my while getting a Y connector and connecting both water inlets from the cold supply? Would usually be doing either 30C/40C and the odd 60C washes.

I'm a bit anxious about the hot water supply as I had problems with the water heating when I moved in. It wasn't heating the water at night but the boost was working ok-ish. When the electrician came to fix it, it seems the thermostat in the upper heating element (the boost) had gone and so the previous tenants had changed the wiring and wired the boost switch to the lower heating element so they could still have hot water (of course they didn't tell this to the landlord when they left so I ended up having to deal with all these problems). The electrician set the temp to 60C but it wasn't heating up hot enough so he came back and increased it to 70C, which I'm guessing is more expensive but it seems the only way to get the water hot enough and so I don't want to be wasting it washing clothes. Not sure what the set up was in my previous houses was, but I'm living alone now so have no one to share the bills with so want to keep the costs down so any suggestions welcome!

Dependent on Manufacturer, but most hot/cold fill machines will only take HOT only on programes using water temperatures above 60o as the manufacturers know that your hot water is around that temperature, on programes around 50o then hot and cold would be used and temperatures below that then cold would be used and the machines heater would heat to the exact programe temperature.

This is all designed to prevent your delicates and small being cooked in 60o water.

How Strange · 15-03-2013 09:24PM

We have a similar type of washing machine. My dad is a plumber and he recommended that we get one of those y connectors to bypass the hot water. He reckons that the hot water has cooled by the time it gets to the machine do it has to heat again.

We always wash at 40oc which is the lowest temp on our machine.

I always notice that the water isn't as hot the morning after we've used the machine at night so it definitely affects the hot water. Also it drains the tank so we have to have our showers etc before turning the machine on.

QuiteInterestin · 15-03-2013 09:44PM

Billy Bunting wrote: »

Dependent on Manufacturer, but most hot/cold fill machines will only take HOT only on programes using water temperatures above 60o as the manufacturers know that your hot water is around that temperature, on programes around 50o then hot and cold would be used and temperatures below that then cold would be used and the machines heater would heat to the exact programe temperature.

Thanks, that's good to know as most of my washes would be 30C or 40C, wouldn't use the 60C too often

How Strange wrote: »

We have a similar type of washing machine. My dad is a plumber and he recommended that we get one of those y connectors to bypass the hot water. He reckons that the hot water has cooled by the time it gets to the machine do it has to heat again.

Thanks, might look into getting one then, though I rent here so can't do too much messing with water connections. Also, my washing machine is right beside my water tank (in the hot press, building boom space saving idea:rolleyes:) so the hot water doesn't have to travel too far to get to it

How Strange wrote: »

I always notice that the water isn't as hot the morning after we've used the machine at night so it definitely affects the hot water. Also it drains the tank so we have to have our showers etc before turning the machine on.

This is what I'd be worried about as I usually take showers in the evening. How is your water heated? Think I'll try and do my washing at night after I've used the shower so that it will work on the night saver rate and any hot water it uses will be replaced later on when the immersion heats up at night. Bit of a nuisance, never put any thought into what time I washed my clothes at before, also don't know if I could sleep if the washing machine is on.

Billy Bunting · 15-03-2013 09:51PM

How Strange wrote: »

We have a similar type of washing machine. My dad is a plumber and he recommended that we get one of those y connectors to bypass the hot water. He reckons that the hot water has cooled by the time it gets to the machine do it has to heat again.

We always wash at 40oc which is the lowest temp on our machine.

I always notice that the water isn't as hot the morning after we've used the machine at night so it definitely affects the hot water. Also it drains the tank so we have to have our showers etc before turning the machine on.

If you fit a Y adaptor then you have nothing but cold water and the machine will have to heat it, thats all fine if you only ever use the machine 40o, but if you wanted to use a 90o programe you would be sat all day waiting because the machine will sit and wash until the required programe temperature is met. In your case of a 40o wash it would make no difference being hooked up to hot and cold because the programe would more than likely ask for cold because of the fear of 60o water hitting your smalls.

