Jon is back in a brand new series…Shop Smart Save Money! In his premium vs budget challenge this week Jon’s testing domestic automatic washing machines at Cando Laundry and Linen in South Wales with Founder Dan Shepard. Does the premium option offer an overall better wash and cause less energy than the budget option? We find out as he puts the cheaper Indesit BWE91496X machine up against the premium option Miele WED164.
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Domestic automatic washing machines have been around since the 1930s and nowadays they’re everywhere with over 97% of UK households using one it’s arguably one of the most important appliances we own with many households using them over 200 times a year so when you want to purchase a new washer the question is
Should you invest in a premium machine or would a budget Appliance be better value for money today I’m giving two 9 kg capacity machines a spin to find out first up is this premium option from Germany the MAA w164 earlier this year it got a Best Buy
And top ecob buy awards from consumer Champions which and it’s got a class A energy rating which should mean its economical d run but all these features don’t come cheap the maer costs £ 877 our budget model is from Italy and this indicate which is a Speed Wash
Function comes in at around a third of the price at £39.99 it still has a Class A energy rating and all the functions you’d expect from your washing machine question is can it keep a clean sheet against the premium competition in a series of real world
Tests to find out I’m spending the day at can do laundry and linen a commercial laundry business in South Wales Dan the sheeper founded the company when he was just 19 and what he doesn’t know about washing machines isn’t worth knowing Dan wonderful to see you thank you for helping us out with
This test I mean clearly here you do masses of laery how how many items do you get through in a week we process quarter of a million items a week wow predominantly based with the hospitality sector cleaning bed linen table linen tow linen gosh our first test of the day
Is going to determine which of our machines performs best when washing on eco mode with the cost of electricity Rising dramatically in recent years finding ways to reduce energy use around the home is more important than ever both of these machines we’re testing today have Eco modes how can we put them
To the test well I know a couple of locals that I’m sure will be happy to help so if you take these bags go fill them up and then we’ll go put them to the test I’ll tell them you sent me yeah I go on a quick tour of South Wales
Picking up grubby garments to give our washing machines a tough workout first stop a steel Workshop ah Joseph great to see You’ got some mkey overalls got the over superb they look perfect for my washing machine test good excellent thank you very much hello Tony hello now I’m told you
Had some Chef’s gear for me I do suit to be grubby here you go aha thank you very Much ah Reese he John great to see you you too you should have some Mucky rugby Jersey I do indeed see how you get on with them excellent thank you very much cheers now bye-bye hey John yes I’ve got some stuff which I think should be uh quite testing
Serious stains but look at that time to load the machines Dan has the premium Meer and I have the budget indic it so we going to Trav both on the Eco 40 to 60 setting to measure the amount of energy both machines use we’re plugging them into Power meters and to
Make it a fair test we’re using identical loads with the same domestic detergent in both straight away there’s an obvious difference between them I can’t help noticing you’ve got a smaller door on your even though they’re both 9 kilo Capac yes it is a bit awkward if you got a big
Load obviously big load small door doesn’t necessarily go hand in hand the Meer has 11 wash cycles that are selected using a dial most modern washing machines have an eco mode which runs for longer than a normal cycle but uses less water and operates at a lower temperature it
Reduces the amount of electricity used because 90% of the machine’s energy consumption comes from heating the water then how long do yours going to take mine’s going to take 3 hours and 29 minutes John right so on to the indet and uh bigger door my budget indic it
Has an impressive 16 different Cycles Eco 40 to 60 is nine szz around to 9 and the duration which is a bit longer than yours at 345 well I think we better get them washing yeah after nearly 4 hours of washing it’s time to see how they got
On the premium Meer used 0.84 KW hours of energy which equates to roughly 25p at current electricity prices the budget indic it despite running for 16 minutes longer used slightly less energy but not enough to change how much it cost to run still 25 but will there be any difference in
