Larsi, thanks for finding and posting this. I've brought up these complaints (cycle length, heater operation) before, and no one countered with the ability to extend the wash by adding steam. The longer cycle also alleviates, to some extent, my concern about the cycle ending before the water has heated to the target temperature. Roughly an hour is probably long enough to get my worst-case fill temperature to 120F hot. Not to 140F Miele-style hot, but that's not applicable to the Electrolux, I'm guessing. Can you find out the actual temperatures corresponding to cold, eco warm, warm, eco hot, and hot?

Suburbanmd,

According to Electrolux, the wash temps for the Wave Touch washer are as follows:

Cold: 30C / 85F

Warm: 40C / 105F

Hot: 60C / 140F

Sanitize: 70C / 160F

Eco Warm and Eco Hot are determined by one's household water heater setting and the distance from the washer to the water heater.

Unless you select Auto Temperature Off, all cycles besides No heat are monitored and adjusted with the internal water heater.

Those are impressive temperatures. Based on what you've said here, I would give the Electrolux further consideration.

Where are the Electrolux washer and dryer manufactured?

This impressive piece of information was taken from the description of the DEEP SANITIZE cycle.

The wash water is heated by an internal boost
heater to a maximum of 152° F (67° C) as the load
tumbles for up to 4 hours. Cold water is added to
cool down the load prior to drain and spin.

I may have to go out and investigate the Electrolux in depth before commiting to the Miele.

sshrivastava,

The Electrolux washers and dryers are designed and most parts are made in Ljungby, Sweden.

The units are assembled in a 100 million dollar new assembly plant in Juarez, Mexico.

From what I have read about the factory, it is cutting edge, and is said to have strict and stringent quality control standards and measures. It is controlled, owned and operated by Electrolux AB in Stockholm, Sweden!

I still wonder about the lack of a bulky or comforters cycle in the Electrolux, with its large capacity. Complete wetting of a large item, which can't tumble freely, would seem to be a hit-or-miss proposition if the washer isn't aware of the type of load. Maybe I missed this also.

Suburbanmd,

I too was a little confused that the dryer has a bulky/beddng cycle, but the washer does not have a bulky/bedding (comforter) cycle. I called Electrolux, and they said it is some what of a "design error", and the Heavy Duty cycle should be called Bulky/Bedding or Comforter cycle.

I washed our thick, CA King blanket/thin comforter on Heavy Duty and it was drenched in water and 100% saturated (actually sloshing) around during the tumbling action.

I think Electrolux kinda goofed up, with the naming of cycles for the American market, EXACTLY like Miele did with the Heavy wash and Pre wash snafu. Everywhere in the world (in all languages) Miele washers say Prewash on the controls, and for the American market...it says Heavy Wash. Odd.

85F seems awfully warm for Cold.

Items labeled for cold wash are supposed to withstand 85F. So Electrolux (and Miele) let you do cold-wash items at the highest allowed temperature, unlike most other manufacturers.

120F is the usual temperature for hot wash. Electrolux's hot is 140F. The Electrolux manual says that "eco hot" is a few degrees cooler, while the info obtained by Larsi makes it sound like eco hot is an unheated hot. Miele's hot is also 140F, but they have a 120F selection which is called "very warm".

This is interesting, the owners manual states that sanitize wash is 153 degree's yet the customer service told someone 160??? My washer does not have a bulky item selection and I have no trouble washing comforters in my machine. Does the bulky cycle add more water. From what I have read on several models, it just reduces the spin speed to avoid excessive viberation. I do not own a Electrolux, but I do like the size of them. The push open door concerns me as I have seen it stick shut on displays.

Miele's Comforters cycle starts with a "venting" phase, which soaks the item with water and then spins, to remove trapped air. I think the wash tumble action is slower than usual. And it doesn't spin after the wash, or between rinses.

If this is an American sold machine, and with the posted water temperatures previously mentioned, all of those cycles will have extended wash times of an hour or more. It is impossible to heat water to those temperatures using 120v in any less time. At best there is a 1000watt Hester. Now if it's a 220v euro machine, that's a different story. Regardless of what Electrolux says, if you think your getting those target temps with a total cycle time of 40-50 minutes, your wrong.

