Off-Grid Laundry Machine

Off-Grid Laundry Machine: lessons learned through trial and error living off-grid.

So much of living off-grid feels like pioneering. There are so many unknowns and no authority to go to. Sure, there are the click-bait articles that tell you generic (and mostly unhelpful) things, like “ten blenders to use off grid.” But there is very little information about what can and cannot work on an off-grid system. Most of the click-bait articles are probably not written by someone who lives off grid anyways. There are some small details you can glean from watching YouTube footage, but it’s usually snuck into a video somewhere and there’s no guarantee you’ll find what you are looking for. This has been our predicament for the past four years, and it has become more prevalent to us as we troubleshoot the right off-grid laundry machine. We are the pioneers, and if there’s no article about it, maybe we should write it.

Disclaimer: this is an article that gets into the nitty gritty details of our experiences with our off-grid laundry machines. If that doesn’t sound interesting, you could read my blog post on how to do laundry off-grid. It is much more about a simplified routine that works for me, and the day-in-the-life of off grid laundry, which is much more applicable to people who don’t live off the grid.

Our off-grid laundry machine story:

It was a few weeks before my due date with our fourth baby. I was trying to keep the house clean to prepare for baby’s arrival, and for the coming of Christmas. Our washing machine had chosen that week to kick the bucket, and we were trying to figure out what to do next. As we had used our “cleanest dirty shirts” as Johnny Cash would say. We were all in desperate need of some clean laundry. During this week we had a stomach bug that dirtied half of the bedding we owned. Things were getting desperate as the pile of laundry grew bigger and scarier and more disgusting.

This is the story of what we learned while attempting to find the right off-grid laundry machine.

We had two working washing machines when we moved to the mountain. One was an old Speed Queen, and the other was an old Kenmore. They both broke within the first 18 months of us living up here. At the time we didn’t think much of it because they were so old. But now we wonder if our solar system may have killed them.

Providentially, right after our second washer died, our friends gave us their 12-year-old HE Maytag washer. It was broken when we got it, but we were able to coax it to limp along, load after load, for about three years.

It didn’t like to turn on, and when I started it, the washer would beep and indicate that the door was open. I would have to open it, shut it, turn the washer off, turn it on to the “delicates” mode, and wait for the washer to decide to lock. Then, I would have to immediately change the setting to “normal” before the washer realized what I did to it!

It was very complicated and didn’t always work. We would joke, after I would try to trick it for fifteen minutes in the pantry and eventually win, that “she lives to fight another day.”

Recently our washer stopped draining.

We weren’t sure why, but soon realized that there was an issue with the septic system. We had someone come out to drain it, but that didn’t help. Then Ben discovered a clog in the septic system under the house and rented a snake. Both of those things were necessary for our house in general, but they didn’t fix the washer. The motor for the pump that pulls the water out of the washer broke. It only cost $100 on amazon, but since the washer was barely limping along as it was, we decided it was time to buy a new one.

Ben ordered a GE washer through Home Depot online, and we were really happy because it was on sale for Black Friday.

I was also excited because it was a top loader with an agitator. My old washer had been an HE front loader, and it didn’t wash my clothes very well at all. (Note: while it was a high efficiency washer, it was still at least 12 years old. That doesn’t mean the same thing anymore.)

We started it up, and it filled with water, and then nothing happened.

Nothing we could do would get it to turn on. Thankfully, we had a drill pump so we could drain the water, and Ben took it back to Home Depot.

And they wouldn’t take it.

Don’t ever, ever, ever, under any circumstances, buy a brand-new washer from Home Depot for your off-grid laundry machine.

Home Depot sucks and their customer service is terrible. We bought the washing machine online and on sale, so the store would not accept it. They said we had to go through GE and get someone up to our house to look at it. This was a ridiculous requirement because they wouldn’t even deliver it to our house, even though it was supposed to come with free delivery. (That’s how far out in the middle of nowhere we live.)

While researching, Ben found other people had the same issue. There is no real information about whether the machines will work on our system, but they won’t take them back even if they have never been used.

Another reason I say not to buy from Home Depot is that they just don’t make washers as simple machines anymore. Washers are increasingly sensitive and prone to error by their very finickiness. All in the name of innovation.

The conclusion of our off-grid laundry machine saga.

I eventually had to take all our laundry to the laundromat. Man, was it nice to get it all done at once! And to have clean clothes again. In the meantime, we hunted for a washer that would actually work, and for information from other off-grid people online about our problem.

Ben found one helpful article. And I found an old KitchenAid washing machine for $50 on Facebook Marketplace.

We brought the washer home and it worked beautifully, but it would drain so much water at once (since it was not an HE washer) and flood all over the pantry. We think maybe our septic has a ventilation issue since we snaked it three times and it is still not resolved. So, we have just moved on with life. I drain the hose from the washer into a plastic storage bin. I have to stop the washer midcycle and haul the bin of water to the door and empty it out, (otherwise it would still flood the pantry), but I don’t mind because I get very clean clothes in forty minutes, and this (not HE) washer won’t have an electrical conniption and decide to lock my clothes inside for a week.

