How important are Energy Labels?

How important are Energy Labels?

If you're about to set off to buy a new TV or washing machine, the chances are you'll notice the energy labels that are stuck to the front them. With bright colours, logos & numbers printed all over them they can be a bit daunting and confusing to understand. They don't always tell you the whole story either.

What do they tell me? 

Energy labels have the same basic design regardless of the product they are attached to but will be tailored to suit the specific item. As a result the information detailed on the energy labels will vary to include all relevant information. The  picture below shows the variations on Energy Labels that you are likely to see when buying a new TV or Domestic Appliance.

1. The energy rating given to the item.
2. The amount of energy used by the item over a year at average usage levels.
3. The size of a TV screen.
4. The wattage for the TV.
5. The capacity in litres that a fridge or fridge-freezer hold for chilled food.
6. The capacity in litres that a fridge or fridge-freezer hold for frozen food.
7. The noise produced while the machine is in use.
8. The amount over water used on average over a year.
9. The maximum weight of dry clothes that a washing machine can hold.
10. The spin drying performance of a washing machine
11. The amount of noise produced during the wash cycle for a washing machine.
12. The amount of noise produced during the spin cycle for a washing machine.
13. The drying performance for a dishwasher.
14. The amount of place settings that a dishwasher can hold.
15. The condensation efficiency for a tumble dryer.
16. Time to complete an average full cotton load
17. Load capacity for a tumble dryer
18. Type of tumble dryer, Vented/Condensing/Gas Fired

The labels are designed to be used all over Europe and as a result rely heavily on pictures & numbers to convey their message with only limited use of multi-lingual text where required.

Many appliances now have additional Eco settings that will reduce their consumption beyond the quoted levels on the energy labels allowing you to save even more money.

What don't they tell me? 

Although energy labels are a very useful tool to use when buying a new product they do not tell you everything you might need to know. If you are truly concerned about the total environmental impact of a product you will sadly have a lot of research to carry out & even then will probably not get all the bits of the jigsaw you need to make a choice. If on the other hand you are simply concerned about the impact on your pocket when you use a product, the standard energy labels should do the trick for you.

Amongst other details energy labels are not able to give you the following information:

• How energy efficient the factory that made the product is
• How much energy will be required to recycle the product at the end of its life span
• How long to expect an item to last for.
• How well an item actually performs or how much you are going to enjoy using it.
• How well it will look after your food, clothes or dishes.
• How efficient it is with detergent or how much unused detergent is sent down your drain.

One of the Panasonic LCD display factories in Japan. Panasonic are currently aiming to become the number 1 Green Innovation Company in the electronics industry in time for  their centenary celebrations. The should ensure that from start to finish Panasonic products are the most environmentally friendly available. 

What should I look out for?

When buying a new product & looking at energy labels it is important to ensure that you are comparing products like-for-like. If you don't you may well find that you have not got the most efficient machine. For example.

It is no good comparing a 100L capacity freezer to a 150L capacity freezer while only looking at the energy rating. Both machines might have an A+ rating but the 150L machine is almost guaranteed to use more power due to its larger capacity. In this instance it would be better for your pocket in the long run to buy the 100L model, but only if its big enough for your needs.

or

If you live on your own you may not need to buy a 10kg capacity washing machine. Even though it might be the most efficient according to the A-G ratings it may use more power and water than a 6kg machine that might suit your needs better. If you're happy to wait & only do your washing with a full load the 10kg will be fine. If you cant do this, a smaller drum size may be a better solution for you.

Is there anything else I should take into account?

In addition to taking note of the energy labels there are other things that you should take into account when buying a new electrical product. Some of these considerations will have an impact on your overall expenditure whilst others are based on personal preference, gut instinct or historical bias towards or away from a particular brand.
Below are some examples of other things to take into consideration that an Energy label cannot convey:

• Personal preference.

Its no good comparing LCD & Plasma TVs if all you look at are the energy ratings. An LCD will almost certainly use less power per inch than a Plasma, but, you may prefer the picture on the Plasma screen. For similar quality picture & screen size, a Plasma TV may well cost you less to buy when compared to an LCD, offsetting any additional expense on running costs.

• Value for money.

Buying low cost domestic appliances may save you money on the initial purchase but will not look after your clothes as well as a more expensive machine. This will mean your clothes wearing out more quickly, losing shape & colour & needing to be replaced more often. 