The quality of their cleaning the chef’s gear is pretty equal I can’t see a difference between them that mean they’ve both done very well at getting rid of all the food stains let’s move on to the rugby jerseys okay so again both of them did a really good job I mean
They look well used but clean nonetheless and they smell really good considering what we had to deal with before yes I think good good result on what I am really interested to see is how the overalls stood up to the test so they did a good job considering that
These are old stains paint and oil and stuff like that you know some of these stainers would probably need a bit more heat so the quality of the wash is very similar the energy consumption is very similar and even the time they take is similar yes they’re pretty equal in the
Results so overall you think it’s a draw I think it’s a draw for test one absolutely for our second test we’re going to see how the machines cope when it comes to removing tough stains on whites the most challenging wash for any household so I thought we’d do some
White wash testing on a couple of napkins Aha and you must get through loads of these I guess we get through about 50,000 napkins a week actually so yeah we see a fair few time to make some mess with a selection of the worst everyday stains for our washing machines to try and
Remove here’s nain one okay so let’s start on the pen yep lipstick lipstick I imagine that’s going to be quite a challenge for any washing machine it pretty much is one of the most difficult things to get out for any kind of linen next a splash of coffee then some
Fake tan it’s one of the most difficult things to get out that’s my stain of choice red wine very good choice and now smear of gravy natural and all those stains are repeated on a second napkin exit Okay jolly good before we commence the cleaning we need to measure
How dirty our napkins truly are this machine is a digii it uses a professional camera and Advanced software to examine color in forensic detail it’s the gold standard for measuring color and will detect the tiniest stain Left Behind after the clean see what lipstick is really ingrained see the the pattern of the
Actual napkin the cotton a baseline image from both napkins before the wash will enable us to find out with Precision which machine is best again we’re using identical detergent in each machine and we’ve set them to the the same cycle this time 60° cotton and to replicate the sort of wash
You do at home we’re also adding a large bed sheet when the machines finish their Cycles we give the napkins of visual inspection well let’s see what’s come out in the wash is it a white wash well not quite it’s quite similar in both washes in all fairness yes um you can
Obviously see that the lipstick is quite prevalent as you predicted that was going to be the most difficult most difficult but the machines did pretty good in removing your red wi and uh the fake tan has come out better than you actually expected much better than I
Actually thought to be honest I would be very hard pushed to determine which one’s best out of the two yeah yeah no agreed Dan’s expert eye can’t spot any difference but what will the digi be able to detect by comparing them to the images taken before the wash the machine
Assesses the percentage of each St stain that’s been removed and here are the results what we have just calculated is a as an average across all six stains so machine one which is the premium one provided a stain removal scoring of 88.8 6 it’s got rid of
8.86% of the stains it did indeed yes and then the budget provides an 87. 31 on average the premium Meer removed 1 and 1/2% more of the stains than the budget indic it so a slight advantage to the Meer in test too marginally marginally so after a day testing the
Eco and whitewash cycles of both washing machines which does Dan think offers best value for money considering that there’s only 1 and a half% stain removal difference and the premium is nearly three times as expensive as the budget I’d say the budget wins it did reasonably well at everything certainly was impressive
Cleaning it does take longer to do everything was a bit noisier I I agree with you I think the indic it clearly represents better value for money so the winner is going to be the budget indices on this occasion it is yes brilliant thanks for that money-saving advice John
39 Comments
"What he doesn't know about washing machines isn't worth knowing" Quite happy with both machines plugged into an almost fully wound 13A extension lead.
I can see this is made for TV, high production values, a bit of banter. It is entertaining, but not much informative.
You should have done the colorimeter test three times and average the result. You didn't measure water consumption and noise emissions. You didn't tear down the machines to inspect build quality.
