My UK (please note locals) Hotpoint Washer/Dryer is on the fritz…

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Running first load…wow it barely uses any water, so far… a bit sorry to see that.
So quiet though. We could use a larger drum but hopefully it therefore won’t be as finicky to go into spin as our SQ was on occasion.
Now rinse…much much more water…yay![this post was last edited: 9/23/2021-06:03]

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When first got my AEG Lavamat thought same thing for cottons/linens; that there wasn't enough water. After slight learning curve can say yes, these washers use proper amount of water for washing.

If you hit "pause" after several minutes and let tub sit, gradually all water in laundry will pool down to bottom of tub. Thus you can see yes, there is enough water to get the job done.

Plus these washers normally have recirculation jets that will activate during portion of wash cycle. This further enhances cleaning with low water amounts.
 
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Laundress I think I agree w/ you on the wash water now.
The real 1400 rpm spin is da bomb!…btw
Our SQ rarely went to top spin speed, almost always puttering around about half of this Lavamat.
That helps mightily toward the lack of large American style vented dryers round here. Should have shipped one, there was room.
Oh funny story our 20ft shipping container arrived on the same day the washer was delivered! The damn thing took 3 months to get here but then shows up on the same day as the washer…ffs.
The movers finished just moments before the washer delivery “to curb only” guy showed.
I had busted my ass helping the movers when in fact I didn’t have to. But I felt guilty as my motorcycle caused a huge problem to unload and the movers with help from the lorry driver concocted a scheme to lower from the approx 5ft deck height 20ft container (no lift like the San Diego guys had) down and into the much lower moving van, then using now freed up pallets as crib work, from the moving van down to street level. I should have taken a movie but I was needed in the container to help push the bike up onto the teeter totter gizmo that was rigged up…hard to explain. In the pick you see the bike still in the container on a pallet that couldn’t be turned or even moved at all…many headaches when the guy who packed it up assumed everyone carries a fork lift in their back pocket. A ton of stuff had to be passed over the bike to free up space behind it to work with.

Bumped the temp up to 50 C / 122 F on this load…no hot water inlet on these btw.
And about the inlet. I was sure a plastic plug had been neglected to be trimmed off and was therefore sealing up the inlet. Almost reached for a screw driver to pry it out! Close inspection revealed tiny holes in the surface of what I thought was a plug. In San Diego the extremely hard water that had scaled up our water heater would have clogged this machine awfully quickly with those tiny holes across the inlet. No worries (or fewer) here…the boiler is on demand and the water is much softer.
Having an onboard water heater and temp and more than 3(!) temp settings works well to get the temp you are aiming at. And we have solar panels so the added electric costs are not really a concern.
Also, I do not see any scratches or dents…’cept some black grease/rubber marks around what I assume is where one of the shipping stabilisers goes…seems too nice of condition to have been a floor model.
It takes almost 3x as long to do a regular load vs the SQ FL machine I am used to. “Eco” is even longer!
Not a big problem, but gonna have to plan accordingly when bedding is needing to be done.

Anyhow back to delivery day…as the washer delivery guy sped off I said to the two movers, “buy ya a pint if you get this in the kitchen”…big smiles, and it was done. I gave them each £10 and off they went back home to Cornwall, via a favourite pub no doubt, because lugging my book collection up our steep stairs to was c r a z y tiring. Each of those boxes weighs on average as much as two good sized car batteries. Oh and the record collection not shown…blimey!
I took an Epsom salt bath to aid my recovery.
[this post was last edited: 9/24/2021-05:03]

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I don’t know about the U.K., but you can buy Speed Queen gas dryers here in Ireland in both LPG and natural gas varieties.



They’ve been around for years and are very popular in some more rural areas where bulk LPG is common and houses are pretty spacious.



They’re the 230V model to EU electrical specs.

Gas networks aren’t necessarily the same though around Europe.

https://www.enniselectrical.ie/calor-speed-queen-gas-tumble-dryer/

Pricy tho €1399
 
Some American dryers use 240V for the elements and 120V for the motor and controls. They won’t necessarily run on a U.K. 230V connection which is 230V Hot to 0V neutral. There is no source of 120V.

Also they’re uneconomic to run at U.K. energy costs.

They draw up to 5.6kW vs a European heat pump dryer will draw around 700 - 900Watts or even less sometimes.

The average cost of electricity in the U.K. is 17.2p / 23.52 US cents (now obviously you can get discounts)

Average costs in the USA is 10.42 cent

In Ireland it’s 26.16 Euro cents = 30.6 US cents

Germany is about 30.1 Euro cents = 35.21 US cents

There’s a big variation in energy costs across Europe, but in a lot of countries the price per kWh is a lot higher than the USA and in some places, including here in Ireland, carbon tax per kg of carbon produced is levied too.

So if I pick a green energy supplier, no carbon tax.

You could be looking at 3X the energy costs. That’s why very high spin speeds, heat pumps and line drying are far more common.

The trend also isn’t downwards, quite the opposite. You’re going to be heavily incentivised to cut energy use. In the EU or the UK [this post was last edited: 9/24/2021-07:12]
 
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