Lower cost electrical items also generally need replacing more often or require more repairs. This adds to the overall cost of the machine during its lifespan. You will also find that more expensive machines tend to be more efficient, saving you money on running costs in the long term.
You should not decide something is good value for money based purely on the initial purchase price.

• Choosing a particular brand because of past experiences: Part 1

"I want another Zanussi because mines's lasted 25 years and only gone wrong twice" is a phrase we come across quite often, but having pre-conceived ideas like these often have little basis in modern reality. Just because your Zanussi machine lasted 25 years does not mean that a new one will. Nor does it mean that the majority of machines from that period lasted that long.

What is also important to remember is that a brands position in the market changes over time. Only 10-15 years ago Samsung was a small player in the TV market and was regarded as a budget brand by most dealers. Today they are the No.1 worldwide selling TV manufacturer. In the same period Philips, JVC, Hitachi & Sanyo among others have almost disappeared from the TV market.

• Choosing a particular brand because of past experiences: Part 2

Writing off a particular brand because of a bad experience may also be a bad idea. Very occasionally we will have customer saying they will  never have a Bosch, Siemens or Panasonic item ever again because "they had a nightmare" with a previous item. This opinion though is normally based on a sample of 1 item. From our side of the fence we get to see hundreds of products from the same brand delivered every year & are able to give a broader view of a brands reliability, strengths & weaknesses. 

Conclusion

Energy Labels are important. They have been instrumental in getting the manufacturers to focus on reducing energy & water consumption. For this reason alone they have been a huge success for both the consumer and in the long run, the environment too.
This said, Energy Labels should not be the only deciding factor when purchasing a new product. They are a useful guide to help judge a product on easily quantifiable facts, but not for gauging long term quality, design or overall environmental impact from factory to recycling.

For these reasons we always suggest it's worth coming into the shop to discuss your options with one of our assistants who will happily guide you through the whole process, including delivery & installation.

To see our range of Domestic Appliances and Home Entertainment equipment please visit us in store or visit our web site at www.HickmansOldTown.com

Plasma or LCD/LED TV?

One of the questions we get asked most in the shop is "what's better? Plasma or LCD".  It's also one of the more difficult questions for us to answer. More recently the queries have also included LED's (full name LED LCD's) which apart from the method of illumination are essentially the same as traditional LCD TV's.

The Panasonic 42" VT30, recently awarded What HiFi's TV of the Year prize .

I have always been a big fan of Plasma TV's. I say this now as a reminder to myself to try and remove bias from this blog and also as a pointer for you towards my personal preference. I have also always had a general disliking of LCD pictures. This is probably a historic view and is based on the original LCD and Plasma TV's that first hit the domestic market 10+ years ago. At that time the picture quality difference between Plasma & LCD TV was massive.
The Plasma screens, whilst hugely expensive, were designed as TV's/Video displays from the outset & did produce good pictures. They were also viewable from anywhere in the room which suited peoples normal viewing habits. Slightly later, LCD's arrived on the shelves and were no where near in comparison. They could not be viewed from the sides, below or above and could not keep up with even the slowest football game without smearing the image. This said people did slowly start to buy the LCD's, possibly convinced by the slim design or their desirability, but this did allow the manufacturers to develop the product and improve on the obvious flaws in the design. Over the years LCD's have improved massively and removed most of the flaws from their original design, and now for most peoples needs, are an excellent option to replace the old CRT (tube) TV.

An early Panasonic 32" LCD 

Since LCD's have become the mass market screen of choice Plasma has almost become the forgotten technology to the general public. This is probably due to the fact that Plasma TV's are only available in larger screen sizes (42" & above) and as such are greatly outsold by LCD.  These are able to be used in anything from your mobile phone to a 60"+ screen. The improvement in Plasma TV's during the last 10 years may not have been as large or as obvious as that of LCD's, but they did have a big head start and in my view are still ahead in terms of pure picture performance.

The differences between Plasma & LCD/LED screens for me mainly fall into three areas. This obviously does not cover the many differences in the design and construction, but more the final results on the screen.

