Laundry Plus Heating?

[Zardnaar]

Dumb question here. How do you wash your clothes, dry them and keep yourself warm?

I was reading an article about NZs low quality housing and by that they mean a lack of central heating.

Some here have also posted about going to laundromats which is a bit weird.

As I said dumb question but something so basic might be done differently overseas.

Since I was a kid you hang your washing out online. Some people use dryers I suppose. We have one barely use it.

No central heating here. As a kid we used a heater or open fireplace. You could roast marshmallows in your lounge.

These days we use a heat pump but only heat one room in the house. The bedroom is not heated even in winter and if it's freezing outside. Literally freezing ice on windows type cold.

Right now it's spring and 6 degrees celsius outside. Rain,hail cold. Heat pump isn't on, I checked it's setting and it's on 20 degrees but hasn't been on.

Wearing a teashirt, jeans and flannelette shirt. I might put on a jersey or sweatshirt if its below 10 degrees celsius, barely use a jacket only in the rain of if there's a southerly (wind off antarctica).

As I understand it central heating is those water/oil mounted heaters in the wall. Had them at school as a kid but yeah. These days it's mostly heat pumps, woodburner or maybe gas (more commercial).

 

[amadeus]

Coin laundry for washing and drying. Heat and air conditioning come from the same wall-mounted unit that can be switched from one to the other.

 

[Zardnaar]

Coin laundry for washing and drying. Heat and air conditioning come from the same wall-mounted unit that can be switched from one to the other.

Apartment?

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Dumb question here. How do you wash your clothes, dry them and keep yourself warm?

1. Put dirty clothes in the washer. Wash them.

2. Put wet clothes in the dryer. Dry them twice because it never works the first time.

3. Take out dry clothes. Put them away until it's time to wear them.

4. Keeping warm requires a cat to sleep with. She washes herself; no water required.

I was reading an article about NZs low quality housing and by that they mean a lack of central heating.

Some here have also posted about going to laundromats which is a bit weird.

Not all rental units have access to a decent laundry room. In the building where I live, each floor has its own laundry room with 2 washers and 2 dryers. These have to be shared among 20 suites. Each floor's laundry room is accessed via security code (it's handy to know the codes for the other floors in case the one on your floor is occupied or not working). Payment is electronic; I have to transfer funds from my bank account to my laundry card every so often. This is to prevent people breaking in to steal money from the machines - it's pointless because the system is cashless.

More expensive apartments have an in-suite laundry/storage room. The last time I had access to a laundry setup I didn't have to share was when I lived in the family home, over a decade ago.

As I said dumb question but something so basic might be done differently overseas.

Since I was a kid you hang your washing out online. Some people use dryers I suppose. We have one barely use it.

People who live in houses have the option of hanging laundry outside, unless it's a gated community or one with a HOA that forbids outdoor clothes drying. Where I live, we're not allowed to dry laundry on the balcony. Something about "aesthetics", but there's actually a practical reason or two why most people wouldn't want to anyway: This building's orientation isn't straight north/south. It's at a weird angle, with a lawn and cliff on one side and a parking lot between us and a row of rowhouses on the other. The rowhouse/parking lot creates a wind tunnel effect, and we often get lots of dust, dirt, and twigs blowing around the building on that side. Any laundry drying on the balcony would either blow off, or it would soon be filthy again. Another practical reason is the pigeon infestation we had a couple of years ago. The smell was horrible, and between that and the smoke from the forest fires in BC and the mountain regions here (smoke sooner or later wafts eastward, across the country from Pacific to Atlantic) also means everything would need to be washed again.

No central heating here. As a kid we used a heater or open fireplace. You could roast marshmallows in your lounge.

These days we use a heat pump but only heat one room in the house. The bedroom is not heated even in winter and if it's freezing outside. Literally freezing ice on windows type cold.

Right now it's spring and 6 degrees celsius outside. Rain,hail cold. Heat pump isn't on, I checked it's setting and it's on 20 degrees but hasn't been on.

Wearing a teashirt, jeans and flannelette shirt. I might put on a jersey or sweatshirt if its below 10 degrees celsius, barely use a jacket only in the rain of if there's a southerly (wind off antarctica).

As I understand it central heating is those water/oil mounted heaters in the wall. Had them at school as a kid but yeah. These days it's mostly heat pumps, woodburner or maybe gas (more commercial).

