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AIBU?

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Original poster

To not expect neighbour to use washing machine overnight

583 replies

BornInTheWrongCentury · 17/01/2021 09:39

Just that really. Over the last couple of months our neighbours started using their washing machine/tumble dryer overnight, it was going on on at about midnight and stays on till around 3am.

My husband asked a them politely a few weeks ago when he saw them outside if they’d mind changing the time they have it on as it really disturbs us. We’re in a mid terraced house and they are the end of the terrace. Their kitchen is below our bedroom. The previous occupants took out a wall in their kitchen that separated the kitchen from their hallway so it’s open planned now so all sound from their house is amplified now anyway and noise seems to travel up the wall into our bedroom.

After my husband mentioned it to them they stopped for a couple of weeks but now the noise has started again as they are putting a wash on at about 10pm and it finishes at 1am.

It’s really upsetting me that I can’t go to bed and read/fall asleep in peace until at least 1am now.

If it’s relevant we own our house and their house is social housing. They are the end of the terrace so if I complain to the council or their housing association they will know it’s me. They are the kind of couple who seem ok as long as you’re on the right side of them but they are rather loud and look very intimidating and to be honest I don’t want to make things worse or get into an argument with them.

They are pretty good neighbours apart from this issue as in the only other noise we hear is their children (they have very screechy, door slamming children but I can cope with that during the day!) They don’t have parties or play thumping music - it’s just the issue with not being able to go to sleep when I want to. I don’t know if I’m just being over sensitive where I so tired.

What would you do?

YABU - just be grateful it’s nothing worse than a washing machine and try to ignore it/go to bed later when you know you’ll fall straight to sleep

YANBU - be brave and speak to them again asking them to not use after 11pm and complain to the council if they refuse?

OP posts:
ShimmyShimmyYa · 17/01/2021 13:16

YANBU
it's inconsiderate/entitled of them.

woodhill · 17/01/2021 13:14

@MagpieSong

My ds used to have stomach problems due to medication for kidney problems and often vomited overnight. We’d have to put a wash on then as sometimes it was more than one wash. Considering there could be any number of reasons to wash clothes in the middle of the night, I’d say it’s fine.
Couldn't you do it the next morning and have soaked the items?

Yanbu OP

Cokie3 · 17/01/2021 13:12

@Iknowwhatudidlastsummer

If there was no such thing as acceptable hours, there wouldn't be clause about them in most lease 🤷

There is no such thing as 'standard' hours any more. Except there are. You are still not allowed to have a garden party at 3am when it disturbs your neighbours.

It's entitled, selfish and rude to be inconsiderate and you know it.

I think there is a difference with a 'garden party' (do you mean party out in the backyard?) and a clothes dryer operating inside someone else's home. You're clutching at straws now, and I think you know it.
Cokie3 · 17/01/2021 13:10

We have solar panels (our houses are fully electric in Australia and have been for several decades) and combined with Solar Rheem hot water service which is also electric in case solar isn't enough, and we get rebates for using more power overnight than during the day, and get credits back for the amount of off-grid solar energy we use. Cheaper, and better for the environment as with the panels we rely on the grid less. Roughly about 45% of homes in Australia have solar panels on them.

VintageStitchers · 17/01/2021 13:10

YABU. Buy ear plugs.

It’s a washing machine so a normal household appliance. It’s not classed as a nuisance in law.

You should try living in some areas where people think nothing of partying and playing very loud music at 4am most nights of the week.

RizzleDrizzle · 17/01/2021 13:08

experienced enough poverty to be able to speak from experience, cheers. I'm still not a selfish cunt.

But clearly no shame buiuuuut that says far more bout you than it does me so I’m fine with that!

If you actually read the thread you’ll see my original post is I’m on the fence because personally I don’t think using any type of noisy electrics between 11 -and 6/7 is acceptable!

However the lack of understanding the cost differences are outstanding

Oh and by the way you are being selfish because just cos you got out of it you think it’s ok to belittle and bully those that haven’t great

Iknowwhatudidlastsummer · 17/01/2021 13:07

If there was no such thing as acceptable hours, there wouldn't be clause about them in most lease 🤷

There is no such thing as 'standard' hours any more. Except there are. You are still not allowed to have a garden party at 3am when it disturbs your neighbours.

It's entitled, selfish and rude to be inconsiderate and you know it.

GoldieHelen · 17/01/2021 13:05

The world is 24/7. There is no such thing as 'standard' hours any more.