1. Black Levels
2. Brightness/Vividness
3. Motion Smearing/Pixel response time

Area 1:

Black levels on TV's seems like an odd thing to consider when you're going out to buy one, but they do play a critical role in picture quality. Having a darker level of black on the screen means that colours can also be richer and more accurate. It also means that those dark and moody horror films are all the more engrossing as the monsters appear from the inky black backgrounds. Plasma TV's have always excelled in this area and despite big strides by their counterpart will more than likely always have the edge. If you looking for a set with a more natural picture and are going to be watching TV in a normally lit room a Plasma is going to be a good solution.

This picture shows 6 TVs all displaying the same black image. The  3 Plasma TVs are clearly distinguishable as the pictures are far nearer to pure black than the 3 LED/LCD TVs

Area 2:
Picture brightness is an area where LCD's really can excel, even more so with the latest generation LED versions. LCD's are illuminated in a few different ways, either from behind with a  number of CCFL's or a matrix of LED's, although this is still uncommon and relatively expensive. LED's generally are placed at the edge with their light diffused across the back of the screen. This is the most common type of LED TV and has the advantage of also being very thin. Because they are illuminated they can be driven harder to produce a brighter picture. This obviously has a big advantage when placing the TV in a either a very brightly lit room or one that has lots of windows and natural light. Because of this additional brightness the colours tend to be very vivid (although potentially very unnatural in my opinion) and will suit some peoples tastes more than a Plasma TV. They also tend to be more suited for use as large screen PC monitors or in some ways for use with games consoles. Historically LCD's have also tended to suffer from less reflection on screen, however some newer sets now have a glossy finish that mimics the glass screen on a Plasma TV, these seem reflect more light than the older versions.

A naked CCFL back lighting array 

This picture shows 6 TVs all displaying the same white image. The  3 LED/LCD TVs are clearly distinguishable as the pictures are far brighter than the 3 Plasma TVs

This picture shows 6 TVs all displaying the same white rectangle on black background image.
In this shot you can see that the brightness on each of the LED/LCDs has fallen and is nearer to the levels found on the Plasma screens. The black areas are still however nowhere near those on the Plasma TVs

Area 3:
Motion Smearing and Pixel Response time has historically been very different between the two screen types. LCD's firstly became popular in the computer market where the desire to have laptops and also space saving desktop displays became apparent. For these roles the poor pixel response time and motion smearing were not of particular concern. At the time PC's did not really require the super quick response times that people expected from their TV screens, except perhaps for the hardcore gamers who would have stuck with their larger but generally better suited CRT monitors. This however did not stop the development within the industry to improve these issues with LCD screens. As the response times came down the idea of using them as TV screens became more attractive. LCD's now offer images that, in general perform extremely well under most circumstances and have a level of smearing that most people can happily accept when watching TV.
They do, however, have a long way to go to catch up with Plasma TV's. A modern LCD has a response just under 2 milliseconds, compared with the old CRT's of under 1ms and Plasma TV's at .001ms. The quicker response time not only makes Plasma TV's better at handling quick motion but also more suited to high quality 3D images. Plasma's can also be  better for gaming where details during fast moving scenes need to be sharp and clear.

Additional but less critical differences between the two technologies include Power Consumption, Screen Burn and Viewing Angles.

Power Consumption is a thorny subject at the moment and will probably only get worse over time as we all become more environmentally concious and concerned about our spending. LCD's, and in particular those using LED lighting, are the most energy efficient amongst these three technologies. Plasma's do use more power but not as much as you may think when reading the labels on the back of the sets. Some current Panasonic sets highlight this for me. The 42" LED's rated power is 102watts but during average use will use about 70watts. This compares with the 42" Plasma (which is higher up in the range and also 3D) that has a rated power of 325watts but drops down to 130watts during average use. If you prefer the picture on a Plasma TV, the minimal extra running cost should be outweighed by your enjoyment of set.

Screen Burn can be an issue on both types of screen, but has generally been more common on Plasma displays. On most new sets, when used for everyday TV viewing, screen burn is almost a thing of the past. There is still the chance of screen burn if the sets are used in a manner contrary to their design. These sets are designed to display moving images and although they will display photos or static graphics, it is not their main purpose. If you do leave a static image on screen for long periods you can permanently damage the picture. A static image could also include the speedo' or health bar from your favourite game or the DOG that certain TV stations are determined to plaster over your favourite show. An example of a bad DOG below shows the Disney channel logo in the bottom left of the screen. This logo is very bright and is a solid colour. This will quite quickly start to burn into a Plasma screen if left unchecked. DOG's such as the BBC three logo below will not burn in because they are low intensity and also semi translucent.