So what did we learn?

We learned a few things:

1. Don’t buy a GE washer, and don’t buy from Home Depot (online or in the store).
2. I prefer non-HE washers.
3. The most important lesson: New washers don’t work on our system because they are too sensitive to frequency.

How does frequency affect off-grid appliances?

Our solar system produces a 50HZ-60 HZ frequency. This means it is an inconsistent or “dirty” power source. This is not normally a problem, but with the government incentivizing appliance companies to make things more “efficient,” (because everything has to be green nowadays) this affects modern appliances. So, what can you do about it?

You can buy a newer inverter.

Modern inverters should in theory be able to fix frequency fluctuation, but we have not tested it yet. Our inverter is about thirty years old. It’s something we will go down the rabbit hole later when we need to, but we’re getting by without for now.

What is an inverter?

Solar panels or PV (photovoltaic) panels produce direct current or DC. The power is sent and made the most efficient for charging your specific battery bank. The power is then inverted by the inverter to alternate current or AC. All modern appliances designed for residential use are made to use AC current. You can find some appliances for DC current, but they are mostly made for RV campers. The AC current is sent to your breaker panel and sent to individual circuits as in any grid-tied house.

What does this have to do with new appliances?

Old appliances are less “efficient” because the motors are not dialed in via pure frequency, but they do allow for fluctuation in frequency, which is what a solar system produces. A solar system will always produce a less pure frequency then on the grid, but it can be dialed in with modern solar equipment.

New motors have frequency sensors that will not let them run if the current isn’t pure. We have run into this a few times. High quality blenders don’t work, hair dryers, and a few other random things that just won’t turn on at all.

So what can you do about this?

We came to three options: we could buy a frequency cleaner, we could buy a really expensive or really small washing machine, or we could buy an old washing machine for $50 and hope it works. And plan C was the winner.

Frankly, I don’t even know what a frequency cleaner is or what it does, I just know it exists, and it’s expensive.

There are some really nice washing machines that claim to work off-grid, but they are so expensive. Later in life we might have to resort to this as the old-fashioned basic washing machines are going extinct. But we hope to find old used simple washing machines for as long as we can.

So what laundry machines work off grid?

1. Laundry machines that are not new, as the newer they are, the more sensitive they are to the wrong frequency.
2. Laundry machines that are designed to work off grid. They range from very expensive to very small, and have a range of conveniences.
3. Old simple laundry machines.

Some thoughts on HE washers vs. old mechanical washers.

Admittedly, HE washers are technically high efficiency, designed to save energy and water.

The idea behind it is good, but in practice it just doesn’t turn out best.

I’m sure there are HE washers that work well, and even work well on our system, but I am a wholehearted proponent of old-fashioned lots-of-water lots-of-agitating washers. And here’s why:

The best off-grid laundry machine is the old-fashioned laundry machine.

1. The time. Our HE washer took 75 minutes to wash clothing on extra wash, our new washer (by that I mean new to us, it’s very old) takes 40 minutes on normal wash. This alone makes a huge difference. What if the day starts out sunny and then gets cloudy? I need to be done with my daily load of laundry as quickly as possible. (learn more about my simple laundry routine) 
2. The water. Because I had to manually empty both our old washer and our new washer, I was able to keep track of how much water both machines produce. 
3. The agitator. How are HE washers even supposed to get things clean without an agitator? The only way they can is for people to use specific HE detergent that breaks down the grime. More on that next.
4. The detergent. HE washers do not properly wash away soap, and so laundry soap doesn’t work for HE washers. Soap and detergent are two different things. Soap clings to dirt and grease particles, and they get scrubbed and rinsed away by agitation and lots of rinsing. Detergents break down the grease so that you don’t need to use as much water or agitate the washer as much. I don’t use normal detergent because it is so toxic. I make my own laundry soap, but laundry soap can be both bad for clothes and damage HE washers. Alos, it also takes up a lot of energy to make HE designed detergent. So, is it really energy efficient to use an HE washer if you think about that?

What system do you need to make a washing machine work?

I will do a blog post on our system, but for now I will say that we have a 20 year old inverter and a couple 20 year old panels, and a few new inverters, a new battery bank, and 8 new panels.

Do the old washers use too much water? 

I really don’t think so. Sure, they use double the water, but they are done sooner and they get clothes cleaner.

What about washing machine alternatives?

When I was trying to figure out what to do next, I found some interesting ideas. I’ve tried this washer before and really liked it, but it broke. (It was really good quality, just mishandled by someone) It would be perfect as a backup washer with a ringer like this. (The one I linked to is really expensive, but man would it be nice to have!)

I looked into buying one like this, but didn’t want to try it if I could get a full-sized washer to work first.

Can you use a dryer off-grid?

Yes! You have to use a propane dryer with a system like ours, though. We haven’t tried one yet. I hang my clothes outside in the summer and inside in the winter. It’s the most work with laundry but it works for us.