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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to run tumble drier and washing machine overnight in terrace

137 replies

anybody · 07/02/2022 23:05

I live in an old terrace house and my washer/drier are on 2nd floor.
It's 11pm and I have just realise that dryer is probably not just noisy and vibrating for me. Is it v antisocial to do this, I was thinking of putting a wash in too.

OP posts:
Hercisback · 08/02/2022 07:15

I runny machine overnight loads to have it ready for the morning.

It's anti social on the second floor though.

daisypond · 08/02/2022 07:16

I’m think the “turn off your fridge” comment was tongue in cheek.

Okla · 08/02/2022 07:17

What @nerdsville said.

Inspectorslack · 08/02/2022 07:17

I wouldn’t run a dryer when I was asleep. Late at night a washing spin will reverberate too and be annoying.

WhatNoRaisins · 08/02/2022 07:20

I stand over my dryer with a fire extinguisher in a flameproof suit, doesn't everyone?

tackling · 08/02/2022 07:20

I can't believe anyone would be stupid enough to actually have to ask out loud "hmm, should I run really noisy things at night when neighbours can hear them?"

What on earth is wrong with you?

Original poster
anybody · 08/02/2022 07:44

Thanks all. The machine is in side return bit, a bit away from party wall. I turned it off. No idea why this has only just occurred to me.

OP posts:
Original poster
anybody · 08/02/2022 07:45

@tackling

I can't believe anyone would be stupid enough to actually have to ask out loud "hmm, should I run really noisy things at night when neighbours can hear them?"

What on earth is wrong with you?

I guess i thought everyone can sleep through that kind of noise. I can. It's not like it's a party.
OP posts:
Inspectorslack · 08/02/2022 07:48

But people are different? Also the vibrations are constant and a very annoying noise?

Original poster
anybody · 08/02/2022 07:49

fire risk had never occurred to me

OP posts:
Inspectorslack · 08/02/2022 07:51

I know someone whose whole garage burnt down overnight because of a drier fire and It’s made me paranoid since about using the drier though so maybe I’m unusual.

Dyrene · 08/02/2022 07:55

I regularly do my washing/drying overnight. It’s when I remember to do it. And it means the toddler can’t mess with them (sometimes he manages to the child lock off).

I’m pretty sure it doesn’t disturb the neighbours (utility right at the back of a terraced house, so only adjoining one side’s kitchen anyway (and with the downstairs loo in between).

I really don’t see that the fire risk is different to running them in the day. Or running the dishwasher. Or all the people who rely on unattended slow cookers to make their dinner.

Life is full of risks. It’s about judging the severity and likelihood and managing them appropriately. Otherwise we’d never do something as dangerous as getting out of bed. Or crossing the road. Or driving.

SquigglePigs · 08/02/2022 07:59

Our washer and drier are in a utility room the other side of the house to our kitchen and lounge. Even in the day we'd be no where near it to know if there was a problem. I'm not sitting and supervising a tumble drier!

RockingMyFiftiesNot · 08/02/2022 08:01

It's only antisocial if they can hear it and it disturbs them. Ask them - and use it as an opportunity to apologise if it has been annoying them. It would be a shame not to use the washer and drier when convenient to you based on an unconfirmed assumption.

Grida · 08/02/2022 08:26

@WhatNoRaisins

I stand over my dryer with a fire extinguisher in a flameproof suit, doesn't everyone?
I sleep under a fire blanket next to my fridge.
SartresSoul · 08/02/2022 08:37

Everyone leaves them on when they’re out, nobody would get anything done if not! That aside, I’d only leave it on at night if it was an absolute emergency. I’ve definitely used the washing machine at night when the DC have had sickness bugs.

Wexone · 08/02/2022 08:50

Unless you can hear things your neighbors do then I would go ahead and run it. To everyone saying that you shouldn't run appliances overnight, I have run my washing machine, tumble dryer and dishwasher nearly every night for the past 20 years no issues. Just after hanging a fresh load of clothes on the line this morning after the wash being put on by himself at 11pm last night before went to bed

yikesanotherbooboo · 08/02/2022 09:12

I think it is antisocial for it to be running after 9 pm; maybe 8 if they have children.
Like most of the pps though I wouldn't run a dryer or a washing machine when I wasn't up and about to supervise.

cheekychaplin · 08/02/2022 09:21

@WhatNoRaisins

I stand over my dryer with a fire extinguisher in a flameproof suit, doesn't everyone?

Your sarcasm doesn't negate the risk. I am quite lax about risk in many cases compared with others on here but tumble drier risk isn't something to joke about.

billy1966 · 08/02/2022 09:24

@cheekychaplin

I would say it's more dangerous than anti social
Anti social, but the dryer is positively dangerous.

My friends 1 year old dryer caught fire when she was in the kitchen.

Mostly smoke, but still terrifying.

WhatNoRaisins · 08/02/2022 09:27

So are people really supposed to just sit in and wait for the dryer to be finished every time? How would that work in the real world?

PheasantsNest · 08/02/2022 09:28

@Babadook76 please don't leave your drier on when you are out. A family from our school lost everything they owned including their pets when their house went on fire.

HoldingTheDoor · 08/02/2022 09:38

Everyone leaves them on when they’re out,

No they don't. It's incredibly stupid to do so. I live in the real world and have never done it and never would. I still manage to get my drying done.

A former colleague lost her house because she left a tumble dryer on before leaving for work. She hadn't been there an hour when she got the news. Thankfully she had no pets but then she had no house either. It's really not worth it and if you have neighbours who will also be affected in the event of a fire, you're also putting them at risk.

WhatNoRaisins · 08/02/2022 09:39

I couldn't manage it, I've got loads of washing and errands to get through.

SW1amp · 08/02/2022 09:40

I’m really struggling to believe that tumble driers are the fire hazard that people are claiming on this thread

The building regs in the UK are pretty strict on any sort of safety hazard and yet there is no requirement to have a smoke or heat alarm in a room with a tumble dryer

And the government stats published each year on the causes of fire doesn’t make any mention of tumble dryers. Presumably any fires caused by them is included under ‘electrical appliances and leads’ but they call out fires caused by leads and cables, so that suggests to me that a tumble dryer is less of a hazard than your phone charging cable

And in any case, electrical appliances are not ‘the number one cause’ as a PP claimed.

www.gov.uk/government/statistics/detailed-analysis-of-fires-attended-by-fire-and-rescue-services-england-april-2019-to-march-2020/detailed-analysis-of-fires-attended-by-fire-and-rescue-services-england-april-2019-to-march-2020