Anyone know anything about this? GE limits Hot Water

[gansky1]

Martin, your belt-drive really choked on the dog fur?  That's a lot of fur!  And a real test for a washer.

 

I wondered if this new LG t/l washer would have a water temp sensor that would balk when the cold water was shut off to get a non-tempered hot fill.  Apparently, it's not that smart and will fill the 4.3 cu ft tub to the brim with tap-hot water.  OTOH, I've used it many cycles on the hot setting and just let it do it's thing, tempering my 140+ water as it wanted and had fine results.  I have softened water and use good quality detergent (I've read this site before and have been perfectly satisfied with the washing and (cold) rinsing.  I'm sure there's a psychological connection to hot water and cleaning just as there is to copious amounts of water and cleaning, but I've been impressed with the results overall.

 

[yogitunes]

yeah, Greg, there are points where a Siberian looses that undercoat, comes off like cotton, you almost created a second dog once your done brushing her out....at these times, they are high maintenance, between the dog and surrounding areas...

in any case, you shake out and remove as much fur before any blanket goes into the machine.....every bit helps....first I was using a Kenmore, mainly it was the self clean filters that got blocked, changed out several different versions, finally removed it completely....then the pump would eventually jam up....but this was the only machine that gave issues for longer fur.....

heres a new topic, matching the machine to the breed/animal....lol

for your LG, or any newer HE machine out there, all you can do it try several ideas/tricks to get a hotter wash or more water added....try turning off the cold for the first fill, and see what happens, most times you can get away with just a trickle.....just remember to turn it back on full pressure as the rinses are all cold...

yeah, mentally getting past a few things is difficult to comprehend.....in the 50/60's, washing of white cottons was hot water and bleach was the only way to get them clean....today realizing cooler temps work for something like this, granted bleach is a must, but the actual bleach rinse is done in cold....just boggles your mind from what your used to....

stick with vintage for as long as you can if that's what your used to.....the new age of machines is here, and their never going to go back to the old ways, unfortunately....its a quick jump into the HE world, as before switching from a wringer to an automatic was a slow transition, plus wringers were still available for a long time after that....you had a choice, today, your not given one....

 

[miele_ge]

re-read the original post...

it is a shame the author of the comment on the other board didn't include a model number etc. Seems goofy to me. I am guessing (because I don't know for sure), but wouldn't a machine be branded either a "GE" or a "Hotpoint?" In the post it's called a "GE/Hotpoint". Which is it? If they are that ignorant of appliances, how would they know the connection between GE and Hotpoint?

Does it have ATC (which would govern water temp)? It is pretty much useless to comment on what the machine is/is not doing without knowing what it is.

Sounds like someone was just cranky and posted a lot of hot air.

Just my 2 cents

 

[mark_wpduet]

Are built in heaters in washers

the next thing to go? Right now, we can get super hot washes because of our built in heaters. Someone on another topic a while back (I think it was Malcolm) said that built it heaters will be a thing of the past because of detergents being designed with cold water in mind. I REEEAAALLLLYYYY hope that isn't true. I need hot water.
Who would have thought that some TL washers the hottest temp would be 95F?

 

[chachp]

I hope not!!!!

 

<span style="font-family: 'courier new', courier;">I have purchased two washing machines since 2002 and in both cases the onboard water heater was in the 'must have' column and not the 'nice to have' column.  I sure hope it doesn't come to this.</span>

 

<span style="font-family: 'courier new', courier;">If they feel then need to regulate anything why don't they regulate the temp on your household water heater and let the individual appliances raise the temps.  Wouldn't that be more cost effective?  Better yet why not work to improve tankless models and ban these huge water heaters that people have in their homes and then offer incentives to move them to tankless models?</span>

<span style="font-family: 'courier new', courier;"> </span>

<span style="font-family: 'courier new', courier;">My water heater went out about two years ago.  I asked the plumber what it would cost me to convert to tankless and he told me to wait.  He said they still aren't there yet.  In my particular situation he said I would need two of them one at each end of the house because by the time the water travelled from one end to the other it would cool down.  That didn't make much sense to me (because the water travels that distance today) but I figured he must know what he's talking about because he was literally talking himself out of a bigger sale.  He also told me that given the current prices it could take 20 years to recoup the cost savings I might see in lower energy bills.</span>

<span style="font-family: 'courier new', courier;"> </span>

<span style="font-family: 'courier new', courier;">I have friends with the tankless models and they are happy with them but in both cases that have a home with two levels, both are new builds and in both cases the water heaters were in the attic so the water doesn't have to travel as far.  I have a 40 year old ranch.  One of them just had to replace a control board in theirs after about 8 years of use.  The part cost her about $200 and given she has experience in these areas she replaced it herself.  To have it done would have easily cost her twice that.</span>

 

[artcurus]

Parent's house is a 60 year old ranch, we replaced a 50 gallon standing water heater with a gas tankless roughly ten years ago. Not a problem since. However, I've heard that electric ones are more problematic.