We had first frost and first snow a few days ago (it didn't stay), and I'm hoping real winter won't come until after I'm moved (a week before Halloween). I froze in this apartment for the past two winters due to lack of insulation. This year I didn't bother returning the heater the manager loaned me, and if it gets cold before I move next month, I'm hoping he doesn't remember that I still have it.

The new place faces northeast, so it's not going to have any afternoon sun. I just hope that being 3 floors higher will mean it'll be warmer (heat rises).

Ice on the windows is a normal thing here, if there's a draft. I remember cold winters in the '80s, when I slept in a facing-north bedroom. Sometimes the ice on the window was an inch thick. The windows didn't fit properly, though, so it was a case of covering them up as much as possible, and piling on the flannelette blankets, quilts, and convincing as many cats as possible to sleep with me (I had 4 at the time).

 

[tjs282]

We have a washer-drier in our utility-room, but rarely if ever use the drier function these days (when the boys were little, it mostly got used for bedclothes after night-time illnesses/accidents; this is no longer a concern). Most of our laundry gets slung on a clothes-rack to dry, which is kept in the utility room or moved outside depending on the weather (I've offered more than once to install a rotary clothesline [socket] in one of the lawns, but wifey thinks they're ugly, and won't have it), T-shirts and sweaters get hung up in the utility room.

Water-heating is mostly solar for about 8-9 months of the year (hot water stored at ~90°C in an insulated ~1000-L tank until needed; piped at ~65°C), gas-fired boiler idles as backup water-heater year-round, also as central-heating source over the winter (relatively new house, pretty well insulated: usually switch that circuit on in late October/November, once sweaters aren't enough anymore). Wifey's feet get cold in the winter: even with a winter-duvet, an unheated bedroom is not an option.

 

[Zardnaar]

We have a washer-drier in our utility-room, but rarely if ever use the drier function these days (when the boys were little, it mostly got used for bedclothes after night-time illnesses/accidents; this is no longer a concern). Most of our laundry gets slung on a clothes-rack to dry, which is kept in the utility room or moved outside depending on the weather (I've offered more than once to install a rotary clothesline [socket] in one of the lawns, but wifey thinks they're ugly, and won't have it), T-shirts and sweaters get hung up in the utility room.

Water-heating is mostly solar for about 8-9 months of the year (hot water stored at ~90°C in an insulated ~1000-L tank until needed; piped at ~65°C), gas-fired boiler idles as backup water-heater year-round, also as central-heating source over the winter (relatively new house, pretty well insulated: usually switch that circuit on in late October/November, once sweaters aren't enough anymore). Wifey's feet get cold in the winter: even with a winter-duvet, an unheated bedroom is not an option.

It's weird for me not having a laundry. Lived in apartment for 3 years once (never again) and they still had a laundry.

 

[Zardnaar]

We have a washer-drier in our utility-room, but rarely if ever use the drier function these days (when the boys were little, it mostly got used for bedclothes after night-time illnesses/accidents; this is no longer a concern). Most of our laundry gets slung on a clothes-rack to dry, which is kept in the utility room or moved outside depending on the weather (I've offered more than once to install a rotary clothesline [socket] in one of the lawns, but wifey thinks they're ugly, and won't have it), T-shirts and sweaters get hung up in the utility room.

Water-heating is mostly solar for about 8-9 months of the year (hot water stored at ~90°C in an insulated ~1000-L tank until needed; piped at ~65°C), gas-fired boiler idles as backup water-heater year-round, also as central-heating source over the winter (relatively new house, pretty well insulated: usually switch that circuit on in late October/November, once sweaters aren't enough anymore). Wifey's feet get cold in the winter: even with a winter-duvet, an unheated bedroom is not an option.

For winter it's double thick duvet, cat, wife wears pjamas.

I wear boxers year round if it's really cold I might wear socks.

 

[Commodore]

I'm a home owner so I wash and dry my clothes with my own washing machine and dryer in the basement. And most houses in the US have central heating so that's how I keep my house warm in the winter. It's a gas furnace by the way.

 

[amadeus]

Apartment?

Correct. If I had a standalone house I’d purchase a washer and dryer. The heating and cooling systems would still be the wall units though; central air is very rare here.

 

[GoodEnoughForMe]

Laundromat. Our place doesn't have a laundry room and doesn't have space for one, and while there is a laundry area for the condos, it takes coins only, so I drive to a nearby laundromat where both cards and bills are also accepted. They also have much bigger machines too.

We occasionally do wash some stuff in our tub and hang to dry, but it's usually just the dog bedding we do that with, or something if there's an emergency shortage.

I have central heating. It's too cold and snowy not too.

