Low-Amp WASHER

cupcake · February 2015

\Please post your reccomendations...

looking for AC low amp/watt washer....

the lower the better...

please post up model details...

thankx

--cakey

BB. · February 2015

I have a pair of Fisher Paykel washer / gas drier. Older models (10+ years old). They get about 250 WH per cycle (each) for me--Which is probably about average. The neat thing is the washer does not draw more than something like 900 Watts peak because of the "SmartDrive" (PM Motor + Variable Frequency Drive) limits surge current.

-Bill

waynefromnscanada · February 2015

Just noticed the: "5 autozone deep cycle batteries in parallel" in your signature and it raised an alert flag. Usually 3 parallel strings are the maximum that can be relied on, and then only if great detail is paid to how they are wired together. More than 3 strings generally leads to early battery failure as it becomes extremely difficult to ensure equal charge / discharge of the numerous strings.

peakbagger · February 2015

The standard off grid washer for years is a Staber. Mine has been bulletproof for over 20 years but others on occasion have had issues. They are not cheap http://www.staber.com/washingmachines but dont use much power. I also like that they use mechanical switches and timers instead of electronics (although the speed controller is old school electronics). No transmission and about the only wear part is the drive belt. Very low water usage too. The bummer is they are too small to get an Energy Star listing so most utilities will not give you an incentive to buy them. The clothes get real dry after the high speed spin, synthetics are almost ready to wear when they come out. They sell direct from the factory and are US built. The base model isn't that pretty and the plastic top looks cheap but in my estimation who cares its a darn washing machine.

The big reason they were popular off gird is they are compatible with modified square wave inverters while most other consumer brand units weren't. As most folks use true sine inverters these days its less of an issue but for those with MSW inverters they are about the only choice. t has little or no startup surge for those with very small systems.

bbbuddy · February 2015

I'm washing a load now in my Haier 2.3 cubic foot washer ordered from Lowe's. It's using about 40 watts while washing, probably a bit more while spin drying...look it up on the web!

it'll do 3-4 pair of jeans at once, it's not tiny, and has a bunch of settings.

microage97 · February 2015

I have a LG front load washer and it draws like 5A / 110v. Not to harsh on the inverter. I see it peaking at like 500 watts or so off and on as it is an HE model.

cupcake · February 2015

bbbuddy wrote: »

I'm washing a load now in my Haier 2.3 cubic foot washer ordered from Lowe's. It's using about 40 watts while washing, probably a bit more while spin drying...look it up on the web!

it'll do 3-4 pair of jeans at once, it's not tiny, and has a bunch of settings.

Can you confirm the model/model number please?

Also 40 watts is all she draws?

Is there a amp/wattage spec sheet oniline??

Thanxxx

--cake

mike95490 · February 2015

bbbuddy wrote: »

..... Haier 2.3 cubic foot washer ordered from Lowe's. It's using about 40 watts while washing.....

That's amazing, and I think your meter needs to be verified.

solorone · February 2015

We have a Frigidaire GLTF2940FS2, a new 2010 replacement, to same maker of 1996. washer and controls are in our small pantry, surely never thought we have this much solar gear competing with our food storage.

Washer general pulls 80 to 100 watts hours, verified by Xantrax meter and Fluke clamp meter in unison.. this front loader use only 22 gallons per wash, very important for us as we have a low output deep well. The washer reverses itself frequently and power surges maybe 60 watts, and hits a spike of 500 watts when starting the rinse spin cycle then runs at about 90 watts. Finishing high speed spin surges to 1 KW and levels off to 500 watts, then hyper drive kicks in and it surges again to 1.2 KW and levels back to 500 watts. I guess a Watt meter night give a better view of power consumption, but I do not have one since I "Understand" they have a 15% error rate.

Overall, I think the 47 minute run might draw at best about l of 80 to 90 total watts hours, not counting the water pumping of course, which would run twice @ 1.20 KW, using a total of about 120 watts hours.. No losses or inefficiency's are included here. Hope this might help.

solorone · February 2015

BB. wrote: »

Solorone, is that Watts of Watt*Hours here? I am not sure I understand the context.

-Bill ???

Thanks, I was using both, I have cleared it up.

Photowhit · February 2015

I think if I was on a budget, and did 2-4 loads a week, I'd look for a front loader and not worry too much about the energy use. They won't be too bad. If you look into the washers posted you will find they are front loaders with the exception of the Staber , which is a top loading, but horizontal axis machine.

