Whitegoodshelp Whitegoodshelp Blog

White Goods Help Blog:

White goods appliance help, advice & special offer notifications plus news & commentary, from a repairman with 30 years in the trade.

About | Contact me |  Subscribe in a reader | Register (receive notification of new articles)

Blog > White Goods articles > Washing Machines & Washer Dryers > Washing machine is a hot and cold fill, but I only have a cold water supply

Washing machine is a hot and cold fill, but I only have a cold water supply

If you want to connect up a washing machine that uses hot and cold water but you only have a cold water supply (such as in a basement or garage) you can use a Y Piece connector to connect the hot and cold fill hoses to a single cold water supply (external link to 4Washerhelp spares).

The washing machine will then work OK. Simply screw the Y-Piece onto the tap, and then screw the hot and cold fill hoses to the Y-piece and connect the other end of the fill hoses to the washing machine. (You may also be able to buy this part from a DIY store like B&Q)

If you don’t connect a water supply to the hot valve (and simply connect the cold water hose to the cold valve leaving the hot valve with nothing connected to it) then some wash programs may not work as some programmes only fill with hot water. However, some washing machines will work OK with only the cold fill hose connected. You can always try it and see. The worse that will happen is the washer could either stick on the odd wash programme or may abort on some. If you do this though it’s possible for water to drip out of the hot valve on some machines during fill. It’s best to use a y-piece if possible.

The fact that you have connected cold water to the hot valve is irrelevant, the washing machine will not know any different and will just heat the water up to the correct temperature. The washing machine may use slightly more electricity but if it’s less than 10 years old it shouldn’t be significant unless you use a lot of 60 or 90 degree washes. On 40 degree washes, manufacturers argue it’s more efficient to fill with cold water only and slowly heat up the water to 40 degrees.

Written By - Washerhelp on July 30th, 2007 with 18 comments
__
Read More Articles on Washing Machines & Washer Dryers |  Subscribe | Please Report any broken links - pretty please :-)

Why not add your comment? click the comment link above or scroll down to the comments box

Research white goods appliances as well as most other consumer goods and issues and read the latest reviews and best buy recommendations. Which? Online offer a 1 monthy trial for £1 - Which? reviews of washing machines & appliances with top performing Best Buys and Don't Buys.

Related articles

 

18 Comments

Read the comments left below, please add your thoughts on the topic too. (Comment box at bottom of comments) | Subscribe to Comments feed | Subscribe to Articles feed

DaveG DaveG
#1. October 25th, 2008, at 4:32 PM.


Is there something in reverse, as it were? So that I can take a hot and cold feed into a Y connector onto a cold-fill only machine?

Washerhelp Washerhelp
#2. October 26th, 2008, at 4:06 PM.


In theory you could connect it in reverse although I can’t see any point to doing it. It’s possible to connect a hot and cold supply to the y end of the y-piece, and then attach a single hose to the other end of the connector – and fix that to the cold valve on a cold fill only washer.

That would result in the washing machine getting a mix of hot and cold water each time it fills. Because the cold is usually at a much higher pressure the chances are that very little hot water would get into the machine on wash. On the rinses more would get in but washing machines only need cold water to rinse so it would waste hot water.

Steve Goodman Steve Goodman
#3. January 7th, 2009, at 9:21 AM.


I have a Bosch WFB 2004 washing machine. Both hot and cold supply pipes are connected to the cold water supply via a Y connector i.e. cold water to both inlets.
However, I want to instal a dishwasher but space at the pipes is at a premium. Does the hot water supply pipe to the washing machine need to be connected at all? If not then I could utilise that side of the Y connector for the dishwasher.

Washerhelp Washerhelp
#4. January 8th, 2009, at 3:39 PM.


Steve: If your washing machine is a cold fill only then the hot water shouldn’t be connected to the washing machine at all. If it’s a hot and cold fill machine it should of course be connected to both supplies, but can be connected just to the cold to free up the hot supply if you wanted to. The y-piece can connect a hot and cold fill washing machine to a cold water supply by connecting the two washing machine hoses to the y bit and the other end connects to the cold water supply so both valves use cold water.

Your hot water supply can be used for the dishwasher if the dishwasher manufacturer says it’s OK to connect it to a hot supply and the hot water temperature doesn’t exceed 60 degrees. It should be mentioned in the instruction book if it is.

Steve Goodman Steve Goodman
#5. January 8th, 2009, at 5:46 PM.


Sorry for the confusion. The washing machine is hot and cold fill, but both hoses are connected to the cold supply i.e. cold water going into both inlets on the machine. So. does the hot hose from the machine need connecting at all?

Washerhelp Washerhelp
#6. January 8th, 2009, at 6:33 PM.


A hot and cold fill washing machine can be connected like yours, with both valves supplied with cold water via a y-piece and it will still work fine. It may take slightly longer on hot washes but it could wash better especially if using biological detergent.

If it’s a hot and cold fill machine it’s designed to have the hot valve connected to the hot supply and the cold valve to the cold supply. However, if it’s a recent machine it’s very unusual to be hot and cold fill. If they supplied a y-piece connector it could be like the Hotpoint machines that have two valves but both need connecting to the cold. The instruction book should make it clear how it should be connected.

