Washing machine blues

A while ago our dishwasher packed in.

And in getting it going again, I managed to spin out a blog post. I have of course now lost it, but as a consequence of chatting with an engineer at the sharp end, I learned a few things, one of which was cold water washes may save on the water heating, but may not be that great on enviROI due to pipes getting bunged up through hot water not scouring them .

Well, it has happened again, and I am faced with a a similar dilemma on the price, if not principle of insurance.

Tricky. Stuart, the engineer, says it is a good model with loads of life in it, so I am tempted to keep on. But it is really a bet with the actuaries. 3 more years and I could buy a brand new one on the annual fee. Not a Miele, of course, but still...

Anyhoo, a few tips to pass on. All as a result of that rather nasty collection in the picture.

First up, change is very bad. Do try and ensure you do not leave any in. Thanks to the boys we did end up with enough for a pint, but it could have been at major cost. If the coin does not slide to the trap and gets wedged... major.

The other tip is as a result of the main blockage culprit, namely cord ties.

It is well worth putting any garment with flappy bits in a net bag first. Saves the bits being ripped off and the resulting strands starting a healthy bung.

Gadget Inspector

Here's one that caught my eye:

Green gadgets can do more harm than good

This young lady seems a tad more than the usual 'punt out a press release and call it reporting', so I wonder if I might get an answer* to my questions.

Failing which, I wonder how I might get to be paid for writing such stories and/or get funded to go find out.

I'm still trying to verify what the engineer told me the last visit to fix my washing machine, namely that all these cold temperature washes are not that great at keeping the seals and pipes clean and are causing premature failures through build-ups of deposits hotter washes could keep clear.

Any links to the truth of this, and if so what the gain in eco from lower temps might be vs. the losses of having to fix or buy a new one?

I really despair the lack of balanced science and engineering reporting in the 'green arena', such that a device or initiative can be assessed not just for its 'hue & cred' but actual enviROI.

I can sort of accept an eco-option that might 'cost' more in £ terms; that's a clear choice.

But one that also makes things 'worse' seems a bad deal all round.

*Addendum:

Well, kudos to her. She saw a question and came back. Not a definitive answer, but it seems
I am on a worthwhile track, which kinda puts me at odds with every gov. & commercial marketing department in the land, all of whom have boxes to tick rather than enviROi's to ponder. She might be misguided on the hotter meaning whiter, mind, as it is my understanding that the water temp should not matter. Experience here does rather differ, mind.

PROF'S POSER - Where's an actuary when you need one?

The other day these bits of paper arrived.

At first I was going to bin them, but then I had a read, and as a consequence of that called up the sender.

You see, our washing machine is at last 10 years old. Still doing a sterling job, bar a few hiccups year on year that have been resolved.

Thing is, I don't recall ever seeing such an insurance before, so they must n=know what they are doing.

The deal is not cheap, coming in at well over £100 a year. But the up side is tempting. They either fix it if...when it dies, or give us a new one.

Now, my main aim is environmental (no, really) in that I like the notion of repair if at all possible (lord knows what the enviROI on a call-out is), but I was also wondering about the numbers.

Being that a new one is around £2-300, does it make any sense to take out such a policy at this stage?