Creative solution for adding hot water to an outdoor washing machine?

[davidupatterson]

Hey all, 

 

I'd like to start using hot water to wash my clothing. We have a standard cold-water washing machine at the back of our house. Does anyone have any creative solutions for being able to efficiently and affordably add hot water to the washing machine? I could use a 2 gallon water boiler or a floating immersion water heater but wanted to see if anyone had any other creative solutions in mind. Thanks! 

[Pilotman]

we just add a pan/kettle or two of boiled water to the wash as the machine fills.  Also, buy the higher quality cold water detergent, not the standard 69 Baht stuff from 7/11. 

[davidupatterson]

6 hours ago, Pilotman said:

we just add a pan/kettle or two of boiled water to the wash as the machine fills.  Also, buy the higher quality cold water detergent, not the standard 69 Baht stuff from 7/11. 

Thanks. That's what I've been doing too but I feel like there must be a better system ????

[sammieuk1]

I bought a new big capacity top loader a couple of years ago with hot and cold fill and only found out it had no heater on first use so now its just a tepid fill ????

[davidupatterson]

2 hours ago, sammieuk1 said:

I bought a new big capacity top loader a couple of years ago with hot and cold fill and only found out it had no heater on first use so now its just a tepid fill ????

Argh. That sounds frustrating. Find any kind of a work-around? 

[PJHassselt]

I have also a hot fill, but it seems ashing results are much better when you warm the water with detergent, and the clothes slowly. So fill with cold water, and warm this slowly...

 

 

[davidupatterson]

10 hours ago, PJHassselt said:

I have also a hot fill, but it seems ashing results are much better when you warm the water with detergent, and the clothes slowly. So fill with cold water, and warm this slowly...

 

 

Hmm. That's interesting. So how are you heating the water after filling the tub with cold water? 

[toofarnorth]

As someone above said , Thai detergents are designed for cold water use. If the water from the tap is very cold at certain times of the year I add a kettle of hot water.

[davidupatterson]

1 minute ago, toofarnorth said:

As someone above said , Thai detergents are designed for cold water use. If the water from the tap is very cold at certain times of the year I add a kettle of hot water.

What does "designed for cold water use" mean in terms of how they actually work? 

[lopburi3]

Although we have a washer with build in heater (many new models do offer) it has never been used.  Clothing is worn one time and washed here.  Hot water wash would greatly reduce life span.  I still have my shirts from two or three decades ago (and much prefer them to what is available these days).  As long as you sun dry clothing as done here there is no logical need for hot water washing for sanitization reasons.

Edited February 25, 2021 by lopburi3

[toofarnorth]

8 minutes ago, davidupatterson said:

What does "designed for cold water use" mean in terms of how they actually work? 

Dish washing is much the same as clothes washing. The liquid that come out of the bottle is very powerful but I still find it odd to wash dishes with cold water. If 'er indoors is out and I decide to do the dishes  I put in the plug and use hot water.

[Daffy D]

Fit a Shower Hot Water heater by the washing machine   

[bignbad]

On 2/25/2021 at 4:23 PM, Daffy D said:

Fit a Shower Hot Water heater by the washing machine   

Does not have to be a shower style heater, just an inline tankless heater, and feed into a mixer tap so you can get the temperature you want!

[Wuvu2]

Toss some black irrgation tubing inline before the washer. It should only take an hour to heat a load of water when the sun is shining. I used this for a hot shower when living off grid. If you want to get fancy you can add some valves to isolate hot and cold. 

[scubascuba3]

The answer is probably, get a side loader instead, I use and don't need hot water, top loaders are poor in my experience, they lack gravity impact 

[PGSan]

What does ‘hot washing’ mean in this discussion?  40C, 60C, 90C ?

[brianthainess]

3 hours ago, Wuvu2 said:

Toss some black irrgation tubing inline before the washer. It should only take an hour to heat a load of water when the sun is shining. I used this for a hot shower when living off grid. If you want to get fancy you can add some valves to isolate hot and cold. 

You beat me to it.That is exactly what I would do. but never needed to. somtimes add a bit of bleach to the rinse and leave 15 min.

[ThaiFelix]

If my wife feels she needs to do a hot water wash she just moves her rock out into the sun lol!

 

[Dickp]

I had a solar hot water system installed on the roof 14 years ago made in Australia , a little costly them, but it has more them paid for it self over those years. Only had to replace one value during that time. Eclectic reduce by more the 1,000 baht per month. Have hot water in all showers sinks in the house 4 bath rooms, and also for washer out side and out side sink too to wash those oil pans. 

[snowgard]

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=diy+solar+hot+water+heater+

 

[Surasak]

A top loader is not the most efficient way of washing linen, it doesn't have the lift, drop squeeze action of a front loader. A twin tub is even less efficient in as much as it requires more human interaction. The top loader however, is efficient in that it uses  gentler wash action for the type of washing used in S.E.A, wear once and wash. Also, the washing powder here is designed to be used in cold water and doesn't need to have a fabric conditioner added, although it can help to remove excess powder. The trick is not to over load the M/c be it 6, 8, or 10 Kg and not put too much powder into the receptacle. If you find that tight clothing makes you itch, you are using too much washing powder.  

