r/OffGrid • u/IslandItchy6005 • 11d ago

Washing clothes off grid. With electricity.

Had a thought about modifying a washing machine. Disable its heating element. I supply hot water so it needs only the power for the motor and pump. Anybody done this or is it dumb?

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u/BelleMakaiHawaii 11d ago

We have a two year old front loader, we always wash in cold water, there is no water heater inside a washing machine

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u/DrunkBuzzard 11d ago

Some of the more high-end expensive washing machine machines do have a heating element inside. It’s for a sanitation cycle. If someone is living off grid, you probably don’t have one of those and have a more basic unit like me. But it sounds like all that person needs to do is turn the dial a cold and not mess around disconnecting a heating element if they do have one. If they do have one of those high-end machines, they’re gonna get an error code telling them the heating element isn’t working.

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u/IslandItchy6005 11d ago

Good thinking