Miele washing machine (now bought)

Published by Matt Polaine | Filed under Cottage, Matthew's wishlist, Naisha's wishlist

NOW BOUGHT!

Yet another washing machine of ours is packing up. Now with 33% replaced parts, it will soon be time to replace. Our aupair has already opened the door when it is still filled with water as both door interlock and master control board is knackered. We have to keep re-setting the wash cycle to get it to empty the water, and the spin sounds like a cement mixer full of ball bearings. It has done well (by modern standards), nearly ten years of washing for about four people, which includes two children. But I am disgusted at how quickly these machines go wrong. There is no such thing as a ‘cheap’ washing machine of course, we are just lulled into the cheap initial price. The £200 ones have a one year dubious warranty and begin to break down after 13 Months, the £300-400 ones might get a two year warranty and begin to break down after 25 Months.

However Miele make machines that buck this trend, most of the time. We now have a Miele dishwasher which costs less energy to dishwasher wash-up than to do it by hand, thanks to the way the hot water is heated and re-used on a full load on economy setting. Many Miele machines come with a ten year warranty but cost around £800. However this is cheaper than buying four £300 washing machines over ten years, and certainly less hassle from when they go wrong on Christmas morning. Callout charges now start at £50. Most important for me though is that three washing machines won’t have to go into the landfill. The amount of energy required to make a good Miele machine can’t be double the energy gone into making a £200 one, so from a lifecycle analysis viewpoint, the 10 year warrantied Miele is the cheapest option.

Then we come to drum size; 5Kg is OK for a couple but for a family of four/five, a 7Kg drum makes much more sense. Why? Well because you will use less water washing one 7Kg load than washing one 5Kg load and then another 2Kg load. Also a 7Kg drum allows you to wash single duvets - essential for those who have ‘accidents’ regularly. Unfortunately, Miele don’t make a domestic 7kg machine (that I can find) and the largest they do is 6kg.

So for us that leaves one choice: the cheapest 6Kg drum Miele with 10 year warranty, which is the Miele Paragon Plus at £800 from John Lewis, as we can’t seem to find it cheaper elsewhere, and we can get some credit on our John Lewis card to spread the cost.

A real wallet-draining exercise, when I can think of so many ways to better spend £800, but these machines get so hammered in a family, £80 a year seems a real bargain…then of course there is the Siemens WM14s794 with 5 year guarantee and 7kg drum for £700. What has my life come to…