Hmmmm, having wet fabric rubbing against each other for an extended period of time seems like just a lot of wear and tear and a shorter life span...are you using these super long washes for a limited purpose?

rpsinfoman, thanks for resurrecting this 5 1/2 year old thread. Seems like it was yesterday, with some of the same people. Though I would want to revisit the list of Electrolux temperatures, as they may be lower in current production.

Re water heating time, are you taking into account that hot water input on American machines is supposed to be at least 120F? The manuals usually say that. Some of us don't get immediate hot water from our plumbing, of course.

practigal, I'm following the Miele instruction manual which says Extended is for "laundry with normal to heavy soiling or stains." I have a strong sense of smell, and can definitely tell the difference between stuff washed without Extended (approx. 30 minute wash on Custom cycle) and with Extended (approx. one hour wash). We use only free-and-clear detergents, which means two things: 1) There's no masking scent; 2) Our choices don't include the latest and most effective detergents. I haven't noticed wear and tear from extended washing. The load is lubricated by a water-and-detergent mix, more slippery than plain water, and I don't think it's rubbing all that hard. Certainly not compared to the wear involved in actual use of the textiles, where one's butt is pressing the seat of the pants against a car seat, or where one is lying on a bed sheet all night and moving around, or the back of a shirt is rubbing against a seat back.

larsi, you were and continue to be a persuasive advocate for Electrolux. But I'm still scheduled to have a 240V 20 amp outlet for Asko installed this Wednesday (among other jobs the electrician will do during the visit). The Asko has a Time Choice cycle that lets you pick the temperature up to 140F, and a total cycle time between 30 minutes and 3 hours. So you can get a long but not-so-hot wash if you want.

Yes sub. Even with 120F water temp it is not possible to raise to 140F in that short of a cycle time on an American machine, not just lux, but all of them! All things considered, amount of water, volume of clothing, initial temperature, heat dispensation, just not possible at 120v and a 1000 watt heater. We may as well resurrect the mechanics of washing also. Time, Temperature, and Mechanical action. Alter one of the parameters and the others need adjusted. There is nothing that requires a two or three hour wash period! Only reason these FL cycles take so long is the time it takes to HEAT the water. In the Euro 220 machines, they not only heat faster, but hotter., and should be a hell of lot quicker. The other issue is the energy mandates requiring lower amounts of water and temperatures. That all adds time and attributes to early wear of goods tumbling against one another for hours. It's a catch 22 in the good and bad of FL,s.

Your off by half. It's around 2.23 minutes per degree not accounting for mass and thermal dispassion. That's 44.6 minutes and aligns almost too perfectly with the long cycle times on new HE machines.

Regardless if it could be done Samsung, LG, or Whirlpool would have done it and marketed it as such. NSF ALLERGY and SANiTARY IN LESS THAN 60 minutes. And you can rest assured it would be reviewed all over the place and marketed as such. Knocking an hour off of energy consumption would really raise those energy star ratings. LOL! I'll take my rose colored glasses off now since it's not possible from an engineering or electrical standpoint, unless you make them nuclear.!

OK, then could you please post your calculation, or tell me where mine is wrong?

Please post the make and model of current U.S. production machines that accomplish this?

I'm sure there's a calculation somewhere behind that 2.23 minutes per degree... Anyway, here are more numbers to think about: To get 140F water, an American hot-fill washer taking in 120F water has to raise it by 20F, using a 1000W heater. A European cold-fill machine taking in 60F water has to raise it by 80F to get to 140F, using a 2000W heater (as we learned in a recent AW thread, 2000W is the practical limit for the heater, in a washer operated in Europe). Which is faster, heating a quantity of water by 80F with a 2000W heater, or heating the same quantity by 20F with a 1000W heater? Next, assume the European machine is heating half the amount of water because the load is smaller. Only with that bit of help, the European machine can get to 140F as fast as the American machine.