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  #16  
Old 12-11-2015, 01:04 AM
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Top loaders are very rare in the UK. Partly tradition and partly because they cannot be fitted under worktops. Not too many UK homes have the space for the luxury of a separate laundry/utility room.

My Bosch front loader is 21 years old and still working very well. I doubt that many modern washers will last that long. When you're spending £200/$300 it's not going to pay for a long lasting machine. Nor is it going to be worth repairing when it goes wrong.

My understanding is that to get high energy and water efficiency ratings something has to give. That something is length of wash cycle. A few expensive machines (Miele comes to mind) have a short wash cycle that is claimed to work well.
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  #17  
Old 12-11-2015, 05:50 AM
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Front loaders are supposed to use less water than top loaders, as we are (unusual in England as most pay a flat rate for an un-metered supply) on a water meter it could save us money. Ours is in the kitchen under the worktop, as others have said a top loader wouldn't fit very well.

Here in England all washers (& other domestic appliances except electric stoves) plug into a standard 240 volts 3 pin socket. Do American washers plug into a standard 120 volts socket? I never noticed when I was in the USA, I didn't go around pulling peoples washers out so I could look behind them.
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  #18  
Old 12-11-2015, 09:31 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Colly0410 View Post
Front loaders are supposed to use less water than top loaders, as we are (unusual in England as most pay a flat rate for an un-metered supply) on a water meter it could save us money. Ours is in the kitchen under the worktop, as others have said a top loader wouldn't fit very well.

Here in England all washers (& other domestic appliances except electric stoves) plug into a standard 240 volts 3 pin socket. Do American washers plug into a standard 120 volts socket? I never noticed when I was in the USA, I didn't go around pulling peoples washers out so I could look behind them.
All the washers, built for the N/A market are 120 volt with a NEMA 5-15 plug. Gas dryers, as well.
I remember seeing a German built front loader, built for the N/A market, that was built for 240 volts, 60 HZ. It had a NEMA 6-15, tandem blade plug. Either a Bosch or Miele.
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  #19  
Old 12-11-2015, 06:17 PM
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In the US there are also electric dryers, and those often are 240V....They tend to use the same plug/outlet style that electric stoves of the region use. IIRC there are several 240V socket types in use in the US depending on local electrical code, and age of building wiring.
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  #20  
Old 12-11-2015, 07:07 PM
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I've only ever seen differing stove and dryer plug configurations. The three-blade types from back in the day appeared to be about the same size, but the dryer configuration had an one L shaped blade. I'm quite sure different conductor sizes are the chief reason for the deliberate incompatibility: Dryers are typically fused for 30 amps, stoves for 50.
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Old 12-11-2015, 07:35 PM
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Old NEC allowed dryers to use the ground for a neutral, for powering the 120V motor, and had a 3 prong 30A plug/socket. New ones have a four prong 30A plug and socket. Stoves have always had a four prong 50A plug and socket so far as I know. Going back farther in time, stoves and dryers were often hard wired to a junction box with a piece of flexible conduit.
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  #22  
Old 12-11-2015, 07:41 PM
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Maybe it's a regional thing, but 3-prong stove plugs were common as dirt in these parts for ages. The ground similarly doubled as 120 volt neutral. My own stove uses one.
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  #23  
Old 12-12-2015, 10:31 AM
Colly0410 Colly0410 is offline
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Does every N/A homes have both 120 volts & 240 volts supplied? Here in England every home is supplied at 240 volts 50hz AC..

When I was a kid (in the early 60's) we moved to an area that was still on 200 volts DC, we used standard 240V light bulbs, they were a bit dim but lasted a long time. The TV & radio were special AC/DC (universal) types, they both seemed to work better when we were changed over to 240V AC. We had a 200V electric stove, they said it wouldn't last long on 240V so they gave Dad some money & he bought a gas stove. The electric stove was still working perfect when we left it there 7 years later
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  #24  
Old 12-12-2015, 11:56 AM
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240V with a grounded center tap is pretty much the standard transformer output to residential from what I understand...
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  #25  
Old 12-12-2015, 12:13 PM
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It is definitely a regional thing, I am in Canada and the 3 prong plugs were never permitted here for dryers or stoves - pure 240 loads like heaters or welders yes though. Our code is adement About not bonding neutral and ground anywhere except at the service... Only read about them in the NEC...

And yes all houses here have 120/240 except very very very old ones, but I would be surprised if any original 120V only houses are left
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  #26  
Old 12-12-2015, 01:32 PM
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Original 30 amp, 120 volt services were exceedingly rare even when I was a kid. An old building we owned in the late 70s retained its original wiring, with its open porcelain fuse blocks flanking the electric meter, from which branched out two circuits of surface wiring on cleats. I can recall ever seeing but one house that had two wires entering from the pole. I've seen fairly recent pictures of such installations in 'can you believe...?' types of postings, but I would agree that by now there are close to none if not literally none still in service.
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  #27  
Old 05-29-2016, 12:11 PM
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They're trying to persuade people here in England to wash there laundry at a lower temperatures, most still wash at 40 centigrade or higher. When I was in USA I remember seeing cold water washing powder, never seen any over here, most say OK for 30 centigrade wash. Does anyone use cold water to wash there laundry?
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  #28  
Old 05-29-2016, 01:31 PM
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Cold water works okay, but hot water works better. There's no way to know the exact temperature "hot" opens up the hot water feed to the machine' "cold" opens the cold line and "warm" opens both. I usually use "warm" for everything and it's probably around 30C
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  #29  
Old 05-30-2016, 10:24 AM
dieseljeep dieseljeep is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by maxhifi View Post
It is definitely a regional thing, I am in Canada and the 3 prong plugs were never permitted here for dryers or stoves - pure 240 loads like heaters or welders yes though. Our code is adement About not bonding neutral and ground anywhere except at the service... Only read about them in the NEC...

And yes all houses here have 120/240 except very very very old ones, but I would be surprised if any original 120V only houses are left
I lived in one of the oldest settlements in Milwaukee. Many of the homes were never wired for electricity, until the mid-20's and never rewired till at least 60-70 years later. They were all 30A 120V services. The POCO subsidized the original installation and they were wired with BX.
The homes wired with K&T, were homes built in the earlier part of the 20th century 1900-1920.
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  #30  
Old 05-30-2016, 10:56 PM
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I wouldn't mind getting my hands on one of those ceramic main disconnects with an open knife switch and two plug fuses, we've sure come a long way from that to the bloated modern code which requires an AFCI on absolutely everything!
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