Steve Goodman Steve Goodman
#7. January 20th, 2009, at 2:52 PM.


Managed to find the manual for the washing machine, which made things even easier. Manual says if using cold supply only, don’t even connect the hot fill hose. Might cause a problem if doing a 90 degree wash, but we don’t do that anyway.

I disconncted the hot supply hose altogther and utilised the spare connector on the y-piece for the new dishwasher and all works great.

May not work for all washing machines though.

Main advice is, hang on to the manuals. You never know when they might be handy!

Washerhelp Washerhelp
#8. January 20th, 2009, at 4:55 PM.


Steve: Normally a hot and cold fill washing machine needs water to both valves even if both are fed cold water using a y-piece. Otherwise some programmes such as whites may not work. If the instruction book said you can just connect to the cold valve, and leave the hot valve unconnected without mentioning that then I would assume it will work OK on all programmes.

Dave Dave
#9. February 22nd, 2009, at 7:48 PM.


Quite a few modern machines (at least on Australian one I have read about on a board on this site lately and my own new LG) are hot and cold fill but can happily be connected to cold only on just the cold valve. HOwever, beware! The LG and teh Australian one I have read about warn you to cap off the hot valve (the LG don’t supply the cap but you can buy them at any plumbers’ merchant on DIY chain – it’s a 3/4 inch iron threaded blank plug that you buy). On certain cycles that take in both ot and cold water together it is apparently possible for cold water to leak out of the open hot valve if there is no hose and no blank plug.

Washerhelp Washerhelp
#10. February 23rd, 2009, at 3:33 PM.


Thanks Dave: It’s a new thing being able to just leave the hot fill hose disconnected and have no problems. In the past it would cause problems as some machines filled with hot water only on some programmes and specifically on whites. With no hot supply the washer just used to sit there humming for ever.

chris chris
#11. March 17th, 2009, at 8:32 AM.


excellent guys, hi ho, its off to B&Q we go
cheers

James James
#12. March 27th, 2009, at 9:00 PM.


Yes thanks for this info. Mine is an old ( -ish) hot and cold fill Bosch washing machine and doesn’t run on any programme over 30 deg if I merely disconnect the hot supply (I tried it).

I want it to run on just cold supply now (otherwise it uses up 59 litres of my hot water from my tank). Problem is I already have a Y-piece connector on the cold supply for a dishwasher so I’m not sure if I can fit a 2nd one there….any suggestions?

Washerhelp Washerhelp
#13. March 28th, 2009, at 3:42 PM.


James: You could fit a second y-piece on the end of the cold hose to the washing machine and fit another 2 cold hoses onto that to supply both valves of the washer. It’s not ideal because it means the plastic y-piece is going to lay on the floor behind the washer somewhere. It also introduces another potential source of leaks. However, it will work OK as long as the dishwasher isn’t running at the same time.

Even if the dishwasher was running at the same time the only issue would be if there was enough water pressure to supply water to 3 valves from one tap.

Andrew Andrew
#14. April 17th, 2009, at 9:39 PM.


Have a hotpoint washer 9yrs old have recently moved it to outhouse with cold supply only.Manual says cold spply fine using y-piece but water not heating up-any ideas?

Washerhelp Washerhelp
#15. April 19th, 2009, at 3:01 PM.


Hello Andrew: Not heating the water isn’t related to the water supply apart from it potentially making the wash take a bit longer. It sounds like you have a fault –
Washing machine isn’t heating up the water

Joseph O Joseph O’Brien
#16. May 26th, 2009, at 8:15 PM.


I have a very efficient new combi boiler right next to the washing machine, which has hot and cold supply. Unfortunately, I have a problem with my Hotpoint WM74 washing machine and its such as shame but I think the old (circa 98) dear will have to go as I cant get it fixed at reasonable price (Hotpoint want £120 min, which is reasonable I guess but I can get a new 520P for £215!) Thought it was the door interlock as the info bubble kept saying (close door). It happened one day and it made the power trip. I changed the interlock but still says same message. PCB problem perhaps. And they’re £100. Anyway. All these new washing machines are all cold fill only so my combi wont be used. Is this sensible? My combi boiler can provide 40 degrees C water a lot more efficiently than a washing machine, cant it? Could I not connect my combi boiler hot water to cold water fill? It would use a lot less electricity to heat it up then.

Washerhelp Washerhelp
#17. May 28th, 2009, at 12:16 PM.


Hello Joseph: Answers to your questions can be found here -
Don’t connect the hot water supply to the cold valve on a cold-fill washing machine

Trackback Mention from Whitegoodshelp.co.uk
#18. July 3rd, 2009, at 6:47 PM.

Is it possible to use a hot & cold fill washing machine with just a cold supply?: usually just connect the cold hose and leave the hot valve unconnected as explained here – Washing machine is ...

 

Leave your comment...

Add your comment on the above topic using the box below: Please make sure it's on topic, comments just asking for repair help can't be accepted.



Subscribe without commenting

You can use these XHTML tags: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong> .

All work © Copyright Whitegoodshelp 2007 - 2010 | Feel free to quote but please link to the source.