Saturday, May 28, 2011

Buying guide for choosing and purchasing a washing machine in India

With the new age where all adults excluding grandmothers/dads are now working there has risen a strong need for a washing machine to handle weekly washing needs. There are some choices with respect to your washing needs, machine types and price of the machine but they are easy enough to make especially with the tips I have given in this article.


To choose a fully automatic or a semi-automatic machine?

A semi automatic machine is obviously the one which involves some manual work. There are two tubs in it, one the washer tub and the other the dryer tub where you have to put the clothes from the top. So here you will have to load and unload the clothes a few times whereas in a fully automatic there is either a top or front loading in which the clothes come out after a full wash. No need to be surprised on knowing this that the automatic is obviously costlier than a semi automatic. Your selection of a washing machine in this case should be based on your usage pattern i.e. how busy you are and how frequently and how many clothes do you have to wash.

If you have to wash to often then definitely it will be a good idea to invest some money in a stainless steel system. Though they will cost a bit more than the normal plastic one but the steel one are more durable but yeah, if you collect the clothes used in the whole week and was them together once in a week then a high quality plastic tub would do the job good enough and these are not that costly too.

Also, if you have to wash variety of clothes regularly like delicate, soak, wool then a machine with a host of wash programs would be a good idea which will be available in most cases only in a fully automatic machine.

Of course, you prime criteria for selecting a washing machine would be its price so let us now have a look at the factors which affect the cost factor of a washing machine.

Price and budget of a washing machine

There is a huge price range for washing machines starting from Rs.4000 and going up to Rs.80,000. There is a huge option relative to the capacity and features of a washing machine. You will find a number of differently priced AC’s in automatic and semi-automatic as well as front or top loading.

Typically, semi automatic washing machines in the Indian market cost anywhere between Rs 4000 to Rs 17,000 and the automatic ones have a much wider range. Also a top loading washing machine ranges from Rs 8,490 to Rs 35,000 and the front-loading washing machines ranges from Rs 12,500 to Rs 80,000.

Selection of washing machine based on the wash load

The wash load of a washing machine can be defined as the maximum weight of dry clothes in kgs that a washing machine can handle at a time during a cycle.

The domestic machines in India have a load range varying between 3kgs to 10kgs. For most nuclear families of 3-4 nowadays a 4kg washing machine will do but for a larger family you need to select a larger load capacity washing machine. Specifically if your family has a small child then you will prefer a larger capacity because small children tend to soil too many clothes too quickly. A rough estimate of the washing machine with its load capacity and the corresponding price is as given:

Taking a assumption that you wash your clothes three times a week then for a family of two members you will need a washing machine with 3kg load capacity which costs around Rs 3,000; for a family of 4 members 4-6 kg washing machine priced at Rs 5,400 will suffice and if there are six members then go for a washing machine of 6+kg of load capacity which is nowadays priced at Rs 6,500.

Other features

There are some other common but important features which you need to keep in mind before buying a washing machine. These are:
  1. Auto restart- If the wash cycle is interrupted due to some reason, most common being power failure in most parts on India then this feature will start the machine from that point onwards where it was interrupted.
  2. Automatic drainage- Automatic drainage is very useful as it saves you the hardwork of getting up and draining the water and also this prevents the clothes from being unnecessarily in contact with the dirty water. Most complete automatic machines have this feature though very few in semi automatic have it.
  3. Child lock- If you toddler is just too curious to push every button and turn every dial then you might prefer this system which requires a code to authenticate your command.
  4. Hot water wash- We all know that hotter the water will be more will be its cleaning capability, so some high end automatic washing machines do support this feature. It is especially useful for murky clothes.
  5. Wash load sensor- Hugh end and high load washing machines normally have this feature. It can reprogram and modify your wash cycle and in case of a overload due to some tangle fabric if the washing machines shakes and tumbles then it automatically tries to balance the machine.
Browse for some of the best washing machines in India

No comments:

Post a Comment