Laundry Location in the house

[Beachdrifter]

As a single father of two I am just embarking on a total Eco remodelling of our house. I wanted to defer to any experience anyone may have of placing the Washing Machine and Tumble Drier in a Cupboard on the Landing - My Logic being that nearly all of our Laundry is done on that floor and most goes in the dryer... Is this a good idea? I'm interested in the pros and cons

The dryer needs to be in a ventilated space, even if a condenser.

Also, modern washing machines do best on solid floors rather than floorboards.

As far as eco friendly, you want the laundry to be on the ground floor so you are not wasting energy pumping water against gravity up to a higher floor. The only energy savings to putting them on a landing on first floor is human exercise energy savings. Which is negligible compared to the extra electricity used by a water pump to push water upstairs to a washing machine above ground floor.

IamNotDarling thanks for the reply...

as part of the eco renovation I am putting in a whole-house mechanical heat recovery ventilation system and was expecting to ventilate and extract the heat from this cupboard anyway...
I am surprised at your comment about the floor as I swapped to a Samsung washing machine a while back and that appears really balanced and quiet unlike our previous one from a more common manufacturer

PlanDeRaccordement All of our water is pressure fed so there would be no pumping losses... I should have been a little more clear - I am trying to recycle the space in the existing utility room to install the internal unit for an Air Source Heat pump so the only inconvenience I can see is if laundry goes outside to dry... which is not too often in the UK

It is ideal IMO< to have the laundry as close as possible to all bedrooms, so in my last 2 homes l have had upstairs laundry spaces.
Dcs then put their dirty laundry straight in on showering and have since 5 yrs old, no clean laundry gets grubby in the kitchen, (we have a dog too so lots of mess)
No lugging laundry up and down stairs..
You do need an extractor, l have a simple humidistat extractor that kicks in when any damp is sensed...

I am always bemused why anyone would have their laundry downstairs unless the property is very tiny.

I have exactly that arrangement - washing machine and tumble dryer in a cupboard on our first floor landing. It is ventilated by a small window. The floor is tiled (on top of floorboards). I love it - all the laundry stays upstairs except in summer when I try to dry as much as possible outside. In winter I have a Lakeland heated airer for drying inside (usually sits in spare bedroom where I can open window or sometimes I use a dehumidifier aswell).

The only thing I would improve if I could would be to make the space bigger so it was a small room rather than just a cupboard with a sink and space for drying but this would require remodelling the upstairs so won’t be happening for a while.

Should have added that I use the heated airer just for things that can’t go in the tumble dryer

Dragongirl10 - Are you by any chance on wooden floors and do you find it noisy or ok...?
It sounds like your logic is the same as mine... I have an 11yo football mad son who can generate washing quicker than you can blink and a 15yo daughter who would rather protect her carpet with her clothes...

We have the washing machine on the ground floor and the dryer in a cupboard on the first floor (not by choice, that's just how the house is designed). It works quite well because in the summer I dry everything outside. In the winter I have to take the laundry upstairs to go in the dryer, but it's not a problem. When we first moved in I was a bit annoyed that the washer and dryer weren't together but it's actually fine.

I'm putting mine upstairs when we get the boiler changed, where the tank currently is, so much more efficient of space. We have a heat pump tumble dryer that uses less electric

That would work for me Oct-Mar. But I like to line dry when I can, so washing machine upstairs would mean carrying wet washing downstairs rather than just a few steps outside.

Also, I have ironing board/iron in scullery near tumble drier/back door. I want to snatch drying washing from line or drier to iron.

Hi OP

My parents have this - laundry machines stacked in a cupboard off the landing upstairs. Wooden floors, Victorian house. They have a rubber mat under the washing machine and another between the two machines. This helps with noise. You still wouldn’t want it running while sleeping though so that’s something to consider.

Laundry gets dried on an airer on the landing so not the prettiest solution!

Hi OP, I have a modern 8kg load Samsung, for floorboards it must be reinforced (says the manual);

“For best performance, the washing machine must be installed on a solid floor. Wood floors may need to be reinforced
to minimize vibration and/or unbalanced loads. Carpeting and soft tile surfaces are not a good resistance to vibrations and may cause the washing machine to move slightly during the spin cycle.“

Our washer and dryer are stacked in a purpose built cupboard in a downstairs utility room. We installed the washer in the cupboard with multiple feet for stability. Washer was bouncing all over despite the base being level and using the balancing function. We tried rubber mats, with no luck and was about to rip the base out of the cupboard to put directly on the solid floor and order new doors but ended up installing additional packing under the ‘platform’ (shelf) it sits on.

We can’t do a full 8kg load on a 1400 spin without bouncing, but 7kg on 1200 is okay.

eco means 'do less, have less'. Clothes left on floor don't get washed. If she continues to mistreat her property, start removing it and selling it after suitable warning. Only clothing next to skin needs washing after each wear.

sports kit does not need washing every time - shake/brush mud off. Kid does this.