Using Washing Machine and Dryer in same plug?

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invisibleman18

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#217957 19-Jul-2017 22:33

This may be a stupid question but figure this is as good a place as any to ask. Basically moved house recently and the laundry area only has one plug. Would like to be able to use the washer and dryer at the same time and the landlord is happy to put another plug in but is struggling to find an electrician willing to come for such a small job. So would it be safe to run both machines at the same time from the same plug using an adapter or would this end up blowing the fuse?

The laundry is separate to the house and not really practical to run an extension lead into another plug in the next room.

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20182 posts

Uber Geek

#1825572 19-Jul-2017 23:06

I can't see how it would blow a fuse, because a double socket would still have the one line going into it. Ideally it would be best to put on a double outlet though. Some of these cheap adapters may struggle with the load going through it. Yu would probably need to look at the max wattage of both appliances and see if the adapter can handle the load. Don't think anyone will tell you if it is going to be safe or not in case something happens.

richms

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#1825577 19-Jul-2017 23:42

No, double adapters are stupid and should IMO be banned since they have no overcurrent protection.

My washer and dryer both specify 2100 and 2250 watts respectivly on them, which is ~10 amps. That means both would be in the range of 19A thru a 10A outlet. That is way more than I would be comfortable overloading it with for even a short time. Its not like a toaster + kettle situation where you are only putting 15ish A thru for a few mins.

The load on them both will be cyclical as things heat and then dont heat, and the dryer will back off its power once the clothes are hot to just what is needed to maintain temperature but that is still way too much load for comfort.

If the place is wired for a 16A power circuit you may find issues with both running at once even when on a seperate outlet. I had issues in my old laundry area with just the 2 machines and standby loads of kitchen stuff on a 16A tripping out when I tried starting both a wash and a dry at the same time. Had to wait till the drying was underway before starting the next lot of washing.

Richard rich.ms

kiwirock

685 posts

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#1825584 20-Jul-2017 02:23

A friend's flatmate tried this.

I got a call late one night saying she couldn't afford a sparky until next pay and asked if I can look at what's gone wrong with her dryer.

I got there, the washing machine and dryer were plugged in to a multi-box (with C.B that didn't break) and the active pin was melted around the multi-box plug.

She was going to plug the washing machine in to the wall socket and continue except the fuse at the meter board was why everything finally stopped going.

Not that I should of, but I opened the 10A socket on the wall, the socket was melted inside, and the wiring was all fibre insulated and had come apart from being so hot, and the wood trim hidding the wire down the wall had also started to go black.

She was bloody lucky, fuse or no fuse.

Don't be fooled by the low setting on dryers either. Some just cycle the full heating element off and on rather than a lower wattage element.

Some washing machines, my last front loader, also heated it's own water making a juice sucking appliance.

I wouldn't run both at the same time, ever. Not unless a spark looked at it and told me it's rated for a full 20A to the socket, and a decent 10A on both outlets.

I also wouldn't go playing with extension cables with dryers either. Half the cheap one's get pretty warm. Those sort of appliances should be straight to wall outlet.

michaelmurfy

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#1825601 20-Jul-2017 06:51

I run my washer / dryer from the same plug (with a multibox) connected to a Wemo Insight to track my sisters OCD when it comes to her clothes having to be clean (she used the washer 5x last week and the dryer 5x too). My washer is a Samsung front-loader and dryer is a heatpump dryer and when they're both running have a combined load of under 2400w (and that is with the washer heating its water).

This is the exception since my washer/dryer combo is energy efficient. Don't do it yourself if you've got a standard dryer.

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sbiddle

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#1825603 20-Jul-2017 07:08

The answer to your question is really no diffent to any situation where you've got multiple devices plugged in. A power socket regardless of whether it's single or double (unless both are fed from individual circuits) can handle 10A/2400W. You need to look at the figures for your appliances and see if they exceed these when in use if you're planning on using both together.

Even if you changed the single socket to a double it's not going to change anything.

acetone

185 posts

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#1825644 20-Jul-2017 08:54

michaelmurfy:

I run my washer / dryer from the same plug (with a multibox) connected to a Wemo Insight to track my sisters OCD when it comes to her clothes having to be clean (she used the washer 5x last week and the dryer 5x too). My washer is a Samsung front-loader and dryer is a heatpump dryer and when they're both running have a combined load of under 2400w (and that is with the washer heating its water).