Lastly Viewing Angles. Generally the issue that LCD's had with very poor angles has, on the vast majority of decent sets, ceased to be a problem. The picture will still lose brightness as you go off centre but even at 70-80 degrees they are now perfectly viewable. Smaller LCD's and lower priced models will still suffer from this issue, in some cases severely.

At this point I would also like to point out that there are some rumours that have persisted over the years about Plasma's. These include "don't Plasma's have to be re-gassed?", "I've been told that I have to occasionally turn Plasma's upside down to re-distribute the gas" & "if a Plasma screen breaks will I need to mop up the plasma as it leaks out". These and other rumours have been muttered to us many times over the years and we really don't know the exact source of them. Needless to say however they are all completely false and baseless. A Plasma or LCD TV needs no special attention at all other than the right cleaning materials. 

In Conclusion

If you have no particular requirement our advice is quite simple. 

Choose the set that you think has the best picture.

At home you'll have nothing to compare it to, and will be delighted with the set. 

If anyone tells you 100% categorically that one is better than the other, they probably have an agenda for doing so.

To see our range of Plasma & LCD/LED TVs, please visit our website

www.HickmansOldTown.com or come & visit us in store.

You can also keep up to date with our offers & promotions through www.facebook.com/HickmansOldTownLtd

or @HickmansOldTown on twitter.

What's the right choice, Active or Passive 3D?

3DTV has been one of the buzz words in the TV industry over the last couple years. The quality of 3D film and TV production has improved dramatically as has the ability to watch it at home on your TV. Thankfully the days of using the red & green cardboard glasses to gave you a 3D effect but ruined the colour have now gone & 3D today is in full colour and also in HD.

There are, however, two main types of 3DTV that you can buy for your living room, both of which require the viewer to wear either Active or Passive 3D glasses. Both types will work with the industry standard 3D transmissions and 3D movies that you can buy on Blu-Ray, ensuring there are no compatibility problems.

Active 3D
Active 3D is the preferred method of watching 3D for those that are after the very best picture quality. It works in a very similar way to the 3D IMAX theatres & provides you with a Full HD (1920x1080p resolution) image to each eye. The glasses are generally powered by built-in batteries, some are rechargeable via USB. From 2012 the active glasses from the big brand names will be interchangeable between different manufacturers, meaning you can take your Panasonic glasses to your friends house and watch 3D on their Sony TV!

The glasses themselves blank off your vision so that only one eye at a time can see the TV. The lenses switch on/off in turn at high speed to match the image that is on the TV. It happens so quickly that your eyes can't distinguish between the two slightly different images that are being thrown at them and your brain puts them together to form a 3D picture.
If you watch a 3DTV without glasses you can see both images at the same time showing slightly different perspectives of the same scene. 

Active 3D glasses are slightly heavier than their Passive 3D cousins but are now light enough that it makes little or no difference. They should also fit over the top of all but the bulkiest spectacles allowing you to wear both if you need to. 

Active glasses do cost considerably more than Passive ones. This is due to the fact that they have a lot of technology packed in to give you the very best picture possible. If you're planning on having lots of friends and family over to watch 3D this might be slightly prohibitive with prices up to £60 per pair.

On the other hand if you're looking for the best picture and enjoy watching films or sporting events with your partner or children Active is the best choice.



Passive 3D
Passive 3D is the name given to the system used in most cinemas up and down the country. It's also what's employed by Sky & LG to get 3D into pubs & clubs. Passive 3D allows many users to watch 3D at relatively low cost. Glasses can cost as little as £2, allowing the casual viewer to either buy some at the bar & watch the match alongside another 30-40 people in the pub, or so that your extended family can gather round and watch the big Christmas movie without breaking the bank.

Passive glasses come in a variety of styles and colours and because they're much lower cost can be replaced easily if lost or broken.
You may also be able to use the glasses you bought in the cinema to watch your new Passive 3DTV.
The downside to Passive 3D is that the picture quality is drastically reduced.
With Active 3D the Full HD image is sent to each eye in turn. Passive 3D is very different.
Passive 3D uses filtration on the TV screen itself to split the image to be seen by each eye.

Half of the 1080 lines that cross the screen are polarised to emit horizontal light, the other half emit vertical light, the lenses in the Passive glasses only allow one type of light to pass through. Horizontal in one side and vertical in the other. The result is that the resolution that each eye sees is cut from 1080 lines down to 540 lines.