The general impression is that Miele is better quality and will last longer, but Indesit Is so cheap if it breaks you can replace it and still cheaper than the Miele. Good for the wallet, not so good for the planet
I ouned that indesit it lasted 8 years used at least 3 time a weck 5wen it was sumer
I am sure both washing machines wash to more or less the same standard, this video is proof of that. As many pointed out, it is more about how long it will last. I've had an Indesit from 2002 till 2008. It did it's job and I never had to repair it. When I moved to another city the apartment I rented had a Miele Washing machine so I decided to leave the old one to the new tenants which were also friends of mine. They had to change it in 2011. I'm not sure what happened to it but they told me that repairing would cost more than a new one. The Miele I received with the apartment was already nearly 20 years old (1989), at the time I though I should have kept the one I had before well… here I am January 3rd 2024 and my Miele is still running. I had to have it repaired only once, in 2018 the suspension gave up, that costed me 75 pounds. In the end I believe Miele are better machines overall: better built and sturdier than a budget one. The cost to repair it varies wildly. Where I live now there are two authorized Miele services; one downtown and the other outside the city but their price list is quite different and I mean really different. I would also like to point out that a Miele at almost nine hundred pounds is not their top of the line, so the brand might be premium and the machine good enough but the top of the line nearly doubles that price (the one I have costed almost seven hundred pounds… in 1989).
Luck plays a card on how long your washing machine lasts, so does handling, frequency, the quality of water and the products you use. However there's no doubt that a budget machine needs a much bigger lucky card than a premium one. Does this justify the price difference? Only if you can afford it. When I had to buy I bought Indesit, treated it like a lady and in return she never failed. This Miele I have has no ECO program so it is a big spender, but it does the job like the first day and I am fairly sure that "it" will be there, still running, whilst I am being buried six feet under.
The Miele they tested WED164 is a Poland made machine with a Glaron K outer drum. Miele now have a cheaper range of machines made in Poland. Only the machines £999 and over are made in Germany, these have cast iron weights and stainless steel outer drums. I don’t know if there is a difference in quality, there shouldn’t be if the Glaron K plastic drums are splittable for the bearings to be replaced, rather than a sealed drum.
My Miele washer is 17 years old, “A proper Miele” made in 2006, it has a heavy stainless steel Metal door with an electric push door button opening and perspexed control panel to stop the text being wiped off which is absent on the new machines.
A lot of manufacturers have cheapened the quality of their machines in order to compete with price by cost cutting. But when you cut manufacturing costs, you cut quality and reliability.
This is the most moronic review I have ever seen. If you have a stain, you pretreat, you use specialist removers and then you throw it in the washer – and repeat as needed, nobody ever bought a washing machine thinking it will remove stains better than another. The Indesit is a piece of landfill in waiting, crap build and probably will spend more time being repaired than you get use out of it.
What is the average life span of each machine ?
I have owned both Indesit and Miele washing machines. Both indesit lasted 4 years each , before dying , the first Miele lasted 12 years , the second one is now 7 years old and still going. Total spend on Indesits was £600 , so £75 per year. Miele total cost £900 , so £48 per year .. easy winner PS I did get the second Miele from thier returns shop for £350 , it hadnt been used and had a small scratch on the door
Those machines ain't getting rid of my skids
Cheapest Miele machine.. compare it to an actual top end machine
No offence to the Gadget Show, but this is the problem with 'TV' on Youtube, it is superficial. Everyone wants to know about the longevity of these appliances. A proper Youtube version of this "test" would have been done by a washing machine repair professional.
Before buying look up how much spares like bearing assemblies are and if there are videos on how to replace them. In my AEG Lavamat they have started to go at 5 years but replacement was 30GBP in parts and 2h in my time. Hope it is good for another 5 years.
I had myself 25 year old Miele and comparing it to the 3 year old Miele W1 is a joke. W1 already broke down. As a repair guy, I can tell you that for the last 8-10 years, Miele is not what it used to be.
Speed Queen, buy one and keep it for half a century.
It's not money saving when you have to replace the Indesit probably 4 to 6 times over the life of the miele
I've been using a budget Indesit washing machine for 13 years and I don't have any problems. In general, I don't like crammed washing machines with electronics, sensors, sensors and I still don't know what! The only task of the washing machine is to wash!
My Indesit washes 2-3 times a week. I bought it in 1999, still working without repairing.
Regardless of where the machine was assembled or designed, all of the parts nowadays are made in China.
There is no more quality..
I've just replaced a Hotpoint after 17 years that cost £299 🤣 and never had a fault. I've replaced it with another Hotpoint…I think Whirlpool own both Indesit and Hotpoint. I think it's luck of the draw with washers to be honest.
