⚠️ Warning / Disclaimer
Do not try this out.
The information contained on this page / site are for educational purposes only. The author(s) and publisher are not rendering professional advice or services. The author(s) shall have neither liability nor responsibility to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused, or alleged to have been caused, directly or indirectly by the information or recipes in this blog.
➡️ This is just a test to illustrate that a power reduction is possible. Manufacturers should implement safe ways to reduce the power requirements.Motivation
Power requirement of a 60 °C washing
Devices that heat water (washing machine, dish washer) draw high power (> 2000 Watt) for short time. This is the case even in Eco programs. It is possible to change this easily.
Reducing the power consumption is useful in multiple aspects.
- The machine should use power supplied by solar panel, but the solar panel only produces a limited amount of power (e.g. 1000 Watt).
- The machine has to be operated on a small Power Station, but the peak power of the Power Station is limited (e.g. 1000 Watt).
Lösung
🤓 Hack: Find the power supply of the heating rod and insert a power regulator into the circuit.
Remark
⚠️ It is not clear that this modification is possible for all machines. It may happen that the machine reports an error if the heating power is reduced.
The machine used in this test has a temperature sensor and it appears as if it is just heating until the target temperature is reached. Hence, this modification reduces the power and prolongs the heating period.
Experiment using a Miele W 5831
The power regulator hack was used in a Miele W 5831.
Washing without Power Reduction
Washing with Power Reduction to 50%
Luckily, the experiments shows no error. The energy consumption remains constant. Only the time of the heating period is prolonged.
The required energy depends on the load of the machine. Higher load will lead to a larger amount of water. The machine has to heat the water and the load.
Since the length of the heating period is regulated by a temperature sensor, higher load leads to longer heating period. In the following test the load was reduced (compared to the previous tests).
Washing with Power Reduction to 40%
Implementation
Hardware
- Power Regulator: 4000 Watt ($ 9)
- 4 Connectors: WAGO 221-412 (4 x 0,40 €)
- Cable
Power Regulator (up to 4000 Watt)
Power Regulator. The reviews of this device mention that one should check the safety of the product, i.e., that there is no current on the housing🥴.
Attach a grounding.
Power Regulator. The reviews of this device mention that one should check the safety of the product, i.e., that there is no current on the housing🥴. Attach a grounding.
The modification is simple: Look for the power supply of the heating rod. Cut the cable. Insert the power regulator.
Route of the Heating Rod Power Supply
One has to find the power supply of the heating rod and a suitable place to install the power regulator. The place should be easily reachable to adjust the regulator.
Heating rod. In the middle the temperature sensor. The two black cables go from the heating rod...
...to the side of the machine, then up...
...and end on the control panel.
Prepare the Regulator
Regulator with WAGO connectors. The different length of the cables is purposely, to gain a little bit of length when attaching the power supply of the heating rod.
Cutting the Power Supply of the Heating Rod
Inserting the Regulator
Inserting the regulator and putting it ins some safe place. (The distance to the power cables dennoch: ⚠️Vorsicht).
⚠️ Important
The regulator has separate connections for phase (L) and null (N). However, in the machine it may be not clear which cable supplying the heating rod is phase, in addition this may depend on the orientation of the wall plug.
👉 Check the phase depending on the orientation of the power plug. Retain the orientation of the power plug❗️
Cover
Remark
Remark
⚠️ This implementation is for testing only, just checking if this works.