[Morty T]

On 2/25/2021 at 4:23 AM, Daffy D said:

Fit a Shower Hot Water heater by the washing machine   

What we did, works great. Guy at Home Pro was a bit confused why we wanted to wash clothes with hot water, but it works. 

[Janner1]

On 2/24/2021 at 2:58 AM, davidupatterson said:

wanted to see if anyone had any other creative solutions in mind.

You could light a charcoal fire under it, raise it up light a burner and when the flames have died down and there is only heat you will get a hot wash, you don’t even need the electrics just get a local give him a bottle of beer and get him to stir the clothes for 15 minutes job done. 555

Sorry but you did say creative solution and I have a vivid imagination.

Good luck hope you find an easy solution

[Tropposurfer]

On 2/24/2021 at 1:58 PM, davidupatterson said:

Hey all, 

 

I'd like to start using hot water to wash my clothing. We have a standard cold-water washing machine at the back of our house. Does anyone have any creative solutions for being able to efficiently and affordably add hot water to the washing machine? I could use a 2 gallon water boiler or a floating immersion water heater but wanted to see if anyone had any other creative solutions in mind. Thanks! 

Solarhart ???? 

[gamb00ler]

8 hours ago, Tropposurfer said:

Solarhart ???? 

or Solahart?  https://www.solarhotenergy.com/

 

[davidupatterson]

On 2/25/2021 at 4:23 PM, Daffy D said:

Fit a Shower Hot Water heater by the washing machine   

I had thought of that - sounds somewhat expensive, though. Thoughts? 

On 2/27/2021 at 9:12 AM, bignbad said:

Does not have to be a shower style heater, just an inline tankless heater, and feed into a mixer tap so you can get the temperature you want!

Where would I find something like that? 

On 2/27/2021 at 9:13 AM, Wuvu2 said:

Toss some black irrgation tubing inline before the washer. It should only take an hour to heat a load of water when the sun is shining. I used this for a hot shower when living off grid. If you want to get fancy you can add some valves to isolate hot and cold. 

That's an interesting idea. Thanks! 

On 2/27/2021 at 9:15 AM, scubascuba3 said:

The answer is probably, get a side loader instead, I use and don't need hot water, top loaders are poor in my experience, they lack gravity impact 

Not in the market for a new washer at the moment. Bought the one I have only a month ago! 

[davidupatterson]

On 2/27/2021 at 2:34 PM, Dickp said:

I had a solar hot water system installed on the roof 14 years ago made in Australia , a little costly them, but it has more them paid for it self over those years. Only had to replace one value during that time. Eclectic reduce by more the 1,000 baht per month. Have hot water in all showers sinks in the house 4 bath rooms, and also for washer out side and out side sink too to wash those oil pans. 

Sounds like a good long-term solution! Something to keep in mind for the future when I'm more permanently situated. 

On 2/27/2021 at 3:47 PM, snowgard said:

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=diy+solar+hot+water+heater+

 

I'll take a look. Thanks for the link! 

On 2/27/2021 at 4:25 PM, Surasak said:

A top loader is not the most efficient way of washing linen, it doesn't have the lift, drop squeeze action of a front loader. A twin tub is even less efficient in as much as it requires more human interaction. The top loader however, is efficient in that it uses  gentler wash action for the type of washing used in S.E.A, wear once and wash. Also, the washing powder here is designed to be used in cold water and doesn't need to have a fabric conditioner added, although it can help to remove excess powder. The trick is not to over load the M/c be it 6, 8, or 10 Kg and not put too much powder into the receptacle. If you find that tight clothing makes you itch, you are using too much washing powder.  

Yes, I find getting the balance right is important. I have a single tub top-loader (just replaced the twin tub top-loader). 

On 2/27/2021 at 9:27 PM, Morty T said:

What we did, works great. Guy at Home Pro was a bit confused why we wanted to wash clothes with hot water, but it works. 

So you bought the hot water heater from HomePro and they installed it for you? How much did that cost? 

On 2/28/2021 at 2:24 AM, Janner1 said:

You could light a charcoal fire under it, raise it up light a burner and when the flames have died down and there is only heat you will get a hot wash, you don’t even need the electrics just get a local give him a bottle of beer and get him to stir the clothes for 15 minutes job done. 555

Sorry but you did say creative solution and I have a vivid imagination.

Good luck hope you find an easy solution

LOL. So much for an easy solution ???? But it is creative! I'll give you that. 

[bignbad]

On 3/2/2021 at 5:29 PM, davidupatterson said:

 

Does not have to be a shower style heater, just an inline tankless heater, and feed into a mixer tap so you can get the temperature you want!

Where would I find something like that? 

Lazada search - tankless shower heater