Installing a washing machine - which one?

[Maldwin]

I replaced a non vented Splendide with the vented model 3 years ago on my Nordhavn 43, and I a, very happy with it. It easily washes and dries a set of towels, or a set of sheets and pillowcases.
Best,
Maldwin

[CarlF]

I've had Splendide (vented) on two boats over 15 years and been happy. You quickly learn how big a load you can do.

If you only have 120v it's really the only good choice. If you have European 230v you have many better choices.

As mentioned, you can wash about twice as much as you can dry.

So I got one of these inexpensive 120v dryers to go with the Spendid. After a wash I split the load in half and dry half in the Splendide and half in this. It actually dries a little better than the Splendide. The downside is you need the space and the power for two.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Panda-3-5...hite/521575717

[Colin Stone]

We have a domestic 240v Bosch from 2008.
Good point - wash cycle is only around an hour. My 2012 Bosch machine in UK is now 2 hours for the same cycle.
If Motor only, pretty frugal, not many Wh used for a wash, approx 100Wh.
Doesn't use a lot of water - 50 ltr for a 6kg load even with an extra rinse at end of wash.
Bad point - is a cold fill machine, like all in Europe now. So I have fitted a TMV, Thermostat Mixing Valve, with a couple of 240v solenoid valves so that I could use the engine heated hot water for wash and cold water for rinse. Otherwise it would use the 3kw heater - not good off battery - to heat up water.
Interestingly, checked machine with a plug in Watt meter. If wall switch on and washing machine switched off, it still uses 11w doing nothing!!
Also have the luxury of a condensing tumble dryer which only needs a slim 8mm drain tube and not a fat air vent hose. But 3kw, so only use when moving.

[MJH]

Originally Posted by Haddock1

Hi

I am about to retire and am buying a new stock Bavaria from the local dealer. The boat is quite well specified but there are a few additions I am planning to make. One of which is to install a washing machine as we plan to sail the med, mostly at anchor, and will have limited access to a laundry facilities. Also so it's a pain humping washing forwards and backwards.

Looking at most installations on yachtmarket boats, Miele seems to be common but they are expensive.

My question are what would you recommend? does it matter what manufacturer? is there a certain specification I should look for? do I need a washer dryer giving we are in the med? are there any special features to look for in a boat installed washing machine? are there any tips on installation?

Any advice appreciated.

The first thing I did after buying my new-to-me boat was remove the damn washer-dryer. Try a bucket and a plunger. I have carried them in the past but never used them. I learned that if I take enough clothes I can make it to my destination where I can do the laundry; save the money, space, weight, power, repairs, and it works every time.

~ ~ _/) ~ ~ MJH

[Colin Stone]

Why waste beer drinking time when a machine can do it while underway?? Never understood my boating colleagues who traipse off to find a launderette for a couple of thrilling hours watching the clothes going round and round.
While I'm sat in the sunshine chillaxing. ����

[carlwk3c]

Originally Posted by Haddock1

Hi

I am about to retire and am buying a new stock Bavaria from the local dealer. The boat is quite well specified but there are a few additions I am planning to make. One of which is to install a washing machine as we plan to sail the med, mostly at anchor, and will have limited access to a laundry facilities. Also so it's a pain humping washing forwards and backwards.

Looking at most installations on yachtmarket boats, Miele seems to be common but they are expensive.

My question are what would you recommend? does it matter what manufacturer? is there a certain specification I should look for? do I need a washer dryer giving we are in the med? are there any special features to look for in a boat installed washing machine? are there any tips on installation?

Any advice appreciated.

A pair of 5 gal buckets. Useful for laundry and other things. You can get an inexpensive snap on toilet seat from Amazon fir when the head breaks.

[Alita49DS]

You give no indication of the type of Bavaria.

The first question that I would ask is whether a washing machine is an option on the boat that you are buying. Work from there. The answer should tell you what to buy, where to fit it and how to plumb it in.

For example, my Jeanneau 49DS came with a very neatly installed top loading machine. It sits under the navigator's seat and the base is well below the floor boards. You would never know it was there unless you lift the seat.

It gets a lot of use, but dream on if you think that in the Med you are going to be using the thing other than in a marina. First, you will need a generator. Second, you will need a lot of fresh water. We have never, ever run it other than on shore power and with a hose into the water tanks.

[b_rodwell]

I would add to the vote for a cheap plastic twin tub.

They are very light and can be stored in lots of places. We kept ours in the guest bathroom when we didn't have guests.

On washing day we would take the machine out and put it in the cockpit. Then we had our washing session. For us, both of us did he work. Lainie would run the machine. I would peg. Both of us did the rinsing in separate tubs of water.

Pretty labour intensive but, when you are cruising, who cares?

