Standalone circuit to power washing machine, is this possible?

[Supervstech]

Ok, that makes more sense, the lra is only on the washer motor, not on the heater. So, the 3 times load will only be on the motor portion.
However the dryer has a larger heater and a motor as well.
You could get an 8000W all in one inverter that will use batteries then switch to the grid when they reach a low state of charge.

Now, batteries will be a big part of the cost here...

You need to find the total kWh used each day.

 

[John Frum]

This is the washer:

https://media3.bosch-home.com/Documents/specsheet/en-GB/WAE28368GB.pdf

As I understand it modern detergents will work in cold water and I actually tried to buy a cold water machine a few years back, had no luck though. Most mains water is going to need a fair bit or heating to get to 30 degrees isn't it?

Depends on the temperature of the mains water temperature but yes.

 

[BarrySmith]

Three comments, the two related to posts 12 &13. Sounds like you will be needing a larger inverter that what you were originally expecting. If the washer has a heating element, that is going to be a serious drain. Also, because the washer is motor-driven, it will draw "inrush current" higher that what the nameplate indicates. The what SJ is mentioning in post 10. If you are looking at loads in the 2300W level, I'd be looking at inverters in the ≥4000W range.

Getting back to post one, if the goal here is to save money, then this is NOT going to happen. Grid electricity is simply the cheapest way to power anything, and OFFGRID solar is the most expensive. If the goal here was independence rather than cost savings, then I'd say go for it. But, you will NOT save money.

The goal is to save money, I admit to wanting to have a tinker with solar PV but the aim is to save money in the medium to long term.

 

[BarrySmith]

2300 watts is a very load for a washer.
I think that may include heating the water.
Please include a product link so we can get a better idea of the washers peak draw.

Its probably a good idea to measure the actual load using something like this.

Kill A Watt Meter - Electricity Usage Monitor | P3

I do a bit of control system programming and have a plug that measures power, going to bung that on the washing machine for a few cycles.

 

[John Frum]

The goal is to save money, I admit to wanting to have a tinker with solar PV but the aim is to save money in the medium to long term.

I suggest...
You measure the energy usage doing laundry the way you do it now.
That is your baseline.

Then see how much more efficient you can make the process without spending any money.

Examples:
consolidating loads
cold water wash

Then when you have a good idea of your energy requirements you can make better decisions about where to spend money.

I do a bit of control system programming and have a plug that measures power, going to bung that on the washing machine for a few cycles.

The dryer is most likely going to be the bigger draw so please also measure that.

 

[Don B. Cilly]

I do a bit of control system programming and have a plug that measures power, going to bung that on the washing machine for a few cycles.

You will notice that the tumbler does not use that much power, but the heater does.
I run cold cycles. Except they're not really cold, the water goes through some 20 mt. of black pipe coiled in the sun before in enters the house.
If you have a gas water heater, you can connect your hot water to the machine.
For really dirty clothes/hard stains I soak them in hot water with an enzyme detergent before I wash them anyway.

So if you forget about the dryer (if it's only used occasionally, well, use it off the grid - and remember, if you have some wind, your clothes will get dry even if it's cold - if really humid, you can just use the dryer to "finish them off" :·) and run "assisted cold cycles", you can get away with a lot less batteries and a 3kW inverter/charger will be plenty.

If you have enough panels, and run the machine when it's sunny, the batteries won't feel it much.
-

 

[HOU_Castle]

I live in the south east of the UK. The new energy tariffs are going to slaughter me so I am looking at ways of both saving electricity and possibly generating some as well. I have my washing machine and dryer in an outbuilding so was wondering about powering these two devices using only solar energy. Obviously these are two of the biggest energy hogs in anyones house so I’m going to need a fairly beefy system in order to do this. Has anyone on here any experience of creating a separate circuit in a house that is otherwise fed by the grid? Does this sound like a feasible project? Any advice would be gratefully received.
I know roughly what kit I would need, listed below:

Solar panels (at least 2 x 330 watt)

Charge controller

Power inverter

Batteries




Washing machine specs:
Connection rating 2300W
Current (A) 13

My Maytag washer only uses 6 Amp - 120V. It must be a huge washing machine.

 

[Bvillebob]

By far the cheapest way to do this is to get a gas dryer. You can run the motors of the units off a reasonably sized solar system, but running the heating coils is going to get really expensive, as in several thousand pounds to start with. Even with increasing power costs i can't imagine any kind of sensible rate of return on that. Your solar power production in the winter is going to be close to zero, meaning an enormous solar array would be needed. I'm at 45 north in Oregon, similar winters, but you're a lot further north. I get about 10 percent output in the winter, meaning a 5000 watt array is putting out about 500 watts most of the time. It takes a long time to save up enough energy to run a dryer at that rate.

 

[efficientPV]

I have a garage system at my summer home with just four panels and the large capacity washer has its own 40 gallon water heater. The machine is set to TAP COLD, but I feed in hot water to the cold inlet. All cycles are done with HOT water and the clothes come out steaming. I have no mold problem like others have with front loaders and you could eat out of the soap dispenser because there is no detergent buildup. Forget cold water wash! I did it for about $40 more than just the panels and I don't use any batteries. A friend has a similar setup and when he turns on the dryer it switches his water heater element to the clothes dryer element automatically. So technically it can be done on the cheap. You just can't order it from amazon.

 

[BarrySmith]

This is the graph my software (Loxone) made when I put the washing I had on the line earlier in the dryer to finish it off. Although I can get a reading every second or so this is averaged over every minute.

 

[John Frum]

This is the graph my software (Loxone) made when I put the washing I had on the line earlier in the dryer to finish it off. Although I can get a reading every second or so this is averaged over every minute.

The data points we need to know...

Washer's peak usage in watts
Per load consumption in watt hours
Number of loads per day

Need the same data points for the dryer

I will assume grid backup no additional days of autonomy.
In other words...
The total battery capacity just needs to get you through a day of laundry.
The primary charge source will be solar.
The secondary charge source will be the grid.

 

[timselectric]

You can save money.
If you go with a smaller battery and do laundry on sunny days. Or even no battery, if you choose an AIO with grid assist mode. The grid, can handle the surges.

 

[再生可能 エネルギー]

Example of air to water heat pump hybrid, may be can you get a tax break for it?

Daikin Altherma Hybrid 8kW Heat Pump HYBRID05B33

Buy the multi award winning Daikin Altherma Hybrid 8kW Heat Pump HYBRID05B33 which combines the high performance LT Split refrigerant heat pump with a condensing gas combi boiler. A renewable energy solution which offers and running cost savings for high heat load homes with LPG or mains gas...

www.zerohomebills.com

 

[sateniksince]

The home handyman in the household often has to do things that are not always easy and convenient to do by hand. To help in this case come a variety of machines. But you need a device that will drive them, such as an electric motor. Asynchronous three-phase motors, although simple in a device and very common, it is not always possible to find and buy capacitors. So you can use motors from household appliances. You can connect such a motor to solar panels if you have skills. I thought about it when I used a pressure washer service for the house https://sparklewash.com/woodlands/ and decided to install some solar panels on the roof. It's probably worth trying something like that.