I still get people asking if I know of any washing machines with a hot water valve. This article gives a few suggestions – but you should read on first to fully understand the issue. It is not as simple as you might think. It could be a complete waste of your time looking for one.
Most washing machines now only have a cold water valve but many people instinctively don’t like this. We all know washing machines wash with hot water, so it seems crazy not to use the hot water we already have in our homes. Heating it all up from cold seems wasteful and unnecessary.
This apparent madness is even more annoying for people who have an environmentally friendly and economic source of hot water such as solar powered.
However, there is a good argument that because modern washing machines use so little water on wash – there is no need for a hot valve. It’s in fact more economical to use cold fill only on 40 ° washes for most (but not all) people as explained here – is a hot & cold fill washing machine more economical?.
What is the science behind cold fill only washing machines?
All this is explained fully in my article Should I buy a cold fill washing machine?
So are there any washing machines with a hot valve?
At the time of writing there are some LG & Statesman models with a hot valve. However, they don’t take in hot water at all unless you use a very hot wash cycle. There is alternatively a British made washing machine with a hot water valve. Ebac’s hot & cold fill washing machine is advertised as using, “Intelligent hot fill technology”.
Some Hotpoint washing machines appear to be hot and cold fill, but they are designed for cold fill because there’s only a cold fill hose supplied and a y-piece adaptor supplies both valves.
I suspect this is a temporary measure, and that subsequent models will just have the cold valve.
So hot and cold fill washing machines are currently very rare. But even if you find one, you need to know that the few I’ve seen rarely even use the hot water valve.
If most of your wash cycles are done at 40 degrees or less it will most likely never use the hot valve at all.
Related:
Several people have asked me if you can connect an environmentally friendly and economic hot supply to the cold valve to utilise it. The short answer is no, for more details read Don’t connect the hot water supply to the cold valve on cold fill washing machine
New comments on this topic have been closed. There were over 600 comments now trimmed down (below) to 233. There are very interesting discussions there.
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Just received this reply from LG –
When a unit has both hot and cold fill connect it will perform these functions:
The unit will only take in water from the hot tank if its temperature is lower than the programme selected
“Usually water in hot tanks is around 60 °C, so if a 95°C programme is selected, then it will take the water directly from the hot tank.
When the temperature selected is 40 °C or lower, only the cold valve works. The unit lets in cold water and heats it to the required temperature.”
So that’s pretty clear – it will take the direct hot water and use it to attain the higher temperature on a hot wash but it will not use water from the hot intake on a wash of 40 degrees or less.
My son has suggested to me that with the way I am using the washing machine at present, I’d probably be better, though to buy a really cheap one with only a cold fill meantime, run it into the ground and when we have solved our problem with unwelcome visitors, then to buy a more expensive LG one. I’m thinking about that idea because I still will want a hot wash for bedding and towels once this is all over.
Thanks for your help.
Anne: Thanks for your information. This is in line with what has been said before. Basically, if you do a lot of 90 ° washes you will be better off with a hot & cold fill machine but if you do mostly 40 ° washes the hot valve will be of no use. Even if you do 60 ° washes there’s no guarantee the hot valve will be used because it will already be 60 ° or higher when running hot.
The plumbing worries me. If the hot hose is taken off for the new cold fill washing machine, I can imagine the old (hot) pipe which now has nothing on the end of it, could well leak, and I hate leaks. Why can’t the people with hot and cold plumbing still buy a Candy washing machine with hot and cold fill??
I mention this on another article (What to do with the old hot water tap)
Miele in German have replied to my enquiry about the hot and cold fill model by sending me the following press release and a request that I “be patient” whilst they “make further enquiries about availability in the UK”.
I am very interested in the technical information given and am persuing Miele further as a matter of urgency!
Press Release:
Miele’s AllWater reduces water and energy consumption
Environmentally friendly washing
With a view to climate change, the signs of which are becoming increasingly apparent, good husbandry of natural resources is a matter of prime importance. As long as 14 years ago, Miele’s launch of the AllWater washing machine represented a major initial step in the right direction. Since its introduction, this machine, designed to run on various types of water, has been constantly updated to incorporate changes to current model ranges. The current W 3841 WPS Allwater is not only characterised by its low water consumption but also by intelligent wash programmes.