Next plus - Doesn't use much electricity.

Biggest plus - Can use a very small quantity of water. We would reuse the soapy water for all the loads. Start with the whites, then coloured clothes and finally coloured towels and mats. We also used the rinsing water for several (but usually not all) loads.

So the pluses for the twin tub are:

• Cheap to buy
• Probably zero maintenance cost
• Easy to stow
• Low electricity consumption
• Miserly with water
• A nice activity to do together

For me it is a no brainer.

Brian

[chrisr]

Originally Posted by b_rodwell

I would add to the vote for a cheap plastic twin tub.

They are very light and can be stored in lots of places. We kept ours in the guest bathroom when we didn't have guests.

On washing day we would take the machine out and put it in the cockpit. Then we had our washing session. For us, both of us did he work. Lainie would run the machine. I would peg. Both of us did the rinsing in separate tubs of water.

Pretty labour intensive but, when you are cruising, who cares?

Next plus - Doesn't use much electricity.

Biggest plus - Can use a very small quantity of water. We would reuse the soapy water for all the loads. Start with the whites, then coloured clothes and finally coloured towels and mats. We also used the rinsing water for several (but usually not all) loads.

So the pluses for the twin tub are:

• Cheap to buy
• Probably zero maintenance cost
• Easy to stow
• Low electricity consumption
• Miserly with water
• A nice activity to do together

For me it is a no brainer.

Brian

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[Jon Hacking]

Originally Posted by Haddock1

...My questions are: what would you recommend? does it matter what manufacturer? is there a certain specification I should look for? do I need a washer dryer giving we are in the med? are there any special features to look for in a boat installed washing machine? are there any tips on installation?

Good questions! We've had 3 washing machines since 2002. First lasted 8 years before the metal sides simply rusted away. Ours is a harsh environment for washers. After that we've bought cheap plastic sided washers for $120-150. But being in SE Asia now, pretty much all we can find is Chinese.

I would agree with earlier comments to buy what will fit. Ours only goes down our f'c's'ls, which have hatch openings 24" square. We don't need a dryer in the tropics, but I don't know about the Med. We strung strings in our (protected) cockpit if rain catches us on a wash day.

The big decision is top vs front opening. Front opening will use a LOT less water, but they're heavier (we're a cat) & more $$ (we're retired). So we buy cheap top opening washers & plan to replace them every 5 years or so.

Being a 110v boat, our first washer (from Venezuela) was 110v, but after that, we were in 220v areas, so we've had to invest in a 2:1 transformer for our 110v inverter. This also allows us to use locally bought 220v blenders & power tools, like grinders. I cut the AC side of my electrical panel into 2, so I can control both 110v & 220v circuits.

Note that many washers these days don't actually pump the water out, they simply open a valve to let the water drain out (presumably into a drain-hole in the floor). This means that we've had to raise our (homemade) platform so the bottom of the washer was above water level. An alternative is to let it drain into the bilges & let the bilge-pump deal with it, but that water's pretty scudgy, so we didn't like that option.

Although we have a 50L/hr watermaker, we tend to wash after rainy days, when we have lots of deck-water to throw in. Our current washer wants to do a wash & 2 rinse cycles, but that's too much water for us, so we manually do 1 wash & 1 rinse. If we're being stingy, we'll wash the next load in the rinse water from the last load, since our 7Kg washer wants 50L/fill.

[Tom G]

I installed a Daewoo Mini and after hundreds of wash cycles it’s performing flawlessly. I monitored an entire, unheated wash cycle with a clamp meter and never saw more than .6A draw (240v). Daewoo Electronics Malaysia

[R Hutcheson]

We have a Splendide model Washer/Dryer on our sailing vessel. Which is vented in the cockpit. It works well for small loads. It was installed primarily to convince my wife to live on the boat and it accomplished that goal.

The dryer works well venting in the cockpit. My research indicated the vent less models don't dry very well but do an excellent job increasing the humidity inside the vessel, so we steered away from that option.

Caveats, In the summer we try not to run it when we are in the cockpit as the heat from the vent does not increase your comfort. However when it is cold out it can be quite nice. We don't run the unit underway as the gyroscopic forces can be quite high in the spin cycles, and that combined with pitching and rolling can be quite damaging.

We also don't typically run it at anchor due to water and fuel consumption. A cycle uses 10 gallons of water, which must be replaced in some way. Again, it only handles relatively small loads. Also the cycle without drying takes about 90 minutes, with drying a little over two hours. This means the generator needs to run the entire time to provide power to the unit. Normal battery charging only takes an hour, so any time beyond that is wasteful of fuel. Running the generator also adds heat to the boat, again unwelcome when it is already hot out. Also, our generator smokes a bit, so unless there is wind to blow the exhaust away, we prefer to limit it's run time.

