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Which Washing Machine?
I'm in the market for a new washing machine. My current one is an AEG Lavamat which has served me well, with no repairs, for over 16 years. In fact, the only thing wrong with it now is the cold water doesn't go in the machine fast enough. I have to turn the temperature dial to 50 deg so that a cold/hot mix goes in then turn it back to 40 deg once the machine has taken in the right amount of water. I quite like the flexibility with wash temperatures that the AEG has.
So I want a machine that has a time delay and washes up to 90 deg. Money is no object as I have a bonus due to me from work and my boss has agreed to pay for the machine.
What I'd like to know is which machines to not touch with a bargepole and which is the best machine for the features I like.
So I want a machine that has a time delay and washes up to 90 deg. Money is no object as I have a bonus due to me from work and my boss has agreed to pay for the machine.
What I'd like to know is which machines to not touch with a bargepole and which is the best machine for the features I like.
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We bring in various old machines when delivering new ones, and the old Miele and AEG are built like tanks, and weigh about the same as well.
I worked retail years ago and sold washers, hence my buying a Miele in the first place .You have to go up a couple of models to get the built in time delay. BTW all machines are cold fill only now as this is more efficient and economical
And have been for about 10/12 years?.
With modern machines they take very little water in, so would only ever take the cold water out of the pipes anyway - and if you've got a combi-boiler there's no hope of it ever getting hot water
Absolutely no competition to Miele. As a washing machine engineer (now retired) I used to service several Miele machines well over 20 years old, and you could still get the parts ! Bosch and AEG are not the machines they used to be ,Bosch took over the old Balay factory and AEG is now part of Electrolux so both made to cheaper specs than in the good old days!
I'm looking at this one. It has a 90 deg. wash and and a variable temperature control. Why are there so many different models?
You cannot go wrong with this or any Miele model. Just pick the spin speed and capacity you want and then don't worry about it for 20 years.
That's exactly the same as mine except mine is the WDA100 that hasn't got the delay timer or the 5 year guarantee.
When I sold them and delay timers were only on the very top models you could use a cheap plug in timer. You had to turn the power on, start the machine, let it run for a few seconds and then kill the power. When the timer came on the machine would resume the program.
No idea if the latest machines still work this way or if Miele font recommended this, but it could save £200 since I paid £540 for mine.
Yep, AEG's were never the same when the soap drawer moved from the right to the left!
Service or fix Miele machines over 20 year's old? ;-)
I think our Bosch is about 20 year's old.
I just about remember the first Zanussi Jetsystem machines were cold fill because that was more efficient but so many people refused to buy one because "i've already paid to heat my water so I'm not bloody well going to pay again!" Dehydrogenase made them hot and cold fill but privately told you to connect both pipes to the cold as that was more economical.
So called hot and cold fill machines only took a tiny amount of water anyway. Even if you selected a 90 degree wash if it took in hot water it would kill off the enzymes in biological powder so they took in a tiny bit of water to make it 40 degrees, do most of the wash and then heat it up to 90 at the very end.
Yes, the oldest machine I used to service was a Miele that was then 24 years old and still working, but of course the spin speed was only about 500 revs which was the norm for that era.
The twenty year old Bosch was the old German production. Things went downhill when they took over the Italian Balay company and re-badged the machines as Bosch although inferior quality.
It wasn't generally realised that Bio powders were not active over 50 degrees and even when liquid detergents came in the cold fill only machines were much better and more efficient. The hot-fill only programs were a hangover from when most washing was cotton material based and the powder non-bio.
To correct my earlier post Balay was a Spanish company, not Italian
Most of the delicate programmes and possibly the stand alone rinse/spin will not use the top spin speed but be limited to approx 800rpm.
The variability allows you to decrease preset speed but not increase it .
Our Bosch must be in its twilight years now, and want another or a Miele to replace it.
As others have already explained, if you buy a new Bosch these days it won't be the same as yours apart from the name on it.
I'm a long time Bosch user myself but after buying a new washing machine from them 18 months ago I will never go back again. I had to have it repaired twice in the first 8 months - heating elements burning out, and then after 11 months the bearings went and the Bosch repair guy pronounced it uneconomical to repair.
After receiving a full refund from John Lewis we ordered a Samsung as replacement which so far it has been absolutely brilliant and also whisper quiet. As a bonus we were also given a full 5 years parts & labour warranty at no extra cost.
TBH I'm not bothered about spin speed. I actually have the spin speed setting set to it's lowest on my AEG (700 using the 700-1200 spin speed button) unless I'm washing towels. The reason I want a 90 deg wash setting is because all my towels are white and my OH is a man - 'nuff said.
I've given up posting in these type of threads as I get criticised by 2 FMs in particular for recommending OPs to buy a trial sub of Which? for £1, but in this case I'll risk it.
This month's issue of the mag (July) has a big feature about modern washing machines called 'Built to fail', that explores the cost of replacement parts when minor problems occur. Which? are concerned about the move by manufacturers to make machines with sealed drums, sealed doors and non-accessible filters.
They conclude that manufacturers should offer more machines that can be repaired, and state at the point of purchase whether the machine has a sealed drum or not. They think that consumers should consider paying more for a higher quality machine that can be repaired as needed.
Also reported are the reliability of 7 main brands namely Bosch, Hotpoint/Indesit, Beko, Zanussi/AEG and Miele, of which Miele are clear winners with 5 stars and a customer score of 93%. Bosch came second with 3 stars and a customer score of 84%.
There's a huge number of washing machines to view on the Which? website, all tested, and explanations of all the features and what they mean. I'd recommend buying that trial sub, OP.
(I have a miele dishwasher and a siemens washing machine)
Siemens and Bosch are the same machines
Or visit your local library and ask to view their collection of Which? magazine, which is usually available in the reference section.
OP you remember libraries, right? That thing that everyone was protesting the closing of but never ever uses.
they may be very similar but if you open them up you can soon see why the siemens are more expensive and last longer
Same price pretty well, and identical machines from the same factories
In fact the Siemen's that we've sold were slightly cheaper than the Bosch, and of course they come from Bosch.