# washing machine uk or Spanish



## joannadawns (Nov 28, 2017)

Hi Everyone... only a few weeks before we get our new property and thinking about a washing machine... should I purchase a new one in the UK which will have the instructions in English and the operating dials or should i purchase in Spain where the warranty will be easier to sort if there's an issue...


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## Juan C (Sep 4, 2017)

With the internet getting operating info in English should be no problem

I have lived here a long time and bought all electrical appliances in Spain. Never had any reason not to continue doing so and as you said the using the guarantee if required would probably far simpler


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

With a lot of electrical appliances sold now, the instruction booklets which come with the machine are printed in multiple languages anyway (although that makes the print so small you need to buy a magnifying glass as well to read them!). I would certainly buy one in Spain because of the warranty issue.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Lynn R said:


> With a lot of electrical appliances sold now, the instruction booklets which come with the machine are printed in multiple languages anyway (although that makes the print so small you need to buy a magnifying glass as well to read them!). I would certainly buy one in Spain because of the warranty issue.


and definitely shop locally. Using your local person who sells those types of appliance will mean that you will get far better after-sales service, often within an hour if you need it, no waiting for weeks for somebody to come out from a distance.


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

baldilocks said:


> and definitely shop locally. Using your local person who sells those types of appliance will mean that you will get far better after-sales service, often within an hour if you need it, no waiting for weeks for somebody to come out from a distance.


Yes, I quite agree - and if someone has limited Spanish at first, it's much easier to deal with someone in your local shop face to face, I think, rather than trying to understand someone on the phone in Spanish.


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## tarot650 (Sep 30, 2007)

Have to agree with Baldi about using your local people but alas some of these people can just not compete with the likes of Worten,Media Mkt,Carrefour.You only have to look on their sites to see what offers they have got on so I would say shop around for your best deal.As for guarantees after being here for well over 24years never ever had a problem and your guarantees are usually for 2years with the option to take out extra warranty and if your Spanish is limited you will always find in the bigger stores somebody who speaks En glish.


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## Barriej (Jul 23, 2012)

Just something to think about.

Shipping cost from Uk to Spain. 

if you buy the washing machine in the UK how much is it adding to the shipping costs?
Washing machines are heavy (there is a lump of concrete on the drum)

I worked out it was cheaper to buy new in Spain than to transport the stuff from here in the Uk. 
All we are bringing are our clothes, personal stuff, my record collection and stereo and a few other bits.

No furniture or white goods at all. 
Its dropped what we are shipping by about 3/4 and will save at least £1000 
So instead of using a moving company Im looking at one way van hire. 
So I save on the flights and hire car as well. And we get a nice drive instead...


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## joannadawns (Nov 28, 2017)

Thank you, everyone, for the replies. I'm going to buy in Spain just need to find an outlet near Valencia. I'm buying a LHD car in the UK and will drive down with survival bits while we get sorted, we're not 100% sure whats being left by the owners and what condition it's really in and will ship the remaining items by one of the guys on here who got recommended... Happy days sooooon :]


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

joannadawns said:


> Thank you, everyone, for the replies. I'm going to buy in Spain just need to find an outlet near Valencia. I'm buying a LHD car in the UK and will drive down with survival bits while we get sorted, we're not 100% sure whats being left by the owners and what condition it's really in and will ship the remaining items by one of the guys on here who got recommended... Happy days sooooon :]


Bear in mind that you may well be faced with the costs of homologation, etc. for that LHD car if it is not on Spanish plates which may tot up to over 1500€ and again, what do you do if it goes wrong just after you get it to Spain. Not necessarily very likely but someone recently moved to the village bought a vehicle from a dealer near Málaga and, shortly after, the engine died, requiring several thousand Euro's worth of repairs. Málaga is 170km away from here by car and there is no public transport between here and there without several changes and taking 6-7 hours. No courtesy car was available. OK the dealer refunded the purchase price but there was still a lot of hassle to get it all sorted out and not easy when it is so far away - even worse from Spain to UK!!

We bought our vehicles locally and we get good service because we have built up a good relationship with the dealer (Main Citroen agent in the area) so whenever our car is in for anything, we have a courtesy car.


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

Am I right in thinking that Spanish washing machines only use cold water, and the machine heats it to the required temperature, but British ones have both hot and cold inputs?

Also bear in mind that detergents in Spain are "bio" and work at low temperatures. I do most of my washes at 30º or 40º. There's a special "activador" for whites, which you add to the regular detergent, and they come out sparkling even at these temperatures.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Alcalaina said:


> Am I right in thinking that Spanish washing machines only use cold water, and the machine heats it to the required temperature, but British ones have both hot and cold inputs?
> 
> Also bear in mind that detergents in Spain are "bio" and work at low temperatures. I do most of my washes at 30º or 40º. There's a special "activador" for whites, which you add to the regular detergent, and they come out sparkling even at these temperatures.


I don't know, we only ever wash at 30/40 setting anyway and I wear white shirts most of the time and they look fine even after 10 years.


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## Overandout (Nov 10, 2012)

White goods are virtually universal worldwide. as long as it is designed for 230V AC you'll be fine.