This is the exception since my washer/dryer combo is energy efficient. Don't do it yourself if you've got a standard dryer.

I thought the Wemo Insight had a max load of 1800w? Do you have any concerns running both of those appliances through that plug?

tripper1000

1619 posts

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#1825675 20-Jul-2017 09:32

We need a little more info before we can give you a definitive yes or no - As sbiddle has said it depends on the power draw ratings of you appliances, which are stated on the data plates and in the hand books. Here are some general guide lines though:

1) You can run them one at a time regardless of their ratings - no problem.

2) Generally speaking, if your washer does not heat it's own water (such as a F&P top loader) you should be right.

3) If your washer does heat it's own water it is highly unlikely that you can use them simultaneously unless you are able to completely turn-off or disable the water heating feature. It'd check the manual before assuming that using cold wash completely disables the water heating function because some washers will still heat the wash cycle water to 20 - 25 deg on a cold cycle because it greatly improves the effectiveness of many detergents.

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JonnyCam

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#1825733 20-Jul-2017 10:07

These front loaders seem to use a lot of power. I've got a 6.5kg top loader, and it uses 600W washing, 350W spinning. (admittedly, it doesn't use it's own hot water, that comes from my infinity on the odd time I use a hot wash)

Surely the landlord will be able to find a sparky to change from single to double. 10 minute job for them (incl the COC) - guess it depends on where the house is located. - as long as it's on a suitable breaker / cable.

mclean

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#1825762 20-Jul-2017 10:58

sbiddle: Even if you changed the single socket to a double it's not going to change anything.

Strictly correct, but spreading the load across both outlets of a 10A twin outlet is much better than feeding both through a double adaptor in a single outlet. Assuming it's a 20A circuit then changing the outlet to a 10A twin is probably not the worst thing he could do.

MikeAqua

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#1825766 20-Jul-2017 11:05

Seems to be standard to see a washer and drier plugged into a double outlet.

That's the case in our apartment (circa 2010 with RCCB). We routinely run both at the same time.

Mike

Paul1977

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#1825844 20-Jul-2017 12:52

We have both of our running off a single point with an old double adaptor and had never even considered it might be an issue. Been like that for over 7 years, and I can only assume we've used them both at the same time at some point (although probably not a common occurrence for us).

Reading a lot of these comments it sounds like I should probably at least change it to a proper dual socket to remove the old adaptor from the equation.

mattwnz

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#1825888 20-Jul-2017 13:55

Most laundries I have seen will have two totally seperate outlets, which I presume is because both appliances have the potential to draw a lot of load.

richms

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#1825910 20-Jul-2017 14:27

Paul1977:

We have both of our running off a single point with an old double adaptor and had never even considered it might be an issue. Been like that for over 7 years, and I can only assume we've used them both at the same time at some point (although probably not a common occurrence for us).

Reading a lot of these comments it sounds like I should probably at least change it to a proper dual socket to remove the old adaptor from the equation.

Depends how long the thing is heating for. If you do a cold wash it will only be heating for a short time to get it up to 20 degrees so probably not long enough to bother anything. The amount of water in a front loader is minimal so doesnt take much to heat which is why they are so efficiant to do washes in compared to a top loader that has 10's of litres in it.

Richard rich.ms

invisibleman18

1362 posts

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#1825927 20-Jul-2017 14:48

Thanks for the comments, will check their wattage when I get home tonight. They are both low end Haier machines with the washer being a top loader. No idea if it heats water itself either so will check that. Given there's adequate space for both along side each other it's odd there has only ever been one socket. At our last place they were plugged into a double socket which I guess may have been on the same line anyway. Wasn't really thinking a double adapter, was more thinking of using a multiboard with surge protector.

No big deal if we don't do it, just makes it convenient if you have more than one load. Just thought I'd ask people who may have some idea before I go ahead and blow anything up!

richms

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#1825977 20-Jul-2017 16:00

Well 2 socket double adapters give you no protection against doing things like massivly overloading the socket, and if you like to chain them up then that could be attemping 30+ amps on a 10 amp outlet.

A powerstrip will have an overload cutout on them, but for $3 total those cutouts are not the most accurate or reliable. Some will trip all the time with under 10A on them, others do nothing when overloaded in a kitchen with all sorts of things. Not really a good idea to get one and trust that it will protect you against overloads.

Richard rich.ms

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