What absolute utter nonsense. It is is standard to sleep at night Hmm

AwaAnBileYerHeid · 17/01/2021 13:04

@RizzleDrizzle

Cannot believe the amount of utterly selfish people on this thread. You should be ashamed

No I’m not ashamed of sticking up for people on a lower income that may literally rely on economy 7 to eat!!

If any one should be ashamed it should be ignorant people who don’t understand the difference that literal penny’s can make!

I think you are the ignorant person. I don't mean ignorant in a rude way, I mean ignorant in an oblivious way. It's clear that you've never been one of these 'poor people' that you are 'sticking up for' - although I'm sure you will come back with a retort such as you live off food bank donations or are currently living in a cardboard box just to make a point.

I've been on the bones of my arse before, homeless in fact. Let me reassure you that an extra 20p on a washing cycle (and inadvertently keeping neighbours up till the early hours of the morning) does not mean that you can't afford to eat. If a person was so poor that they can't afford to eat if they do a wash during the day then washing would be done by hand in the sink - as I've had to do when my meter ran out of electric before. Your statement is just whataboutery.

Please don't stick up for people with nonsense examples when the example is exactly that - nonsense.

NoMoreFlowers · 17/01/2021 13:04

I run my washing machine in the early hours of the morning because the electricity is less than half the price than during the day.

I’m detached, but if I had adjoining neighbours and they told me that it was disturbing them, I’d stop. I wouldn’t be happy about it though

GoldieHelen · 17/01/2021 13:03

I've experienced enough poverty to be able to speak from experience, cheers. I'm still not a selfish cunt.

Well quite! The selfish attitude on this thread is something else.

Cokie3 · 17/01/2021 13:03

@RizzleDrizzle

Cannot believe the amount of utterly selfish people on this thread. You should be ashamed

No I’m not ashamed of sticking up for people on a lower income that may literally rely on economy 7 to eat!!

If any one should be ashamed it should be ignorant people who don’t understand the difference that literal penny’s can make!

Agreed. Some people's 'selfishness' is another person's necessity. And sometimes the people claiming others are selfish, are the selfish ones themselves for not understanding that there is no such thing (and there really isn't, the age of 9-5 disappeared decades ago) as 'antisocial hours', that there are shift workers, shift workers with children, shift workers with children who are struggling and EVERY cent counts, and shift workers with children who are single mums who are struggling and every cent counts, etc etc etc. Sometimes some consideration BOTH WAYS works best. But, as stated, we don't live in a 9-5 everything-closes-after-8pm world anymore. The world is 24/7. There is no such thing as 'standard' hours any more. People may consider myself and others on here to be selfish and unreasonable. Fair enough. But maybe they could consider that I and others think they are selfish as well, for wanting to change our entire lives around because you can't fall asleep to the rhythmic sounds of a clothes dryer. Personally I think many defending the OP on here are the selfish ones.
GreenHam · 17/01/2021 13:02

I googled 'How much cheaper is it to wash your clothes at night" and it came back with
"Running your washing machine at night can be cheaper than using it in the day. But this is only true if you are on a special energy tariff called Economy 7 which gives you cheaper power at night. If you do have this type of energy meter you could reduce the cost of running a washing machine from £24 a year to £12.8".
Why would you torture your neighbours for the sake of a tenner!
Is it worth offering to pay the neighbours the extra cost of washing during the day even if it works out at 10 times that amount.

Youdonut · 17/01/2021 12:59

@RizzleDrizzle

Cannot believe the amount of utterly selfish people on this thread. You should be ashamed

No I’m not ashamed of sticking up for people on a lower income that may literally rely on economy 7 to eat!!

If any one should be ashamed it should be ignorant people who don’t understand the difference that literal penny’s can make!

Oh trust me, I know. I grew up in poverty hen where we didn't eat for several days. I'm talking not a can of beans, a pint of milk or a loaf of bread. I also experienced another particularly bad and long bout of poverty since. I may have gotten out of it now, but I will never forget my experiences.

I've experienced enough poverty to be able to speak from experience, cheers. I'm still not a selfish cunt.

R2G · 17/01/2021 12:57

I run mine when I go to bed. So I can take a load out of dryer and fold and put next lot in before work. However, if a neighbour wrote me a letter explaining how much it was disturbing them I would definitely re think it, I thibk if you acknowledge to them that you aren't trying to dictate how they live and they are really good neighbours and you're sorry to ask but could they please consider it as you can't sleep. That's fair enough isn't it. They may also not know but you can put a timer on a lot of washing machines so put it in at nightx and time it to come on 6am 7am before work sort of thing x

Youdonut · 17/01/2021 12:55

@Robbybobtail

However I stopped. Because yes it costs a bit more to use in the day but it's hardly unreasonable if it's disturbing people in the middle of the night to simply stop. I had no idea she could hear it as I never heard hers, I was a bit mortified we were keeping her up at night tbf.

