Washing machine using more power than it should

zagmund

I've recently had little mini-meters installed on the distribution board as part of getting the house rewired, and I'm starting to pay more attention to how much power is consumed by each appliance.

I had a look today and the washing machine consumed about 0.9KwH for the normal wash that we do. This seems reasonable enough - about 13c or 14c for a wash doesn't seem too bad.

But then of course I had to go look at the technical documentation and see that the manufacturers claim it should only consume about 0.55KwH. It's on page 60 here - http://www.miele.co.uk/Resources/OperatingInstructions/W%20842%20Premier%20Novo.pdf

My meter isn't accurate to the second decimal place, but even taking 0.6 vs 0.9 there's still a 50% difference.

Any ideas what might be contributing to the increased consumption? A less efficient element over time? Maybe the cold water is colder here than where the measurements were taken so it takes more energy to raise it. Anything else? Or more importantly, anything I can fix or improve?

z

edit - there was nothing else on that circuit operating at the time and in the 5 hours since I measured it, the counter has increased by 0.1KwH, so I'm reasonably sure that all or most of the 0.9KwH used earlier was the washing machine.

rob w

Immediately underneath where it should consume 0.55kWh:

"Consumption data can vary from the nominal values given depending on water
pressure, water hardness, water inlet temperature, room temperature, type and
volume of load, fluctuations in the electricity supply and any additional functions selected."

The kWh consumptions stated are for ideal situations, which are unlikely to be achieved outside of the factory where the units are tested. Look how many variables there are which could change the value! The same goes for efficiency on most electric machines or appliances.

Although a possible cause could be the element becoming less efficient over time, building up with limescale etc.. but i dont think its anything to big to worry about at the moment!!

Bruthal

Yea the main difference is caused by water inlet temperature. You will find its likely cheaper to use per wash in summer than winter.