I brought a dishwasher with me from Thailand and have bought spares in Spain with no problem. (But I had to work out that the brand under which it is sold in Thailand is not the same brand that is sold under in Spain... )


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## ClaireRuss (Jun 19, 2019)

I bought a spanish washing machine when I arrived, the cost of bringing my UK one over was not worth the effort.
They all work the same to me, add clothes, add detergent and softener and press go (well its worked so far).
My worry is will I need a tumble dryer in the winter, I have been told it will require my electricty potencia to be increased, is this correct?


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## Juan C (Sep 4, 2017)

Having grown up in U.K. in the age before even washing machines my opinion maybe different from younger people


However, I have lived in spain just over 30 years, never had a tumble dryer nor had any robjems with drying clothes. That said I have always been able to have an outside clothes line. 

Whether you would need to increase your potential of you used a dryer Deleon’s on what potential you have. So impossible to give an answer on the info you have supplied. Of course even if you have a potential problem, you should be able to adjust the amount of power you are using at any one time.


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

ClaireRuss said:


> I bought a spanish washing machine when I arrived, the cost of bringing my UK one over was not worth the effort.
> They all work the same to me, add clothes, add detergent and softener and press go (well its worked so far).
> My worry is will I need a tumble dryer in the winter, I have been told it will require my electricty potencia to be increased, is this correct?


We moved to Spain in 2006 and found no need to have a tumble dryer until the very wet winter of 2009/10 when it hardly stopped raining for about 5 months. We did have a covered area we could hang clothes to dry, but the atmosphere was so damp things just never seemed to feel properly dry, so we bought a dryer. We were on 3.3kw potencia at the time and it wasn't a problem, but you do need to be careful about not switching on other electricial items (especially those which use a lot of power like electric kettles or hairdryers) at the same time.

I was glad to have the dryer at the time but after that winter it was only used on a handful of occasions. We left it behind when we moved house in 2017 and the dryer was like new. I haven't regretted not having one for the last two winters since we moved, but if we ever get another exceptionally wet winter I might well do!


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

We have a heated drying rack which works very well. We only use it during the winter on days when we can't dry outside (we have a whirly-gig type drier on the patio.) If you decide to get one from Lakeland get the cover as well, since this keeps in the heat and makes drying much more effective.
https://www.lakeland.co.uk/25372/Dry:Soon-3-Tier-Heated-Airer-and-Cover-Offer-Bundle
This only takes 300w electricity so no increase in Pontencia necessary


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## Juan C (Sep 4, 2017)

Opps


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## The Skipper (Nov 26, 2014)

tarot650 said:


> Have to agree with Baldi about using your local people but alas some of these people can just not compete with the likes of Worten,Media Mkt,Carrefour.You only have to look on their sites to see what offers they have got on so I would say shop around for your best deal.As for guarantees after being here for well over 24years never ever had a problem and your guarantees are usually for 2years with the option to take out extra warranty and if your Spanish is limited you will always find in the bigger stores somebody who speaks En glish.


Over the last three years I have bought a fridge-freezer, a dishwasher and various other electrical goods from a privately owned shop in Alcoy. Each time I took a print-out of the MediaMarkt web page showing the items I wanted and the shop matched their total price (ie they added €20 for the larger items which would have been the delivery charge made by MediaMarkt because the nearest store is 60km away). Also to bear in mind, I would have had to wait up to two weeks for delivery with MediaMarkt whereas the local shop delivered and installed within an hour at no extra charge.


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

Never had or needed a tumble dryer. The heated rack is very useful, or you can stand an ordinary clothes-horse over an electric radiator (but leave the window open or it will steam up and cause condensation).


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## NickZ (Jun 26, 2009)

Washing machines are rated not just for how much energy they use washing but also on how dry they get the clothes at the end of the spin cycle. If you're buying a new machine the information should be in the specs. But a simple rule of thumb is the faster the spin cycle the more water the machine gets out of the clothing. 

If you have an older washer and are thinking you need a dryer it might make more sense to upgrade the washer to a new high efficiency washer first. Then decide if you need a dryer.


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## kalohi (May 6, 2012)

I live in the Seville area (not known for its rain) and I have been very happy to have a tumble dryer for the last 25 years. If at all possible I hang my washing out to dry, but every winter there are stretches of rainy or damp weather when that's not possible for several days (sometimes weeks) on end. As I find I have to do laundry almost every day, and I don't really have an area to set up a drying rack indoors, for me the dryer is a necessity. For households with fewer people or less washing you could probably get by with simply waiting to do the laundry until the weather is nice. 

We have a relatively low electric supply (4,4) and we have to be careful when using the dryer or else the circuit breaker trips. Basically the norm is that while it's running we can't turn on any other device that creates heat. Also, I always try to run it during the time when our electricity is cheaper (we have a peak and valley tariff) since it's a huge energy consumer. It does take a bit of planning, but it's feasible.


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## Rabbitcat (Aug 31, 2014)

Worth noting that in a similar fashion that the Spanish drive on the " wrong" side of the road- be warned that their tumble driers spin in the opposite direction to UK ones 

Not a problem if you are loading Spanish clothes but if you put in UK bought items they will obviously become wetter not drier


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## Tigerlillie (Apr 7, 2015)

Rabbitcat said:


> Worth noting that in a similar fashion that the Spanish drive on the " wrong" side of the road- be warned that their tumble driers spin in the opposite direction to UK ones
> 
> Not a problem if you are loading Spanish clothes but if you put in UK bought items they will obviously become wetter not drier


Haha RC....I see you're back with your, let's say, 'unique' sense of humour.  :rofl:


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