Who needs a washing machine? A clean laundry sink works fine and is great exercise. Just use a short piece of plastic pipe that has been sanded smooth for an 'agitator'. The trick is to let the clothes soak in warm suds for at least an hour, then lightly pound them with the hollow pipe for awhile. Use a plastic brush for tough spots. Rinse twice. Be careful to not use much soap or you will need to rinse them 3 times. Getting clothes clean is easy. It is getting them dry that is hard.
Just hang them to drip dry all day, then 15 minutes in the gas dryer and its like you just got home from the laundromat. Or let them hang for two days and skip the dryer.
Of course if you live with lots of kids I can see how my system may not work for you.
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You can't fix Samsara.
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We have a 2012 General Electric HE washer and it runs fine on a modified-sine-wave inverter hooked up to a deep cycle battery and also runs fine on a generator (also with modified sine wave). The matching GE dryer also runs great off the generator (our battery/inverter system could never power a 220v dryer).
After hurricane Sandy thousands (tens of thousands?) of people were running modern appliances with generators for weeks. We ran them for 5 days after Iselle. I'm not sure the problem you are describing has anything to do with using non-grid power per se, maybe there is something about your particular setup, or there is something wrong with the individual appliances you are using?
Maybe there is something wrong with the inverter. Most appliances run fine off of backup or alternative power. The motors might make more noise but that's usually the extent of it.
ETA: I can never get anything right the first time.
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My Bosch washer wouldn't run directly from my old-style generator but would run when that same generator power was fed through my APC SmartUPS3000. No clue why. It would run straight off a Honda EU2000i.
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There are some appliances that sip power off of the peaks of the sine wave which is up over 170 volts. Crude modified wave forms don't have peaks that high although the average RMS voltage is still 120. The Honda EUs are modified sine waves in a way, they just have hundreds of steps where the crude ones have only 2 or 3 steps. Step back from the oscilloscope and it looks like a true sine wave but press your nose against the screen and you can see the little saw tooth steps. The engineers did a good job of figuring out just how smooth the wave form needed to be and left it at that. The down side is that the Honda EUs and other decent inverter generators, while putting out a darn good approximation of a sine wave, have no reserve to compare with the old style generators. Those old hunks of iron and copper would feel a load and they would slow down. The frequency would slow down. The load would see this and slow down and not need so much power. The lights would dim but at least the reefer would start.
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quote:
Originally posted by imagtek
Just hang them to drip dry all day, then 15 minutes in the gas dryer and its like you just got home from the laundromat. Or let them hang for two days and skip the dryer.
Who needs a dryer? Dryers suck down way too much power. I don't need a washer really, what I need is a spin cycle. Spin the clothes almost dry.
I don't mind the exercise, but ringing cloths out sucks.
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Can anyone recommend a washer that has a low draw, good for a moderate off grid system?
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Spin the clothes almost dry
I've seen the big stainless version of this in a locker room somewhere, it works great.
http://www.amazon.com/Laundry-Alternativ...0150X71NU/
Rated at 190W, which is well within range of a small PV system.
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I got a used Bosch clothes washer for $100. I can't imagine living without a washer in this day and age. On high spin the clothes come out almost dry. One time I washed a sleeping bag rather late in the day. Evening really. I don't know what I was thinking. The bag was not getting any drier after the sun went down and it was my only bag to sleep in. So I slept in it. I figured, "Hey, it's almost dry. It'll work". Well of course it was as uncomfortable as you might imagine. What an idiot. I did manage to eventually drift off to sleep. When I awoke around 2 in the morning, the bag was dry and I was warm! It is pretty impressive how dry a good spin cycle gets the clothes.
Lesson learned: Just get a decent washer. I also have a gas dryer and it is great. I try to use it as sparingly as possible but there is no substitute for being able to dry wet clothes on a rainy day.
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quote:
Originally posted by Punatic007
Can anyone recommend a washer that has a low draw, good for a moderate off grid system?
We've been using an LG WM2140CW for about 5 years now, off-grid. It sips power during the wash and rinse cycles, but uses a few hundred watts during the spin cycle. It uses a brushless DC motor, which is coupled directly to the drum - no belt - and so is rather efficient. We do have a pure-sine inverter, though, so I can't say how it might work or not on a modified-sine system. We got it at either Home Despot or Lowes - can't recall which.
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quote:
Originally posted by Punatic007
Can anyone recommend a washer that has a low draw, good for a moderate off grid system?
http://www.sears.com/kenmore-4.3-cu-ft-f...641162000P
This is what we settled on. Extremely happy and bought the 5 year warranty. Hopefully Sears will still be around in 5 years.
One thing a friend who does the Sears repair van gig told me is that little door in the lower left means you can access the drain pump filter from the front with no tools. On some other models there is way too much disassembly just to clear the filter, which he said was a very common call he gets. Also said to get a 5 year warranty since it will most likely need at least one service call in that time.
Here is some more from him:
"In general the newer machines are much more energy efficient but less dependable from a repair perspective. I would rate the current front load washers manufacturers as follows
LG/kenmore (made by lg)
Samsung
Whirlpool/maytag/kitchen aid
Frigidaire/Electrolux
GE
I don't have enough experience on Bosch, Asko or Miele to make any meaningful comment on.
That being said I am currently using a 7 year old GE top load washer that I like. I got it for free and had to do a major repair but I got GE to send me the part at no charge. If you are buying new there are no top load machines that I would recommend. The water and energy standards have caused all the manufacturers to abandoned their "tried and true" designs and reinvent the wheel. Unfortunately the new wheel is square and does not roll very well. A direct drive whirlpool that is approximately 10 years old or so can be a great machine but the motor does pull 400 to 600 watts compared to 50 to 200 watts on some mew models. Getting a used electronically driven front load machine is more risky from a repair perspective."
For what it's worth.
Cheers,
Kirt