For the casual user or for large group viewing, this reduction in picture is really of no concern. It's also a great option to get 3D on a tighter budget or for the kids bedrooms to use with their PS3 or Xbox.

As you can see in the picture (to the left), when looking through the glasses each eye is missing half of the detail on the screen. Between each line of colour through the glasses is a black line, this is reversed for the other eye with the appropriate scene displayed instead. 



Conclusion
Whichever way you choose to get 3D you'll be glad that you did. The level of immersion into the film or sporting event you choose to watch is fantastic. It is also a great opportunity to create a family or friend get together.

We refer to 3D in the shop as "Event Viewing". By this we mean that it's not something you're going to use every day or even every week. It will however, likely be a big sporting event or movie that you can get everyone involved in. Making sure that you spend a few hours together as a family or with friends specifically to watch, enjoy and discuss a particular movie or game.

A great example of this was the "Strictly Come Dancing" final on BBC HD during December 2011. It's a show that crosses the age and gender divide and was recorded beautifully by the BBC. The 3D effect was fantastic and really impressed members of my family with its quality.
Society has accused TV of dividing the family & reducing the amount of quality time we spend with each other. Maybe with 3D and the advent of Smart TV this accusation can in some ways be rebuffed!

Option 3!
A third option has just been released in to the UK market that does not use glasses at all. The TV from Toshiba, which is currently 5-6 times the price of a Passive 3D set, use a complicated system of facial recognition and a lenticular display to "beam" the 3D image to up to 14 people in front of the TV.
I am yet to see this type of set in operation so can't really give an opinion on its quality. At the moment however, based on price alone, I think I'll stick with the glasses!

To see our range of 3D TVs, please visit our website

www.HickmansOldTown.com or come & visit us in store.

You can also keep up to date with our offers & promotions through www.facebook.com/HickmansOldTownLtd

or @HickmansOldTown on twitter.

What is Smart TV?

One of the biggest developments in home entertainment, over the last couple of years, has been the appearance of Smart TV. Previously these have been called Connected TV or Internet TV but now, latching onto the latest buzz words, they seem to have settled on Smart TV. It's something that will feature on 80% of this year's Panasonic TV range, but what exactly is it?

Put simply, Smart TV transforms your TV from being something to watch Eastenders on, into something that can itself provide the entertainment.

How do you get Smart TV?

To be able to use Smart TV, the first thing you have to do is connect it to your broadband. You can do this with either a LAN cable, or if your TV has Wi-Fi you can use this instead.
Once connected to your broadband, your TV can if you want, also link to your PC. To do this you'll need to make sure the PC is set-up to run as a media server. Newer PCs tend to have this software built-in but you can download & install third-party software from companies like Twonky.

A common misconception is that you have to connect it to your PC. You don't!  The vast majority of things that these TVs can do have nothing to do with your PC at all, but we'll come back to this later on.

What can Smart TV do?

Once your TV is talking to your broadband, you'll be able to access a wealth of online entertainment. Commonly this will come from well known brands such as Facebook, twitter, YouTube or BBC iPlayer.
These are accessed via apps on your TV screen & bring you information that historically you could only get via your PC, SmartPhone or tablet. This means that from the comfort of your sofa, on a large screen, you can catch up with friends via your social networks or watch catch up TV.

Smart TVs can also provide some more practical features such as Skype. By attaching a USB Skype camera, you're able to make videos calls to anyone in the world (free of charge via your broadband connection) that also has Skype. This gives you two big advantages over using a PC.

• Firstly, you can make calls in a more comfortable environment than most studies or home offices allow.
• Secondly (& perhaps more usefully), your friends and family can see you're on-line whenever you're watching TV. This saves them having to phone you first and ask you to turn the PC on.

Some of Panasonic's new generation of Smart TVs allow you to watch TV and use Skype at the same time. This is a great feature if you want to watch the TV & discuss it with your friends simultaneously. 
You can also use Facebook or twitter while watching TV, allowing you to read all the latest tweets or status updates about the show you are watching. This is particularly useful as more TV shows are encouraging viewers to take part in the show through these social networking sites.
There's also a host of other apps that are available on Smart TVs. You'll find that some of these  are already listed in your Smart TV menu. If not, you'll be able to add them via the app store which on Panasonic TVs is called Viera Connect Market. Some of these apps will be free of charge, whilst others will have to be purchased & will vary in price.

