In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
Think you will find virtually all continental machines only have cold water inlets. The main idea for that is that heating the water in the machine is supposed to help remove stains. I know UK machines used to have both, but not sure if that is still the norm now.
Perhaps the easiest thing would be to get one from the UK as they seem to still be a bit cheaper than here anyway.
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
I do think you will find it very difficult to get a two pipe machine. I bought one (very top of the range) and was surprised to read in the manufacturer's Italian spec that it came with a dual feed. When it arrived it only had the cold feed!
I suppose you could always feed the hot to a two way valve on the washing machine inlet and feed in hot (manually), because the hot would be okay for nappies but probably would shrink woolies, and then switch to cold for the rinsing cycles. It might be worth doing if you have already got hot water close to the machine.
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
By adding a thermostat mixer valve to the washing machine feed you can run a 30ºc warm water feed to the machine. This will allow you to wash in 30ºc and the machine increases the temp for hotter cycles. However if you want cooler washes than 30ºc you will have to lower the feed tempearture valve or you'll have plenty of baby clothes. Or you can have a diverter valve installed to allow you to change to cold water feed on desired colder cycles.:smile:
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
Lotan beat me to the suggestion I was going to make, although I'd have the supply to the washing machine on a "T" arrangement, with the washing machine on the bottom, a thermostatic mixer valve set at 60° on one side of the T and a cold water supply on the other, both of which lines have valves.
If you want a cold wash, turn off the line with the thermostatic mixer valve; if you want a hot wash turn off the cold line; if you want a warm wash, have both valves open.
Since thermostatic mixer valves are adjustable, you could experiment with different hot line temperatures to take account of the temperature and pressure of the cold line.
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
I replaced my UK washing machine & as I had always had a hot and cold fill system I was going to get another. However the plumber who advised me (when he came to repair old machine) said that unless the hot water tank is next to the machine it is a waste of time as it take so long for the hot water to get to the machine that all you are doing is filling the internal pipes with hot water which will cool down before you next fill up the machine. I do find though that the soap dispenser needs more cleaning as there is no hot water going into it.
Chris
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
Thank you all for the replies.
After a small amount of research into a subject I never thought in a million years I would have to research it seems that unless the machine is right next to a free supply of hot water it does not make economic sense to have hot water supply to machine. ( unless you do a lot of very hot washing but these days with biological powders etc. do people still boil wash )
If i put the machine in the boiler room with the solar water storage tank this would be OK. Problem is wife will not be happy as boiler is large ( over 35kw) no internal door allowed so have to take all dirty washing out into the street through external door, and we will be living in the centre of a village. Daft thing is we will be still hanging the clean stuff over the street to dry, nappies and all.
Conclusion is when designing house layout make sure you think about the washing machine position if you have solar hot water.
Steve
Most washing machines & dishwashers, too, have only cold water intake, because the water is heated in the machine itself, once you have chosen the temperature/cycle, etc. We puzzled through this as well, but there is no need for a hot water feed to the machine.