Since you only use them a small amount of time. the difference in watt hour use shouldn't be too much. My 20+ year old Whirlpool front loader, which might be a tad less than a normal full size top loader(it's from a stackable set) uses about .400 wh a cycle. I don't know the peak draw, but I can run it while the water heater and general home things are on perhaps a 1100watt additional load and have no issues with my 1800 watt inverter which has a low 'peak' of only 2800watts.

Then again if you have a 4 girl or a few kids and hope to do a couple loads a day....

BTW- with your small system, you should try to do laundry as an opportunity load during the day, when the batteries have been topped off!

BTW2 - if your a real bargain hunter ,and handy with repairs, you might look for a front loader with a 'won't drain' problem. Often/always(?) this is a clog in the drain and with a hour or 2's work can be cleared and made to work fine again. Lots of videos around on cleaning out the lines.

Time to flip my jeans on the drying rack before I head out...

solorone · February 2015

Photowhit: hit all the points I was thinking of, but I got too wrapped up in learning about MY washer's power details, something I had given little thought to, as it is not an optional job, washing is unavoidable :<). So aim for as best power and water usage as you can afford. We wash after noon when batteries are full, out of habit, though we have loads of power. If you cut your washers need for water in half then that is watts saved.

oil pan 4 · February 2015

Pretty much any front loader.
Mine a GE from 2006 uses 0.1KWH per load.

cupcake · February 2015

Photowhit wrote: »

BTW- with your small system, you should try to do laundry as an opportunity load during the day, when the batteries have been topped off!
..

Mah system is not small, for here..., I live in the desert, every day is 100% sun... it was 90 degrees today... in feburary

Free 'dryer' out here too, no need for spin cycle, they will dry to the bone in 30 mins to 1 hour day or night

Photowhit · February 2015

cupcake wrote: »

Mah system is not small, for here..., I live in the desert, every day is 100% sun... it was 90 degrees today... in feburary

I really don't care.

Your system may have "5 AutoZone deep cycle batteries in parallel" 5 batteries in parallel at 12 volts... Bad design to begin with... perhaps you should have listened to people on the forum?

Since AutoZone doesn't sell true deep cycle batteries your not likely to get very long service life out of them.... perhaps you should have listened to people on the forum?

Just saying if you have a battery bank of perhaps 500 ah at 12 volts or 6 kwh and it's designed to meet your current needs, perhaps drawing 1/2 a kwh off (.4 kwh through your <85% efficient inverter + wiring losses) or greater than 8% of your capacity as a new load at night, might not be the smartest thing to do... but it's obvious you don't need to listen to the people on the forum...

PS your discovery of air drying would be a great thing if you didn't proclaim it to a bunch of people who traveled on the Mayflower ahead of you... Do you want some designs on drying racks?

cupcake · February 2015

Photowhit wrote: »

I really don't care.

Your system may have "5 AutoZone deep cycle batteries in parallel" 5 batteries in parallel at 12 volts... Bad design to begin with... perhaps you should have listened to people on the forum?

Since AutoZone doesn't sell true deep cycle batteries your not likely to get very long service life out of them.... perhaps you should have listened to people on the forum?

Just saying if you have a battery bank of perhaps 500 ah at 12 volts or 6 kwh and it's designed to meet your current needs, perhaps drawing 1/2 a kwh off (.4 kwh through your <85% efficient inverter + wiring losses) or greater than 8% of your capacity as a new load at night, might not be the smartest thing to do... but it's obvious you don't need to listen to the people on the forum...

PS your discovery of air drying would be a great thing if you didn't proclaim it to a bunch of people who traveled on the Mayflower ahead of you... Do you want some designs on drying racks?

Don't know what you're talking about... when did I say I had a problem? Did I? Nope. Perhaps you fail to understand its sunny here every day...
5 batterys in parrallel on 12volts may ruffle your feathers for some unknown reason but it works just fine for me -- I'm pretty sure I didn't invent parrallel battery circuits -- but you can pretend i did!

It must be cloudy and cold in Missouri today....

just a guess...

lol!

BB. · February 2015

Ease up folks... We all do the best with what we have/need.

-Bill

Photowhit · February 2015

cupcake wrote: »

Don't know what you're talking about... when did I say I had a problem? Did I? Nope. Perhaps you fail to understand its sunny here every day...
5 batterys in parrallel on 12volts may ruffle your feathers for some unknown reason but it works just fine for me -- I'm pretty sure I didn't invent parrallel battery circuits -- but you can pretend i did!

