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Cold fill washing machine

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bigsister | 15:02 Fri 12th Jan 2007 | How it Works
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I have had my washing machine for about 5 years and although it has pipes going to both taps, has only ever filled from the cold tap. I have taken the pipe off and it seems to be clear. Any other suggestions please? Its just that it takes forever to do a load, at least 1 &1/2 hours.
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i had a similiar problem with my machine, i called the engineer who said that the hot pipe has a valve in it but their wasnt enough pressure from the hot water pipe to open the valve and let the water in
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That sounds like it is the answer. The hot tap never runs fast. Thanks very much gina.
some modern machines only have cold fill anyway. this is to save costs.
hot fill means you have to heat the water, store it, then deliver it (losing heat down the pipework as it goes) then cool it down with cold water to the temp required. not extra efficient.
cold fill only heats the water you need when you need it.
the downside is it takes longer because the water has to be heated before the program will run.
this is my theory on it anyway.
It probably only uses hot water fill for the very hot washes. They worry that any more delicate fabrics can't stand the shock of sudden contact with hot water
My washing machine also has hot and cold feeds but only fills with cold water. It was quite new and already installed when I bought my home so I assumed it was correctly installed.
My problem could be that I do not have a hot water tank, hot water comes direct from a boiler when the tap is turned on. I wonder if this system is compatible with a washing machine filling. I suppose after two years I should find out!
I don`t think `ive ever plumbed mine up to hot and cold feed, just always to the cold. Because the time its taken the water to come from the boiler the cold water thats left in the pipe will probably be enough to fill the washing machine up anyway
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Thank you to everyone who took the trouble to respond. All very good.
markja is correct - the machine manufacturers discovered that by connecting the machine to the hot connection you could actually be getting water that was too hot and subsequently it damaged some clothes - this new way where it is connected to only the cold connection the washing machine can heat the water to the required temperature
Many washing machines are not clever enough to fill with hot and cool it down using cold.

If you are doing a 30 or 40Degree wash then it will most likley only cold fill. If it put hot in then you may end up with 60Deg water on your delicate smalls.

Only if your doing 60 or 90 will it take hot water.

One way to get around this is to manually pour hot water into the soap despensor from a basin or even a tube connected over your hot tap.

If you have gas hot water and token or pay card electric this could save you some pennies.

Also, if you have just done the dishes and you have hot water in the pipes then there is no wastage.

The cold fill only machine is cheeper to make by about �20 to the end customer which people seam to relish. Previous posters are correct in saying that cold fill only is more efficent but id say only in older houseswhere pipe lagging is poor.

Stuart.
Apologies, just noted somebody already gave an answer similar to mine.

Stuart :)

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