Dishwsher with hot-water inlet

[Annpan]

well, yes, it would be nice to at least have the choice wouldn't it.


Susie, My hotwater tank will be quite close to my washers (dishes and clothes) - about 2-3 metres of well insulated pipe in total, but I have no way of knowing what heat loss there will be through the pipes as.... well.... I don't have anything plumbed in... not even cold water.

[contadina]

Is this the soap you mix with bicarb in your washing machine?

Yep, just grate a bar of soap into a pan with some water and heat until the soap has mostly melted. Set aside. Pour 3 gallons of hot water into a 5 gallon container and pour your soapy mix into it once all the soap has melted. Stir thoroughly and then add half a cup of bicarb. Stir thoroughly again. You can also add a cup of borax for a cleaner wash (put it in after stirring the bicarb and then stir again and a few drops of essential oil if you like). Leave soapy mix overnight to cool down it will gel together ready for use (around half a cup per load)

[seasidegirl]

That's brilliant. Thanks for the guide.

How big is the cup you are using? Sorry if I'm being finicky but am very new to this making your own stuff.

[contadina]

It's just an old plastic beaker I had lying around - it probably holds around 8oz when full.

[Big Al]

I'll just add that there are parts in modern washers that don't like hot water. I don't know which washers or parts they are which in the context of this conversation is totally useless but they do exist !!

Someone on one site I read somewhere said they have a thermomiter dial either near or built into their kitchen sink so when the water passes through it to the tap they know how hot the water is. Personally I don't have this problem as I can't feel the hot water with the nerve damage, lol. No pain but a bit of a bugger when the skin starts to peel of....

........ I'll go back to sleep now....

[seasidegirl]

It's just an old plastic beaker I had lying around - it probably holds around 8oz when full.

Thanks

[LangBanks]

Hi Ann

How did you get on with connecting your solar system to your dishwasher?
Assuming the grant application is successful I'd like to do the same here as our dishwasher is now dead.

Which Miele did you opt for in the end? Their website is not too helpful in finding ones that will take both hot and cold. Unless of course they all do.

Lang

[Annpan]

Well Lang..... We were getting an extension built first..... and our cowboy builder (for want of a better phrase) has well and truley f*** it up.... We still don't have any hot water, still using our old MFI (broken, came with the house) dishwasher.

At the moment we have 6 inches of water under our kitchen floor, no back doors and the windows don't fit..... so getting a new dishwasher has fallen right to the bottom of our 'to-do' list


But, hey... welcome to ish

[matt_w]

I installed solar water heating this winter, so I faced similar ideas that you did. I spent ages researching, reading and experimenting. Here are my results, and perhaps I can settle some of the things that people mention.....

My dish washer was a cheap as chips one from B&Q (I wanted to buy it and install it same day) for about £199. It is single water feed only, but the book said it could be connected to a hot feed, so I tried it and it works fine no problems taking water from 15 to 80 degrees.. It's an Indesit IDL 530 in case its of interest. It should wash cold rinse, then hot wash, hot rinse. I've insulated all the pipes from the tank to the kitchen, so the first cycle just clears the pipe of the cold water, then the hot wash gets the actual hot water, so no real issue with the hot not getting to the machine. When I measured it before energy usage was around 2KWH, later it was 0.5 KWH and that was having to heat a bit as the water was only around 50 degrees in the tank. (Dishwasher runs at 65)

I also converted my hot/cold fill washer. It actaully used cold exclusively up to 50 degree wash, then switched both hot and cold on at the same time for 50+ washes. As my cold was mains pressure and hot tank pressure, the hot water did little to help. I experimented quite a bit with pouring hot water heated on the stove into the powder draw so realised that it didn't object to getting hot water that it didnt heat itself. I disconnected the hot solenoid and checked the washer electrics didn't complain (they didn't), so then I simply installed a changeover switch that switches the cold feed between hot and cold solenoid. The washer is electronic and gives a digital readout of how long is left. I know on each cycle when the rinse kicks in, so I simply set the kitchen timer to remind me to switch back to cold for rinses.

To save more, I 'bleed' the hot by running the kitchen tap before starting the washer (as this wants hot on first cycle). I also know now that it is 3/4 of a pressure cooker pan of water until the hot arrives. I save that and bung it in through the powder drawer when the rinse cycle starts, or if I forget I flush the loo with it, so none is wasted.

I put a TMV (Thermostatic Mixing Valve) in line with the washer and calibrated this so I turn the little pointer to 12 o'clock for 60 degree water, and 6 o'clock for 40 degree. If I want cold wash I simply do not use the switch. It's mildly heath robinson but it works. Energy usage on 60 degree wash has changed from around 2KWH to 0.3 KWH.

We use washable nappies for our little girl before anyone comments we should wash at 30 degrees! Also since washing at 60 the washer itself is so much cleaner and fresher smelling.

I found the pipe run from upstaris to downstairs was in a small conduit with the waste pipes, I filled that with loose fill insulation so the pipes when filled with hot water stay hotter for much longer, any time I find hot pipes on various DIY projects I lag them.

As far as I can tell biological powders and liquids supposedly like to warm up slowly.. However non-biological ones don't care. I get better wash results using hot water than I do cold.

So I hope that is of some use