You'll find apps that allow you to stream movies direct to your TV, link to a treadmill to help your fitness routine, let you watch your favourite bands in concert or catch up with world news and sport. You can even play games directly on your Smart TV using additional controllers. 

Browse the internet on a Smart TV?

Over that last couple of years, various manufacturers have had apps which let you browse the internet on your Smart TV. This year, on some sets, Panasonic joins them with a full internet browser. Some browsers let you do almost everything that a normal PC or tablet device does, including streaming videos that use Flash, reading your e-mails or using a catch-up TV service.

To help make using your Smart TV easier to use Panasonic have developed a completely new remote control. Coming with their higher end sets, the touch pad remote control lets you scroll through web pages or navigate the menus quickly & easily. You can also connect a USB keyboard to your Smart TV allowing you to type in web addresses or login details with less hassle than a normal remote. Alternatively, you can now control your Panasonic Smart TV with your SmartPhone or tablet device.

What else does a Smart TV do?

New features are being added to Smart TVs all the time. These apps basically act as doorways to internet based services.

If a new service is created the TV simply uses the app to access it. Because the services are not stored on the TV, there are fewer restrictions on what can & can't done with them.

Panasonic recently opened up their system for outside developers to create apps to work on their TVs. One of the more interesting services is from RED Karaoke whose app lets you access & sing along to over 45,000 songs. These songs are played through your TV and you have the words displayed ready for you ready to embarrass yourself in front of friends!

As well as the continuous development of Viera Connect Market, Panasonic is also changing the way we interact with our TV. The 2012 Panasonic range now has two-way communication with your SmartPhone or tablet. This exciting development means that with some TVs you can send websites you're visiting, YouTube videos you're watching or photos on your handheld device directly to the TV screen, making sharing media with the family incredibly easy and enjoyable.

In reverse, you can also send whatever you're watching on TV to some handheld devices. This means you no longer have to miss the crucial moment in the big game or the end of the murder mystery you've been waiting to see if you have to leave the room.

Connecting a PC with Smart TV?

As mentioned earlier, your PC does not necessarily need to be connected to your Smart TV, but there are advantages in doing so. Your PC probably has a lot media stored on it, some of which you've probably forgotten about. This could be home videos, photos, your music collection or downloaded movies.
By connecting your PC to your Smart TV you can liberate this media and see, watch or listen to it in your living room. This is ideal for playing your photos as a slide show when you have a family get-together or to fill the night with music for a party.

One thing that needs to be stressed is that your Smart TV is not a PC. A lot of people assume that once connected they can use all the software and programs on their PC on the TV screen and control it with their TV remote. This is not the case. If you do need to see your PC on the large screen you can do this by simply connecting it to either a HDMI socket or VGA connection. In this situation the TV screen simply becomes your PC monitor.

And Finally

Most 32"+ sets have Smart TV built in, but if you don't want to use them, you don't have too!

Smart TV is not really something to be concerned or worried about. 

Smart TV is not complicated ,you can't press the wrong button and break the TV or the internet!

If you get really stuck you just press the exit button or switch the TV off and start again.
It's something to play with and not to be feared!

We hope this blog has helped you understand a little more about Smart TVs but if you have any queries that you need answering before you buy a new set from us, please feel free to pop in or give us a call.

To see our range of Smart TVs, please visit our website

www.HickmansOldTown.com or come & visit us in store.

You can also keep up to date with our offers & promotions through www.facebook.com/HickmansOldTownLtd

or @HickmansOldTown on twitter.

At Hickmans we provide straight forward advice and information both in store and over the phone. We can demonstrate and advise on all aspects of Smart TV as well as Home Cinema, Blu-Ray, DVD & Hi-Fi. We also now supply domestic appliances from most well know manufacturers. We normally deliver & install most items over £300 free of charge in the local area. We have a dedicated service and repair department and can repair most brands of home entertainment equipment. We are also an authorised Panasonic service centre.

Buying a new Washing Machine?

Buying a new washing machine should be a simple enough task, shouldn't it?
In theory yes, but today's vast array of washing machines can cause confusion. For this reason I thought it might be useful to give you some information and things to look out for when buying a new one.

