Washing Machine Plumbing

[Tintin19]

If I don't connect a hot water inlet to my washing machine, will it heat the cold water? It has a temperature knob on the front. And I don't have the manual.

[skelly]

I think that there are washing machines available that only have a cold water connection, and do heat the water up, (although I've never seen one). If your machine has a hot water connection point, then you'll have to connect the hot water to it.

[mac309]

To connect to just the cold water supply you'll have to connect both the hot and cold inlets on the back of the machine to the cold water pipe.To correct Tartanwizard, all washing machines have heater elements in them to regulate the correct water temperature throughout the hole wash cycle, otherwise by the end of the cycle it would be washing in cold water.

[BadlyHungBoy]

Hi Tintin, mac's right - if you have hot and cold inlets to your machine and only a cold supply, get a Y shaped connector... the inlets go on the branches of the Y and the supply goes on the bottom. For myself, I've never come across a washing machine that DOESN'T have a heater. It's practically identical to an immersion heater. It just means that the thing will sit there heating up the water instead of mixing hot and cold and getting on with it.

[LeMarchand]

If you have the option to use hot water from your normal supply, you are probably better off doing so, however; I suspect that your household's water heating system in combination with your machine's will be a lot more economical (and definitely quicker) than getting your machine to do all the work.

[nona suomy]

I'm a bit confused and possibly a bit riffy! I always thought that washing machines heated the water as it's used and therefore have never ensured I have hot water available to do the laundry. Have I been washing my clothes in cold water all this time?

[wildwood]

If you are not sure if your washing machine has an inbuilt heater, do a warm wash and note if the water fills up with pauses (you'll hear the solenoid switch off and on to adjust the hot water intake). If the machine starts the actual washing cycle with cold water while the temp selection is set on warm, it doesn't have an internal heater.

[Tintin19]

This is all good guys, thank you. The hot water in our house is really really hot, (because the pressure is really really low) - but the first time I washed some clothes, everything just looked a little bit scorched or slightly smaller, I wasn't impressed. So I've been using only cold water since, and now I'm wondering, like Nona Suomy - have I been washing my clothes in cold water ever since turning the hot supply off?

[J. Maslowski]

I think I may have found out the problem with the water temp. in my washing machine (getting cold water instead of hot).  In one web site I found, they mentioned that this problem may be due to a defective water-inlet-valve.  I am going to check in the hardware store tomorrow & see if that is the problem & found out how to replace it.