Regulating the temperature on standing water heaters is a bad thing. If the temperature is too low, it can breed legionnaires disease.

 

[cornutt]

"If they feel then need to regulate anything why don't they regulate the temp on your household water heater and let the individual appliances raise the temps. "

Well, if the water heater is gas, now you're using electricity to heat water that could have been heated more efficiently with gas.

Although better electric water heaters are, in my experience, well insulated enough so that it only heats when you draw water, hardly ever when it's just standing. I remember when I moved into the first house I owned myself. I went away on a weekend trip and decided to try to save some electricity by shutting off the breaker to the electric water heater. I came home from the trip and all was well. Two days' worth of showers and dishwashing later, I had no hot water. Went to check on it and discovered I had forgotten to turn the breaker back on.

 

[vacerator]

Good question.

Hot water use varies from households depending on family size. I keep mine just above warm. I have no need to heat water all day I'm not using.
Don't give them any ideas, but in Europe, tankless is the norm. Still expensive here, and I don't know how they perform under heavy use. Claims are that laundry, dishes, and showering can all be done at the same time. They don't say how many can shower at once.

 

[DADoES]

 
My (electric) tankless is 12 years old, perfectly happy with it.  The alarmist warnings about tankless are overblown, largely related to people not understanding how to use them properly.

 

[launderess]

There are many ways to go with tankless

Large buildings and or anyone with huge hot water demands can use two or more tank-less heaters in tandem to provide constant hot water especially for multiple sources.

Another option is to add a storage tank which is popular when tapping a coil off a steam/hot water heat boiler. In fact most older buildings in NYC have "tankless" hot water in that a coil is run off of the steam (once likely coal but now oil or natural gas) boiler. Downside to this is having to keep that boiler on all year long though you can take down high water temp range a bit during warmer times of year since heat is not called for.

IIRC from Consumer Reports and other sources depending upon how much hot water is needed and ability of tankless heater a much larger gas line or electrical wiring may be required. They go on to say utilities dread the thought of massive numbers of customers going over to electric tankless as it would certainly almost require upgrading and perhaps put a strain on system.

While natural gas is another option not every home/building has or can get that fuel. Even here in NYC when a building that say once used oil (or coal) for heating/hot water wants to switch over to natural gas it may require a new main into the building to handle the demand. This is because the former pipe likely only supplied enough gas for the stoves/ovens.

Tankless heaters have been around since the early part of the last century. Some of those huge old Rudd units are still operating. IIRC however they were designed for how persons lived back then. That is baths were more common than showers. Cleaning everything from laundry to whatever was a matter of filling tubs and buckets. Either way you are talking about filling something with ten so gallons of water then stopping. For those that like to treat their shower time like a spa day, you obviously are going to need a far more constant and even source of hot water.

 

[DADoES]

 
<blockquote>IIRC from Consumer Reports and other sources depending upon how much hot water is needed and ability of tankless heater a much larger gas line or electrical wiring may be required. They go on to say utilities dread the thought of massive numbers of customers going over to electric tankless as it would certainly almost require upgrading and perhaps put a strain on system.</blockquote> Exactly.  Heating water requires a specific amount of heat input per °F/C of temp rise and volume of water involved.  The amount of heat energy is the same whether tank or tankless ... but tankless must input it into the water in a MUCH shorter timeframe -- instantaneously as the water flow passes through the unit.  Electric utilities particularly detest electric tankless for the large demand draw that may occur.  They have to maintain sufficient reserve capacity to provide that draw at any moment.  A few electric tankless, not a large deal.  Several hundred or thousands = potential seriousness.  My unit can peak at 120 amps, which is 28,800 watts.  That rarely happens because I keep it set at a reasonable temperature for "normal" use, but it may happen in winter weather if I zap a load of whites at 140°F.