I didn't say you had a problem, I did show you examples of poor designs that people here could have helped you with. I, for one, am trying to help. I went to AutoZone's web site to discover what types of deep cycle batteries they sold. That is where I discovered no examples of deep cycle batteries with a known capacity and all of the had CCA ratings. Multiple parallel strings of batteries tend to create problems. I might suggest you read past posts on maintaining equal resistance with parallel strings/batteries.

When I say, I don't care, I don't care about it being sunny most days. If you designed a system and you are adding a substantial load you need to consider shifting that load to lessen the demands on your system.

cupcake · February 2015

Photowhit wrote: »

I didn't say you had a problem, I did show you examples of poor designs that people here could have helped you with. I, for one, am trying to help. I went to AutoZone's web site to discover what types of deep cycle batteries they sold. That is where I discovered no examples of deep cycle batteries with a known capacity and all of the had CCA ratings. Multiple parallel strings of batteries tend to create problems. I might suggest you read past posts on maintaining equal resistance with parallel strings/batteries.

When I say, I don't care, I don't care about it being sunny most days. If you designed a system and you are adding a substantial load you need to consider shifting that load to lessen the demands on your system.

Again, this thread is about low-amp washing machines, NOT anyones parrallel battery setup - MY 6 autozone batteries in parrallel are 100% GREAT for my needs... in my experence multiple parrallel strings do NOT 'create a problem', I've been on 4 year old batteries in parrallel for 4 years now - no problems... so again, try to stay focused on the topic here: washing machines

HandyBob · February 2015

The question was only about amps. which is not the whole picture. Amp hours makes more sense. However for us, water use is just as important because we are using rain to supply the home we are building. Reliability over time is even more important. That means we are looking for a Speed Queen front loader. The motor is twice as big as their top loader, yet due to high tech controls, it has soft start and uses half of the energy. It also uses half as much water. More importantly, it is the only major brand being made in the USA. Speed Queen is the same as it was many years ago. We used to own one that we bought in the 80's. It is still running in the house that we sold to some friends back in 2000. If you really want an eye full, go to their web site and read the customer reviews. My favorite was by a lady who had been looking for a new machine after her very old Speed Queen had died. She said "I don't need a computer that is masquerading as a washing machine." Another lady said something about having to spend as much time cleaning her Chinese washing machine as she spent using it because it never completely emptied. Then she replaced it with a Speed Queen. The local laundramat has Chinese Maytag's. One day there were out of order signs on 20% of them. Last week we went to a huge laundromat in a bigger town. It has Speed Queens, probably 60 machines.... ONE was out of order.
Expensive and worth every penny.

cupcake · March 2015

I installed a washer last week - All is good!

BB. · March 2015

Not going to tell us what that washer name/model is? Measured energy usage?

Bad Cupcake, bad...

-Bill

cupcake · March 2015

BB. wrote: »

Not going to tell us what that washer name/model is? Measured energy usage?

Bad Cupcake, bad...

-Bill

OK..ok...

It is an LG 2.3 washer (they only make one in this size), costs about $1,000 or so.. at least in the desert. The energy usage is honestly so 'reasonable' for my set up that I havent actually measured it...

mid-morining I can start washing and the draw seems marginal... the greatest energy draw comes from the spin cycle which on these new machines is redonkulously fast... I use the 'low' setting, on 'medium' your closthes basically come out dry! ... and of course I use the 'tap cold' setting so it doesnt try to use mah hotwater or start up that heating element that it has inside...

very quite machine, and sings a nice little happy jingle when its all done...

Lets see what else for solar-people....? ... the way thesese new/modern washers work is quite remarkable... it doesnt just blast water and tumble like mad... its more methodical...as if its a science... which of course uses less energy... then the spin cycle goes crazy fast... thankfully the level of spin can be altered...

Again the bottom line is that the wash cycle (water and tumble) hardly use any energy, the SPIN cycle is what pulls the power, but seriously its not that much...this washer is cupcake recommended

--cake in a cup

larcal · October 2017

Hello HandyBob

Very interested in your post on the SQ front loader and it's soft start motor. Initially I thought no go cause of it's 1 hp motor. The blog on their site is Facebook which I don't use. Did you get one of these , which model #, and what size inverter Is starting it? I like the FL with mechanical controls cause no motherboard to fail.

BB. · October 2017

HandyBob is no longer a member here... You can follow him on his website here:

https://handybobsolar.wordpress.com/

-Bill

706jim · November 2017

Welcome to Handybob but don't ask me any questions. ???

BB. · November 2017

What you see is what you get...

-Bill

Low-Amp WASHER

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