Panasonic VX3 range of washing machines

Size

One of the first things to look out for with a new machine, and something that sounds fairly obvious, is the physical size. All of the normal machines on the market are designed to fit into a space 600mm wide by 850mm tall. This should be the size of gap that has been left by your kitchen fitters if you have a new kitchen, or the size of gap your existing item is in. There is however the chance that your gap maybe slightly under 600mm wide. this is normally due to errors when fitting the kitchen or the previous machine (that the units were built around) being slightly thinner. For this reason it is always worth double checking.

One dimension that can change quite a bit is the depth (front-back) of the machine. Standard machines will generally be somewhere between 550-650mm. In the past we have had issues in very small galley kitchens where slightly deeper machines can prevent cupboard doors opening properly. If the depth is a problem for you, there are slimline machines from brands like Bosch that are only 450mm deep. These do however have a much smaller wash load.

Capacity

15-20 Years ago a washing machine was lucky to have a wash load of around 5-5.5kg. People accepted that larger loads such as sheets or blankets may need to go to the laundrette and were happy to do multiple cycles to clear the backlog of washing. Times however have changed. In today's fast paced hectic world of after school sports events, meals out with friends,  visiting family, walking the dog & the more mundane everyday things like shopping and working, it seems like we have less time to do the washing. This is one of the reasons why manufacturers have been making larger & larger capacity machine. It is almost normal for a washing machine to now have an 8kg wash load and not surprising to know that 11kg loads are now available.

Having a larger capacity allows you to do less wash cycles per week saving you money on electric, water, detergent & conditioner. Don't worry if you can't always fill the full load though. Most machines now monitor how much washing is in the drum and will adapt their cycles accordingly to be as efficient as possible. Bear in mind though, using  the machines to the wash load capacity will minimise your running costs.

Energy Rating

The buzz words at the moment seem to be "eco-friendly" & "energy efficiency". As these are such important matters the EU has revised the law on how products are labelled for efficiency. The new labels should make it easier to find the most efficient machine for your budget and needs.

All washing machines being made for sale in the EU now have to provide an "A" rated wash performance so this detail has been removed from the new labels. The new labels give you an idea how much water & electric the average person will use during a years use of the machine. The exact values will vary depending on how you use it, but as all machines are tested in the same way it is a good comparison between models. Currently washing machines can be rated up to "A+++" for their efficiency. Some machines have already attained this level of performance and are likely to become even more efficient in the future too!

Something to bear in mind when were talking about efficiency is the initial cost of the machine. If you're doing a dozen washes per week, spending extra to get a very efficient machine could well save you money in the long run. If you only do a couple of cycles per week it is unlikely you'll recoup the additional cost of choosing an "A+++" machine over an "A" rated machine during its lifespan.

Wash Cycles
Wash cycles have become far more important over that last few years & the machines are now far more tailored to different types of clothes. Some machines will have special cycles for outdoor wear, sports kit, baby clothes or bedding to name a few. If there are any particular types of cycle that you need, check with the sales person to see which machines suit your needs.

Each wash cycle is designed to hold only a certain amount of washing. This is to allow the clothes, water, detergent and drum action to work in harmony with each other to give you the best results. For example a synthetics wash may only be designed to handle 4kg of washing even if the machines capacity is 8kg.
The capacity normally refers to a cottons wash only, with all other cycles varying as listed in the instruction book.
If you do overload the drum, the machine will still complete a wash cycle but may have to use more water, more electricity and take significantly longer to finish the load. The clothes are also likely to come out feeling strange to the touch compared to normal. This not only affects your outlay on running costs but you may also find that you have to replace your clothes more often. This is because they are not being taken care of as they as supposed to be.

It can come as a bit of  a shock but it's worth thinking about how much the clothes in a wash load could be worth. For example, I've priced up the value of the clothes that a typical wash for cottons could be for an average man. These are prices from Next and as such are neither budget or designer prices.

2 Pairs of Jeans, starting at £45 each,  £90

4 Cotton T-Shirts at £25 each, £100
 5 Pairs of Cotton Socks,   £10

6 Pairs of Boxer Shorts,   £40

5 White Work Shirts, £22 each, £110

2 Pairs of Shorts from £22 each,   £44

Total, £394

Now I might be a little bit of a skinflint but £394 sounds like a lot of money to be throwing away by not looking after your clothes with the correct wash cycle! It also seems a bit odd to me to trust a £300 washing machine to repeatedly wash loads of up to and over £400!