This would be the reaction of a normal, polite person. To say "well, no - stuff you we can't afford it" is completely ridiculous. It's just reaching, seriously! If you were that poor you HAD to run your electrical appliances at night I really doubt you would have a washer/dryer in the first place.

Very true. We were unbelievably poor at the time. I was out of work and my OH struggling to keep us afloat. Which is exactly why we put it on at night.

Didn't stop us altering when we found out it disturbed her. As another poster mentioned, sleep is very important, and saving a few pounds on electricity doesn't trump a persons right to restful sleep at night, which is socially accepted to be reasonable..

Thankfully in a better place now, but regardless, being poor doesn't mean you have to think you are more important than others.

KarmaNoMore · 17/01/2021 12:55

How much cheaper is it to run a washer a night? Are the hundreds of companies offering electricity these days offering night discounts as in the olden times when so many houses had electric storage heaters?

transformandriseup · 17/01/2021 12:54

I'm not sure where the OP stands legally but our kitchen is below our neighbours bedroom (unused) and I know our washing machine can be heard very loudly from their room.

RizzleDrizzle · 17/01/2021 12:53

Cannot believe the amount of utterly selfish people on this thread. You should be ashamed

No I’m not ashamed of sticking up for people on a lower income that may literally rely on economy 7 to eat!!

If any one should be ashamed it should be ignorant people who don’t understand the difference that literal penny’s can make!

Ssmiler · 17/01/2021 12:52

OP I am a very light sleeper and really don’t like ear plugs. But I invested in a white noise machine and it is fantastic - now I can sleep when I like no matter how late my teens are up or what noise they make. You can play it off you tube on your phone first to see if you like it (it does take a couple of nights to get used to it) but it’s better through a speaker - so either connect your phone to a speaker - or for less bother buy a separate little white noise box - about £20 on Amazon

Katela18 · 17/01/2021 12:52

YABU

I do this, I just moved into a full electric house and costs a fortune to run especially in winter. We have economy 7 and therefore running appliances like washing machine or tumble dryer at night is significantly cheaper.

KarmaNoMore · 17/01/2021 12:51

YANBU but there is not much you can do about it. 😕

I ensure my washer runs at reasonable hours, any spinning is avoided between 11pm and 8am and my washer is not even near to the wall I share with the neighbour. Is common considerations to neighbours (same as expecting lawn mowing not to be done too early or too late if you can disturb the neighbours)

queenofthelamas · 17/01/2021 12:51

YABU. This may be the only time that they can realistically afford to put the washing machine on. It may be that with juggling kids, work etc they just don't get round to putting it on in the day.

AwaAnBileYerHeid · 17/01/2021 12:50

[quote Cokie3]**@Robbybobtail* Or, instead of the OP having to sell her house and scrape the money together for a new, detached house in the suburbs the (anti-social) neighbours could just run the washer from 8-11pm in stead of 2-3 hours later? It's called being polite.*

They may be shift workers who are at work during those times? Not saying they, but in a rhetorical way, some residents of terraced houses would be shift workers I imagine and what you consider anti-social may simply be their normal time and the only time they can do it. Maybe some are Essential Workers, ie NHS. Or police. You just don't know. There is no such thing as anti-social hours. People work at all hours of the day.[/quote]
I work for the NHS as a nurse. I work all kinds of unsociable hours, earlier, lates, nights. That doesn't mean that I can disturb my neighbours at all hours with noise. I still have days off and either do noisy stuff ie put on washing machines, hoovering etc then, or after 8am when I get home from work.

There is such a thing as anti-social hours. That's why my employer pays me an enhancement for working these hours. Everyone knows what anti-social hours are and that you should lessen noise during these hours, regardless of your own personal schedule.

Robbybobtail · 17/01/2021 12:49

However I stopped. Because yes it costs a bit more to use in the day but it's hardly unreasonable if it's disturbing people in the middle of the night to simply stop. I had no idea she could hear it as I never heard hers, I was a bit mortified we were keeping her up at night tbf.

This would be the reaction of a normal, polite person. To say "well, no - stuff you we can't afford it" is completely ridiculous. It's just reaching, seriously! If you were that poor you HAD to run your electrical appliances at night I really doubt you would have a washer/dryer in the first place.