I recently purchased an expensive “top of the line” front loader washing machine from AEG. After carefully reading the user manual I could find no usage figures for the various loads, which had confusing names such as “Super Eco”, “Economy” and so on. How do these cycles vary from plain old Cottons, I wondered - and contacted the amusingly named AEG customer care to find out what I thought would be a simple question.
Turns out AEG have no figures for their own washing machines. They don’t know, and they asked their “factory” apparently also. When I followed it up, turns out their factory doesn’t want to know, either.
Is this normal?? I know that consumption varies with the amount of wash you are doing and that’s fine - wasn’t looking for hard and fast stats, more a general guide. Even my dishwasher has comprehensive consumption figures for each cycle.
I suspect that it is normal…and AEG will possibly say that the eco settings are there for consumers that want to use less water/electricity than the machine’s standard/normal/regular wash. The later recommended normal wash is that used to calculate the Energy/Water Efficiency star ratings.
I am surprised that AEG doesn’t know what the usages are for full load under their eco settings as I would expect that this is something they would do during product development/prototyping. Maybe the figures are not to different to the normal wash setting and why they are reluctant to give them out. If they were significantly less, I would expect that the numbers would be forthcoming as they would be a great marketing tool for their communications/marketing team.
Also, have you tried googling for the information using your model number? Such information may be available from other sources other than AEG (or could even be on one of their many global websites).
Most interesting. I had a quick look and found a particular model http://www.aegaustralia.com.au/products/laundry/washing/l89409fl/
However it only gives a single figure for electrical consumption (kWh/y) with the word “warm” which I assume means a warm wash cycle and water consumption (l). This model boasts 16 cycles but the is no info on whether the usage numbers relate to the longest cycle, shortest cycle or whether it is an average. You can also go to http://www.aeg-appliances.ca/type/laundry/ for manuals and spec sheets but you won’t get any joy there either. It is indeed a mystery.
Yes, finding specific details on a washing machine’s individual cycles can be tricky. Each machine will be different, but if you can provide details of your particular model it might narrow things down.
When we evaluate washing machines at CHOICE we aim to test as close as possible to real world conditions. We use an automatic program if one is available on a cold wash with a 3.5kg load, as this best reflects how Australian households use their machines. This means you’ll get an accurate comparison of how your washing machine stacks up in real world day-to-day use.
With regard to your washing machines energy and water rating labels, these are measured using a warm (minimum of 35 degrees) wash setting and a program specified by the manufacturer. This program is listed on the sticker and will typically be the ‘eco’ (or in your case, ‘super eco’) program, as this program is designed for maximum efficiency.
In terms of energy and water usage for other settings, every machine will be different but as a general rule non-cotton settings will use more water and energy (woollens and delicates settings in particular use more water to be gentler on your clothes), and a hot wash will use more energy than washing in cold water (even if your machine has a hot water inlet, you’re still using energy to heat that water in your home). Eco settings are generally designed for energy rating / labelling purposes and are not typically used in real world conditions unless water consumption is a major concern (such as if you are using tank water only).
