Why do British Flats have washing machines in the kitchen?

[Geckothan]

I've been watching a lot of British TV for a while and I've noticed something that I just now figured out what it is, British kitchens seem to have their washing machines built into their kitchens under the counter. They seem to be side loaded and smaller than what we have. Why is this? Do flats not have a "laundry room" like we do in America? Where is the dryer?

I've never seen a house here with a "laundry room". Most houses here either have a washer and dryer in the kitchen or a washer in the kitchen and a dryer in the bathroom.

This reminds me of a question I have from the time I lived in England, perhaps I already know the answer but I'd like to confirm.

In the US we usually have at least one outlet in the bathroom by the mirror, usually one that turns off automatically if it detects a surge. When I traveled around Ireland, Scotland and England I noticed that this was never the case. In fact there was usually only one outlet in the hotel or dorm room. I can understand in the bathroom at least it's probably too dangerous to have the higher voltage current anywhere near water at all, but why the lack of outlets in the rest of the living space?

There's many regulations around the placement of sockets. Immediately around baths/showers/sinks you can only have pull-cord switches for hard-wired appliances like showers, extractor fans and lights and around a metre away if I recall, you can have isolated shaving sockets. Normal sockets have to be at least 3 metres away and must have their own circuit breaker if I recall. You can however, have normal sockets right next to the kitchen sink for some reason even though you can't have one next to the bathroom sink, at least when my house was built

A lot of flats have drying greens in the UK, although not the big multistorey jobs. People don't use dryers so much over here because they eat up electricity.

We use our dryer almost 24/7, wash everything at 90 degrees, turn our immersion heater on every time the hot tap isn't scalding and we still rock an old-school oil burner for our central heating (which is cheaper than gas in the long run anyway because a full tank lasts for a decade and costs less than a decade of gas bills, and you only need it on for half of the year or less weather permitting). SCREW YOU HIPPIES!

 

[Pingfah]

We use our dryer almost 24/7, wash everything at 90 degrees, turn our immersion heater on every time the hot tap isn't scalding and we still rock an old-school oil burner for our central heating (which is cheaper than gas in the long run anyway because a full tank lasts for a decade and costs less than a decade of gas bills, and you only need it on for half of the year or less weather permitting). SCREW YOU HIPPIES!

Not wanting to trash your clothes by washing them at ridiculous temperatures, or piss money away in a tumble drier has nothing to do with being a hippy. Not everybody is made of money, oh privileged one.

 

[C.E. Evans]

My apartment is kind of odd in the sense that each unit is ranch-style with its own individual basement with washer/dryer connections. You have to buy your own washer and dryer, though, which is what I did.

Most of the apartments in my immediate area either have a communal laundry facility or no laundry facilities whatsoever (gotta hoof it to a nearby laundromat)...

 

[scotpens]

. . . There's many regulations around the placement of sockets. Immediately around baths/showers/sinks you can only have pull-cord switches for hard-wired appliances like showers, extractor fans and lights and around a metre away if I recall, you can have isolated shaving sockets. Normal sockets have to be at least 3 metres away and must have their own circuit breaker if I recall. You can however, have normal sockets right next to the kitchen sink for some reason even though you can't have one next to the bathroom sink, at least when my house was built.

That does seem odd and rather arbitrary. Here in California, every house and apartment I've lived in has a standard electrical outlet close to the bathroom sink, and it's not on a dedicated circuit.

SCREW YOU HIPPIES!

Hippies??

 

[StolenThunder]

I've been watching a lot of British TV for a while and I've noticed something that I just now figured out what it is, British kitchens seem to have their washing machines built into their kitchens under the counter. They seem to be side loaded and smaller than what we have. Why is this? Do flats not have a "laundry room" like we do in America? Where is the dryer?

I've never seen a house here with a "laundry room". Most houses here either have a washer and dryer in the kitchen or a washer in the kitchen and a dryer in the bathroom.

I've been in lots of houses with utility rooms - but they're almost always larger, older, more expensive houses.

But yeah, most places have a washing machine in the kitchen. It's near the water supply and they're not all that smaller than top loaders.

You can get top loading washing machines here, but then what would cats watch all day long?

 

[Geckothan]

. . . There's many regulations around the placement of sockets. Immediately around baths/showers/sinks you can only have pull-cord switches for hard-wired appliances like showers, extractor fans and lights and around a metre away if I recall, you can have isolated shaving sockets. Normal sockets have to be at least 3 metres away and must have their own circuit breaker if I recall. You can however, have normal sockets right next to the kitchen sink for some reason even though you can't have one next to the bathroom sink, at least when my house was built.

