immersion wiring help

[Taylortwocities]

My new (AEG) washing machine has cold fill only. I originally had Simon's view over heating costs being more for electrically heating the cold water over using the existing hot water (heated by gas).

However. Most of the programs that we now use run at 30 and 40°C. If the machine were to use water from the hot supply (50-60°C) then this would need cold water to bring it down to the required temperature. That would be a very inefficient use of energy.

I havent done the analysis (looking at heating bills) yet, but my gut feel is that cold fill will work out cheaper.

 

[JohnW2]

washing machines* ... * The modern "efficient" ones designed to expensively and inefficiently heat cold water rather than using the hot water that's already available.

As often discussed, the problem is that modern machines wash in such a small puddle of water that, if one has a 'hot fill', hot water will not even get as far as the machine unless the hot water cylinder is quite close - so one tends to just draw hot water from cylinder into pipework, to be 'wasted', delivering mainly cold (cooled) water from the pipework to the WM. Of course, if hot water comes from a combi next to the washing machine, that's a different matter.

Kind Regards, John

 

[JohnW2]

Most of the programs that we now use run at 30 and 40°C. If the machine were to use water from the hot supply (50-60°C) then this would need cold water to bring it down to the required temperature. That would be a very inefficient use of energy.

It would not necessarily be inefficient for the reason you imply - if the required temperature (30° or 40°) is greater than the temperature of the cold supply then some heating is required to achieve that, and it would probably be more efficient (cheaper) to mix a little gas-heated water with cold than to heat the required volume of cold water electrically to the required temp.

However, the issue about low volumes and length of pipework, as per my previous post, still apply.

Kind Regards, John