Special Features
On top of all of the normal wash cycles most machines now have a variety of additional features and functions to help you personalise the machine to your own needs. These features vary from brand to brand but also in their purpose.
Some machines such as the Aqualtis from Hotpoint have steam cycles that allow to clean your clothes with just 200ml of water. Ideal for refreshing clothes that have only been worn once or may have picked up odours from day to day use.
Other machines like the Siemens IQ500 varioPerfect or Panasonic VX3 have speed/eco options. These allow you to either significantly increase the wash time to save you money on electricity or reduce the wash time, by using more power. This means you can either get more washes done when you're home or you can save money when you're at work!

Most machines tend to have a couple of additional features in common, these will often include a "Reduced Ironing" mode to keep creases to a minimum. An "Extra Rinse" rinse cycle so allergy sufferers can ensure there is no detergent left in the clothing and a "Mini load" button. This lets the machine know if only a couple of items are being washed. This is not to be confused with the old "Half Load" button which has disappeared from almost all machines. Today's washers are able to estimate the level of laundry in the drum (as long as it's more than just a couple of items) and use the correct amount of water accordingly.

Spin Speed


Washing machines today tend to have spin speeds of 1200-1600rpm. 1800spin machines are available but are few and far between. The need for 1800spin machines has diminished as drum design has become more efficient, allowing water to drain more easily. The spin speed rating is the maximum speed of the drum. Different cycles will spin at different speeds to look after the clothes you are washing. You can generally choose to slow the spin down or even cancel the spin cycle all together. You can't however increase the speed, this is to make sure you don't damage the clothes!

If you always dry your clothes outside or are never in a rush for the clothes to dry, the spin speed is irrelevant and shouldn't be a big factor in your decision. On the other hand, if you always dry your clothes inside or use a tumble dryer, a faster spin speed will help keep the drying costs down. It will also reduce the amount moisture in the air at home, particularly important if you suffer from damp or mould problems.

Latest Technology

Consumer electronics are now changing more rapidly than ever before, with new developments appearing every year on domestic appliances. These developments continue to bring running costs down and allow the machines to look after your clothes better than ever before.
One of the latest advancements comes from Siemens and their iDos IQ700 washer. This machine has replaced the traditional detergent drawer with a much larger container that will hold enough liquid detergent & conditioner for approximately 20 washes. On top of the normal wash cycles that you would expect to find on a washing machine, this Siemens has 2 Fully Automatic washes too.

These wash cycles literally allow you to put your washing in and press start!

The machine works out how much clothing you have put in the drum, the type of material it is made from, how dirty it is and how hard the water is in your area. Once it has this info the iDos IQ700 works out exactly how much detergent & softener it needs, to the nearest millilitre, to complete the cycle as efficiently and as effectively as possible.
If this wasn't fantastic enough, there is also something called autoStain Removal (ASR). This feature allows you to tell the machine if there is a particular type of stain on the clothes you are washing. This sets the machine in to a slightly different cycle that is designed specifically to remove one of 14 different types of Stain, without the need for extra substances like Vanish. By using all these technologies together the IQ700 is able give you incredible washing results combined with huge savings on detergent, electric, water, softener & stain remover.

All this technology obviously pushes the initial purchase price of the machine upwards. This jump in price may however be largely recouped over the machines life. Siemens have worked out that over 5 years the IQ700 will save you about £275 in running costs. This does not take in to consideration the additional lifespan that the machine will give your clothes by looking after them for longer. Neither does it take in to account the probability that it will last significantly longer than a lower priced machine, reducing the need to replace or repair as often.
In line with this the higher end machines from brands like Panasonic or Siemens are likely to come with longer warranties. Typically these now tend to be 2 years as standard or 5 years during promotional periods. Some machines also carry a 10 year warranty on the motor, again demonstrating the manufacturers faith in their products.

Lastly

When helping you buy a washing machine, the information above forms part of our product knowledge to ensure you get the right machine for your needs. Unlike some of our competitors, we never want to push a higher cost machine onto any of our customers. What we do want to do is make sure that whichever machine you buy you are genuinely happy with.

Our machines are almost always delivered & installed free of charge in the local area, plus we will remove and recycle your old item free of charge too. We are always available either in store or on the phone to help with your queries, both before and after your purchase.

To see our range of Washing Machines, please visit our website

www.HickmansOldTown.com or come & visit us in store.

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