 

[Zkribbler]

I'm a home owner so I wash and dry my clothes with my own washing machine and dryer in the basement. And most houses in the US have central heating so that's how I keep my house warm in the winter. It's a gas furnace by the way.

That was me my last 14 years in LA. Me and friends of mine rented a large house near downtown.

My house in the Philippines has a washer & drier. My house is so well planned, we need neither a heater nor air conditioner.

 

[Bamspeedy]

Washer, dryer on the main floor. So nice not having to carry a basket of laundry up and down stairs every day.
When I was a kid at our house they were in the basement and our house had a 'laundry' chute, of course there were times I sent more toys down the chute than clothes, and had nightmares I got myself trapped in the chute (If I had tried to go down the chute IRL I certainly would have got stuck, the opening was only about 6 x12 inches).
Never understood the 'hot water heater in the attic' thing, but very common in some parts of the country (south, southeast?). More energy efficient sure, but such potential for major damage to the house.

 

[Manfred Belheim]

Wash clothes in a washing machine.

Dry clothes on an airer (folding rack thing).

Heating is a water central heating system, or a gas fire.

Some here have also posted about going to laundromats which is a bit weird.

This seems weird to me too. I know these places exist, but I've never been in one and don't think I know anyone who uses them. In fact I'm not sure if I've ever even seen one.

 

[GinandTonic]

Washer / dryer in the kitchen. Clothes go on the line in summer and by the radiator in winter. The dryer function covers the any days that are wet but not cold enough to justify the central heating. There’s a gas fire in the living room I’ve been thinking of replacing with a real fire, but it’ll cost a few grand. There’s a storage heater in the loft since it’s above the central heating’s header tank, but that only gets used at Christmas.

 

[AdamCrock]

I have a washing machine, when I need them to dry quick I put them on a heater , otherwise I hang 'em to dry on the line (online ! xD ) I have above a bathtub.

 

[MaryKB]

Washing machine and dryer for clothes. I've never known anyone IRL who puts their clothes outside to dry.

I have central air & heating ... AC is provided by a huge machine outside, and heat is a gas furnace that pumps warm air through the vents (same ones used by the AC) My furnace has a humidifier attached to it that brings in water so the air isn't so dry in winter.

I've always run rather warm (my mother is the same way), and I tolerate cold much better than heat. I'm glad for the change of seasons, mostly because I tend to get bored with seasonal fashion after a few months. I'm ready to put away my sandals for the year and bring out my boots, etc. I like wearing sweaters in the winter, with nice thermal tights (which look super sexy with my knee and thigh boots) Scarfs and shawls are nice for when the weather is a bit chilly, but you don't really want to wear a full coat. I prefer long wool coats, I have a number of those in a few different colors (though my plum ones are my favorites) For when it's really cold, I have this 2-in-1 hood-scarf that's extremely soft and warm (it's black) that pretty much makes it impossible to feel cold, even when it's below 0 F outside (covers up my entire face except my eyes)

I am going to need to go shopping, my coats from last year won't fit me this winter.

 

[Socrates99]

Washing machine is electric. It stopped draining so I had to pull apart the drain pump. Somehow one of my 5 yr olds socks got pulled through the tiny crack between the agitator and drum. C-pumps apparently dont work very well with a sock on their impeller.

Dryer and furnace are natural gas. We have a gas fireplace in the basement that the previous owners put in. It works but we rarely use it.

 

[red_elk]

Central heating, they keep temperature ~20+ C, self-regulating depending on weather outside. I pay for it something about 30$ per month, from October to April.
Washing machine in bathroom, hang dry. Pretty standard for Russia.

Ice on windows means your windows lack proper thermal insulation. We had this problem in our old apartment.
In my current one, when I did renovation, I installed windows which don't freeze and also block outside sounds pretty well. More expensive, but worth it.

 

[Birdjaguar]

Washer but no dryer. We haven't had a dryer ever. We hang clothes outside on a line year round and have in NM, NC and Maine. If it happens to be actually raining on laundry day, we have a rack we set up in the living room. We have gas, central heating in most of the house, but splits (heat pump driven) in three rooms. Two gas-fired, instant water heaters provide all the hot water we need. We have noticed a decline in the quality of clothes pins over the years.

 

[AdamCrock]

I've never known anyone IRL who puts their clothes outside to dry.

That's weird
In my mother's family house in the village we've always hanged them in the garden on the line between the cherry trees Now I live in the block and almost everyone hangs their clothes on balcony every summer.