The main difference on the outside are the two water inlet hoses at the rear of the unit. These hoses can be connected to hot and cold tap water or, optionally, cold water and an alternative water supply. But that is not where the differences stop: more important still is the modern appliance technology and electronic intelligence behind the scenes, together with two separate water inlet systems offering users numerous options.
On a hot-water fill, oil, gas or solar energy can be used to preheat the water supply to the machine – whatever is cheapest! If the water heating system is in the direct vicinity of the machine, electricity costs can be cut noticeably. In the ‘Cottons’ programme, electricity consumption can be cut by 40%. This equates to a reduction in primary energy consumption of around 21% and energy cost savings of 28%. A further reduction to 43 l in the 60 Deg C standard ‘Cottons’ programme is possible by selecting the ‘Warm Rinse’ option as residual detergent is more reliably removed by warmer water.
Other machine control options allow the use of alternative water supplies such as rain or well water. For reasons of hygiene, however, tap water is always used for the last rinse cycle. The use of rain or well water results in considerable savings in expensive drinking water. If, for example, rain water is softer than water from the tap, reduced detergent consumption can be an added benefit.
But the environment is not the only beneficiary: the patented honeycomb drum also goes gentle on laundry, perfectly uniting gentle laundry care with protection of the environment. The special honeycomb structure protects garments by creating a thin film of water between the drum and the laundry, allowing the load to slide effortlessly and thereby reducing friction. During spinning, hole penetration and therefore laddering is greatly reduced, thanks to the reduced diameter of the drum perforations. And Miele even has an official endorsement to prove it issued by Germany’s leading ‘wfk’ laundry-research institute.
Miele’s W 3841 WPS Allwater with its 6 kg load capacity boasts a wide range of programmes and additional functions. Special programmes include ‘Automatic’, ‘Cottons’, ‘Minimum iron’, ‘Synthetics’, ‘Shirts’, ‘Jeans’, ‘Outdoor’, ‘Express’, a programme for dark laundry and Miele’s tried-and-tested hand-wash programmes for woollens and silks. These programmes are all selected via the main rotary selector switch.
Like all Miele machines, the W 3841 WPS Allwater is tested to last a minimum of 20 years. Longevity and build quality, in itself, represents a much underestimated contribution towards an appliance’s environmental credentials. And to ensure that a long-lasting machine can participate in technological progress, Miele’s has equipped this model with the Update function, allowing new programmes and programme versions to be downloaded at a later date.
An extremely useful journal that I have found on the internet can be read at [link no longer works so removed]
It seems to indicate, pretty clearly, that in Europe hot fill is a high priority and “the future”.
There is some interesting content about types of connctions and hot water supplies that will maximise benefits.
Dave: Thanks for the update. To properly utilise all the different hot water supplies and systems in an as environmentally efficient way as possible needs a sophisticated washing machine and Miele should be able to do it. It’s not as simple as just reintroducing the hot valve (as my articles and comments have described)
No mention has been made of how the water is heated in the washing machine and how well they cope with hard water. We live in an area with v.hard water and electric kettles can be rendered useless in months. I suspect the same would happen with a washing machine?
Yes I know you can fit inline water filters but this is assuming you have the space & besides we already have a filter on the inlet to our combi.
I might sound like an old fart here but it just seems that making applicances that last for years & years doesn’t do the manufacturers bottom line any good.
Andy B: As far as limescale is concerned it is better to heat the water in the washing machine because washing machine detergent guards against the effects of hard water and limescale. As long as you use a good quality detergent and use the proper amount for the hardness of the water and the soiling level of the laundry ther eshould be no limescale problems – Should I use Calgon anti limescale tablets or other such products?
I agree 100% with your second point. I’ve spent the last 9 years on Washerhelp lamenting about about the quality of most washing machines.
All very interesting. Now that the autumn’s here, my supply of unlimited free hot water will soon be failing (my panels need around two hours of bright sunlight to warm the cylinder from cold to piping hot) so I won’t be investing in a new machine just yet. Indeed, all the time my present Zanussi keeps going I’ll probably hang onto it, since any electricity savings will take a long time to pay for a new machine.