We have a secondary downstairs shower room that’s currently being refitted.

Room is a 2m x 2m and will have an enclosed shower, toilet and sink.

We have planned to relocate our washing machine into the shower room from our kitchen – basically moving it from one side of a wall to the other. The washing machine would be fed from an outlet outside of the shower room with no electrical point in the shower room.

The washing machine would be encased on four sides (walls, end panel and work top).

The consumer unit was changed 2 years ago to a new fangled RCD(?) jobbie.

Neither our builder or plumber have raised a concern with our plumber relocating the machine.

From what I can tell the washing machine would be outside of zone 1 or 2.

Thoughts?

My washing machine is in my main bathroom. I think its great, its the first room you come to from the front door too, so no trailing mud through the house after a muddy ride / run.

I’ve also got a sheila maid over the bath for drying clothes. Window usually open or extractor fan cuts in when needed. Makes perfect sense to me.

Are you in the UK FP?

Yes.

A previous house also had a washing machine in the bathroom – always thought it was a sensible idea (Yorkshire) I honestly don’t know what regulations were applied when it was installed. I bought the house with it there and sold it with it still in place. No one queried it.

Now in Scotland my present house has a washing machine in the bathroom, and another in the garage. I never questioned it when we bought the property, just glad at the coincidence that the washer was in my ‘preferred’ place. This one is wired in, would have to ask my OH about the detail of the wiring.

Nothing to dislike really.

The washing machine should be in a small annexe in the staff quarters

Unless you’re some kind of animal

Love Kirsty

Seems a great idea. Fairly common in foreign parts, I’m led to believe. Dunno why it’s ot caught on in the UK; makes more sense than the kitchen.

If the washing machine drains into the same outlet as the shower check the out flow isn’t going to back up into the shower tray. Or if it is going to the shower tray is deep enough.

It’s shouldn’t but…

Think there used to be a 3m rule for sockets and a rule about appliances being outside of zones 0, 1 & 2 but that’s just from memory….

In Japanese flats I’ve been in, the bathroom is a moulded plastic/grp wetroom; everything (except the toilet) simply drains into a single drain – washing machine included.

Our washing machine is in the downstairs utility/toilet room. It was flagged in our electrical survey that the sockets were not compliant with current regs as they were too close to the shower, but we’ve left it as it is.

It makes sense. Can you actually get it out of zone 2 in a 2×2 room?

Again, fairly normal elsewhere. Makes more sense having your dirty washing in the bathroom than where you prepare your food. And if wetroom nobody cares if it leaks everywhere.

Seems like a bad idea to me: large high power appliance in small room that is regularly steamy and wet.

If nothing else I’d expect it to shorten the life of the washing machine.

(I agree with Kirsty though – it’s good to get ugly white goods out of the kitchen)