We do have a watermaker, but travel restrictions have kept us primarily in water which is too dirty to run it in. And since the unit must be pickled when not in use, we are keeping it off line until such time as we can reach and remain in cleaner waters.

As a result even my wife has determined it is better at anchor to just do small loads by hand in a bucket.

Your mileage may vary, but for us we only really use it when we have unlimited power and water. Which means tied to the dock. Big loads, sheets etc. we still take to the laundry or use the machines at the marina.

If your boat caries lots of fuel and water, you are able and don't mind extended generator run time, or have a modern watermaker that can handle brackish/dirty water, these limitations may not apply to you.

My wife still loves having the unit and uses it a lot if we are travelling and running the engine often, since this means we have to stop for fuel and can get water at the same time.

I hope this helps with your decision. I didn't realize all the implications of having the unit aboard when the decision was made to install it. It would not have made any difference in my decision since as I said it was necessary to get the wife on the boat. But without that consideration, I would much rather have that space as additional storage on the boat.

[Chotu]

Speaking of power/water:

I’m actually thinking of running my washing machine off solar during the day only.

I’d like it to use domestic hot water and only do a wash cycle and single rinse cycle to clean the laundry.

What might be the best washer to get in this use case?



Secondly, I don’t understand dishwashers too well. Do they all heat the water, requiring a generator? Or are some ok to just use the domestic hot water and wash with that?

How hot does dishwasher water need to be? Can I disable the heating element to run the dishwasher off solar too? If so, will it clean the dishes?

Originally Posted by R Hutcheson

We have a Splendide model Washer/Dryer on our sailing vessel. Which is vented in the cockpit. It works well for small loads. It was installed primarily to convince my wife to live on the boat and it accomplished that goal.

The dryer works well venting in the cockpit. My research indicated the vent less models don't dry very well but do an excellent job increasing the humidity inside the vessel, so we steered away from that option.

Caveats, In the summer we try not to run it when we are in the cockpit as the heat from the vent does not increase your comfort. However when it is cold out it can be quite nice. We don't run the unit underway as the gyroscopic forces can be quite high in the spin cycles, and that combined with pitching and rolling can be quite damaging.

We also don't typically run it at anchor due to water and fuel consumption. A cycle uses 10 gallons of water, which must be replaced in some way. Again, it only handles relatively small loads. Also the cycle without drying takes about 90 minutes, with drying a little over two hours. This means the generator needs to run the entire time to provide power to the unit. Normal battery charging only takes an hour, so any time beyond that is wasteful of fuel. Running the generator also adds heat to the boat, again unwelcome when it is already hot out. Also, our generator smokes a bit, so unless there is wind to blow the exhaust away, we prefer to limit it's run time.

We do have a watermaker, but travel restrictions have kept us primarily in water which is too dirty to run it in. And since the unit must be pickled when not in use, we are keeping it off line until such time as we can reach and remain in cleaner waters.

As a result even my wife has determined it is better at anchor to just do small loads by hand in a bucket.

Your mileage may vary, but for us we only really use it when we have unlimited power and water. Which means tied to the dock. Big loads, sheets etc. we still take to the laundry or use the machines at the marina.

If your boat caries lots of fuel and water, you are able and don't mind extended generator run time, or have a modern watermaker that can handle brackish/dirty water, these limitations may not apply to you.

My wife still loves having the unit and uses it a lot if we are travelling and running the engine often, since this means we have to stop for fuel and can get water at the same time.

I hope this helps with your decision. I didn't realize all the implications of having the unit aboard when the decision was made to install it. It would not have made any difference in my decision since as I said it was necessary to get the wife on the boat. But without that consideration, I would much rather have that space as additional storage on the boat.

[Xlantic]

Originally Posted by Chotu

Secondly, I don’t understand dishwashers too well. Do they all heat the water, requiring a generator? Or are some ok to just use the domestic hot water and wash with that?

How hot does dishwasher water need to be? Can I disable the heating element to run the dishwasher off solar too? If so, will it clean the dishes?

I suspect they do. But we run our dishwasher on a daily basis when cruising off solar.

We do have a 3 KVA inverter and 675 AH of house battery capacity which kick-in when the dishwasher's heater goes on.

I would think connecting the domestic hot water line to the dishwasher instead if the cold one would work and reduce electric consumption significantly but not the peak loads for which you would still need a sizeable inverter.

[SV Demeter]

Splendide Disassembly for install? Has anyone done this? We have a Candy UK model washing machine currently that works really well but is 50hz only and Im in the process of moving everything to 60hz. I have 18.5" wide doorways to get through and the splendide I believe only goes down to 21.5". Is there a way to make it narrower for install but partial disassembly?