I have a laundry machine and I always try to wash things at the appropriate temperature, but when the machine is done the clothes/sheets etc. never feel warmer than room temperature. How do I find out if the heating element of the laundry machine is broken?

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[–] 4 points 6 hours ago (15 children)

Also, clothes washers don't normally contain heating elements. They rely on your external water heater (though I have known dishwashers to have heating elements, despite being connected to hot water).

If you're concerned, feel the water as the washer is filling up. It should feel warm. It may even burn you on the hottest setting.

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  • [–] 16 points 6 hours ago (8 children)

    That's either totally wrong or depends on where you live (and the model you have). Where I'm from, that's not a thing. Washers are connected to a cold water supply and heat the water themselves.

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  • [–] 10 points 6 hours ago (6 children)

    Probably varies by area then. Around here, every washer I've ever owned (or used at an apartment complex) had two water lines going into it.

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  • [–] 2 points 6 hours ago (4 children)

    Interesting. I actually wonder why we don't have that here (Israel), since the majority of homes have sun-heated water. In the summer, the hot tap can reach scalding steaming temperatures (I'm not joking). It's a shame to let all that free energy go to waste.

    Though to be fair, I've lived in apartments where the cold tap is scalding hot in the summer too, because the pipe is exposed to the sun. In that case, the washer gets a free ride, whether it needs it or not!

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  • [–] 2 points 6 hours ago (3 children)

    I live in austria an we also have washing machines with internal heating and you usually connect them to the cold water tap, but usually you can also just connect them to the hot water tap if you have cheap or free hot water - there are thermostat sensors inside the machine and if the water is already hot it will not heat it any more.

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  • [–] 1 point 6 hours ago (2 children)

    But what if it's too hot, as can be the case here?

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  • [–] 4 points 6 hours ago* (1 child)

    every single washing mashine I ever owned has internal heating - maybe that's different in the US, don't know about that, but here in europe that's completly normal.

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