That does seem odd and rather arbitrary. Here in California, every house and apartment I've lived in has a standard electrical outlet close to the bathroom sink, and it's not on a dedicated circuit.

The shaving sockets aren't on a dedicated circuit, they're on an isolation transformer.

 

[Deckerd]

The shaving sockets aren't on a dedicated circuit, they're on an isolation transformer.

Is that near the warp coil?

 

[Shazam!]

What a tedious thread.

 

[John Picard]

Those people over there sure talk funny.

 

[wamdue]

I've been watching a lot of British TV for a while and I've noticed something that I just now figured out what it is, British kitchens seem to have their washing machines built into their kitchens under the counter. They seem to be side loaded and smaller than what we have. Why is this? Do flats not have a "laundry room" like we do in America? Where is the dryer?

if this is a problem for you, you should watch Eastenders, where nobody has a washing machine.

 

[propita]

In most of the houses I've been in, there's a "laundry room" or "utility room" adjacent to the kitchen for the washer/dryer. Usually at or near the back door of the house.

We have a small laundry room. Four walls but threehave doors, the house's back door, the door to the second bathroom, and the door to the kitchen. The room itself only fits a washer with dryer on top and a shelf unit. One of my few regrets about this house is that the laundry room is too small to have the units side by side. I'm only 5' 1"--it's a hard reach for those last socks. I usually have to use another sock to pull them forward. Hubby (6' 1") was surprised to see me doing that, reached in, and asked if I always do that.

 

[K'Ehleyr]

My little English flat has a washing machine in the kitchen. Would seem weird in the bathroom and not having a basement, garage or utility room it's seems more reasonable than the living room
No dryer ~ no space
Man, however, has a washer/drier in his utility room ~ I'm aiming above my laundry stations!

 

[John Picard]

Here, in the OKC metro area, it is not uncommon for older house (built pre-1965) to have the washer and dryer in the kitchen. Some house built after WWII, around Tinker AFB, were retro-fitted to house the washer in the kitchen and the dryer in the garage. The garages are barely large enough to hold a small car.

When I was in California, I had a friend whose apartment was set up with washer/dryer connections in the kitchen. He worked part-time for Sears and scored one of those combination washer-dryer units that look like this..

 

[nevermore]

He worked part-time for Sears and scored one of those combination washer-dryer units that look like this..

I had one of those in my bedroom closet when I was a kid. That was pretty awesome.

Anyway, where I live, most apartments are in 100+-year-old converted rowhouses, so if the have a washer in the apartment, it's usually in the kitchen. Most just have shared basement laundry rooms, though.

 

[Lindley]

The condo where I live has one of those combination washer/dryers in a closet across from the bathroom. It doesn't even share a wall with the kitchen.

 

[Pingfah]

I have a front loading washer/dryer combo in a type of utitlity room, in a small English flat. It does it all in the same tub, so you can't wash & dry at the same time, but there's also no need to change them over.

 

[Haggis and tatties]

I've seen plenty American apartments set up the same way.

Never seen any, and it appears to be the common thing across the pond. Just wondering if there is a reason, why no laundry room, and where the dryer is?

Probably cause that's where most of the water pipes with easy access are, plus the drain pipe from the washing machine is connected to the drain pipe of the kitchen sink.

 

[thestrangequark]

My friend's apartment has no washing machine, but the shower is in the kitchen. I'd never seen a shower in a kitchen before I moved to NYC, but since I've known two people who've had them.

 

[Brent]

I've been watching a lot of British TV for a while and I've noticed something that I just now figured out what it is, British kitchens seem to have their washing machines built into their kitchens under the counter. They seem to be side loaded and smaller than what we have. Why is this? Do flats not have a "laundry room" like we do in America? Where is the dryer?

if this is a problem for you, you should watch Eastenders, where nobody has a washing machine.

It isn't a problem, it is a curiosity and a question out of ignorance to learn information that I am not aware of. I'm trying to broaden my scope of knowledge.

 

[Brent]

My little English flat has a washing machine in the kitchen. Would seem weird in the bathroom and not having a basement, garage or utility room it's seems more reasonable than the living room
No dryer ~ no space
Man, however, has a washer/drier in his utility room ~ I'm aiming above my laundry stations!

If you don't have a dryer how do you dry your clothes?