Fitting a washing machine timer....

[R.O.S.S.I]

Hi all, looking for a bit of advice really.

Just moved into a flat which is economy 7 for eleccy so means using it udring the night is cheapest.

Now I'd have liked to have just bought a timer plug to pop on where it is plugged in but for some god unknown reason all of the kitchen units are sealed with silicone underneath and its a built in integrated washer thingy so I can't pull the machine out or anything plus there isnt enough room behind the units to see where it is actually plugged so has left me in a bit of a pickle.

On the wall we have like a master switch for the washer but obviously its just a wall switch so no way to fit a timer to it.

Now short of paying £30-£40 for like a fused spur timeswitch which I can just replace the existing wall switch i'm just wondering if there may be a cheaper way I can sort out fitting a timer of some sort

Here is a picture of the switch on the wall.

Is there anything else other than the above mentioned £30-£40 fused timeswitches I could use instead?

 

[R.O.S.S.I]

Does the washer not have a time delay on it?

Sorry should have said. No, its a bit old!

 

[R.O.S.S.I]

Ok, cant you just switch it on after 7pm since thats when the cheaper rate starts?

I could switch it on after 7, but the Economy 7 cheap rates don't start till gone midnight iirc. I think its possibly around 1AM around here.

 

[R.O.S.S.I]

Is there that much of a difference in the electricity price?

Yep around 70% cheaper.

 

[R.O.S.S.I]

One thing to check - when I was in a flat with Economy 7, there was actually a dedicated "night" set of wiring which ran from the breaker box, such that the entire section of mains was only supplied at night. Have you checked to see that this doesn't exist anywhere that you could tap into?

The only thing on a separate circuit are the storage heaters!

 

[R.O.S.S.I]

Maybe you can start the programme, then cut power and it will resume when power is restored, also those old mechanical dial washers would just keep going afaik.

You set the program and push the ON button on the machine itself to kick it off. Using a timer, i'd just leave the machine 'ON' as it were and let the timer kick the switch on to give the machine electric.

 

[R.O.S.S.I]

I had storage heaters, only recently got rid of them, but they were the only thing on the Economy 7 circuit.

I don't know if this is how your house is wired, but they were on a separate circuit to the rest of the house and wouldn't get power at all until after midnight.

I don't think economy 7 works outside of this circuit.

I may well be wrong though.

Yeh that's what I mean, my storage heaters physically don't allow them to be turned on until after midnight'ish, so I assume they are on the separate circuit.