QuiteInterestin · 15-03-2013 10:13PM

Thanks, it was the washing machine using too much hot water leaving none for showering etc that I was most worried about, but as you said it only does that for the hotter washes so I'm happy enough with that. Its just finished a 90C wash (wanted to give it a good clean before I started using it) and there was still enough hot water to take a quick shower so that's a good sign! I'll just have to see how it goes and see what works best for me. Thanks for the replies

How Strange · 15-03-2013 10:44PM

Billy Bunting unfortunately that's not the case for us. It always takes the hot water. We'd very rarely wash above 40oc so I'd prefer not to use hot water from the tank.

It's not a big deal in the grand scheme of things. We work around it but we'll definitely get a machine with a cold water feed next time.

QuiteInterestin · 15-03-2013 10:52PM

How Strange wrote: »

Billy Bunting unfortunately that's not the case for us. It always takes the hot water. We'd very rarely wash above 40oc so I'd prefer not to use hot water from the tank.

It's not a big deal in the grand scheme of things. We work around it but we'll definitely get a machine with a cold water feed next time.

Haven't tried any 30C or 40C washes yet so I might be the same, I'll find out soon enough. From the bit of searching I was doing on the topic it seems most of the newer machines are cold water feed only so it seems to be the way forward.

corkgsxr · 15-03-2013 10:58PM

They dont use that much water. Id say thats not your problem

Joey the lips · 16-03-2013 12:29AM

If your by passing water in your washing machine. You have problems. Really how many loads do you do and how much water do you think it uses.

QuiteInterestin · 16-03-2013 12:58AM

Joey the lips wrote: »

If your by passing water in your washing machine. You have problems. Really how many loads do you do and how much water do you think it uses.

Thanks for the reply,though I'm not sure what you mean by bypassing? I only moved in a few weeks ago and used the washing machine for the first time today (I had to go home to my parents house for the last few weekends so I ended up doing my washing there, but that wouldn't be the norm). I started the thread as after starting the wash, I was surprised that it was hooked up to the hot water tank as at home we use the cold water inlet only and I never took any notice in any of the other houses I lived in. I was wondering what other peoples experiences were with the same set up, how much hot water it would use when set like this, would it be worthwhile setting it to use cold water as I'm used to or should I just leave it as it is. I was also wondering if others found it effected their hot supply and left them short later on in the day.

I probably shouldn't have even mentioned the problems I had with my water heating when I moved in as it was a bit off topic, I just wanted to justify my reason for being worried about using too much hot water. As I only did one wash today, I haven't worked out yet how much hot water it used from the tank, though it was a 90C wash and there was enough water let afterwards for a shower so it can't be too much anyways. I'm sure it'll be fine, for all I know all the previous houses/apartments I lived in had the same set up I just never noticed before now.

Joey the lips · 16-03-2013 07:58AM

Modern washing machines only have one supply. Older ones have 2.

The idea with the older ones is if the water in the tank is hot enough it uses some of it. If its cold it heats it

The new ones just have one supply. The idea is they heat all the water.

I have no really opinion on which is better. But when i moved here 6 years ago i used both. I bought a new machine before christmas that only uses one.

Neither has really effected my hot water that i am aware of..

Billy Bunting · 16-03-2013 08:33AM

How Strange wrote: »

Billy Bunting unfortunately that's not the case for us. It always takes the hot water. We'd very rarely wash above 40oc so I'd prefer not to use hot water from the tank.

It's not a big deal in the grand scheme of things. We work around it but we'll definitely get a machine with a cold water feed next time.

If your using all your hot while only washing below 40o then its likely that your hot and cold are reversed, in which case the machine will be asking for cold water but receiving hot due to the plumbing error.

How Strange · 16-03-2013 08:35AM

Yeah I must get my dad to look at it next time he's up.

Washing machine using hot water from water tank instead of heating it itself?

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