For a 200 years and more old tecnique to wash clothes all machines are very close to how they perform. In the end you pay for reliability. The companies have precalculated the cost of performance and that is what you pay. Buy budget and you will replace it in 3 years in ten years you will pay the same as for one premium. It also depend on locality like water and what chemicals you are using. Hard water is a killer no matter if budget or premium price.
Also have to add that quality of appliences is different today than 20 years ago. Today everyone is saving costs in materials they use
My Indesit washer dryer is currently 14 years old, moved to 3 houses and still running fine with no issues at any point. I order for a model 3 times the price to be "better value" it'd need to last 42 years. I don't think I've got another 42 years in me, so I'll stick with a cheap one again when this ones dies. Sure, it's noiser than premium models, but it's in the laundry room so I just close the door and you then can't hear it.
As others have commented – the extra cost of the Miele is due to the build quality and longevity. The lifecycle cost of the Miele will actually be less than the Indesit. Also the through-life carbon footprint will be significantly lower for the Miele. In real terms, the Miele is no more expensive than an average quality machine of 30 or 40 years ago, which was both long lived at 10 to 12 years and repairable (though the Miele will probably last much longer still). Modern cheap machines are thrown away every 2 to 3 years. Buy cheap now, pay more in the long run and trash the planet in the process. This just about sums up all that is wrong with our consumption led economy.
4 years ago I bought a really expensive premium brand washing machine. It broke within 3 months the brand didn't have their own engineers so it took weeks for them to attempt to fix it. When they failed they wanted another 3 weeks. I returned it. Bought a budget brand less than half the price worked perfectly. Oddly bought a heat pump dryer with the same premium brand that broke to. They did fix that though. I won't waste money on a premium brand again.
With regards to warranty people need to realise goods need to be fit for purpose and know their statutory consumer rights. Certain high street electrical dealers seem to completely ignore these unless quoted at them.
I
Utterly pointless.
When choosing a machine though, it is also important to know which machines are more durable.
Indesit machines on average, don't last very long with average household use. Most indesit machines will last 2-3 years at best. Whereas Miele machines are designed to last much longer, and generally have a longer warranty than budget brands.
But I suppose you could buy Three indesit machines almost, for the price of One Miele machine. However, that means that there is more waste going to landfill, if you have to buy a new machine more frequently. So there is much more to think about when choosing a machine, besides wash performance and energy efficiency alone. Some people may also need to consider the noise level of their chosen machine.
You'll buy 4 budget machines in the time you own a miele
I had indesit washing machine always having it repaired changed to lg and never looked back looks sleek washes brilliant and clothes come out almost dry long spin steam self cleaning detergent draw fir not much more than the indesit
Why not test a real budget machine like the 6 kg ones you get in Argos for £200 lol
Why do rich people not buy industrial machines?
Che schifo Indesit.
I agree with longevity and cost of parts. However I have an Indesit and it has been hammered and lasted 9 years. Can't beat the 26 years. However 3x cost ie 3×9 = 27 yrs. Are they both the same!
The 1 percent could be margin of error.
This test doesn't make any sense if you don't factor in build quality and longevity. It's like saying you might as well buy a Dacia instead of a BMW, because they both get you to destinations, but the Dacia is loads cheaper.
The Miele will last you the rest of your life.
I wouldn't buy either brand. I would want longer than a miserable two year warrantee on a washing machine sold at Miele prices, especially given their high prices for repair and spare parts, if it fails after 2 year, you could end up paying more than the price of a new Indesit for the repair! They used to have the confidence in their machines to provide a 10 year guarantee as standard, that plus their build quality made them worth considering. Indesit on the other hand have a sealed tub and low build quality, I'd pay a bit more for better quality and reliability.
My previous Miele lasted 32 years and was used for multiple washes on a daily basis. It didn’t need an engineer visit in all that time. I doubt any other make of machine would last that long and this video comparison has not taken into account build quality
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I bought Indesit top loader washing machine, it was worst buy ever. Heater went bad in only 3 months. upper door began to rust in only 6 moths, now after 4 years half of the door is rusty and have holes on it…
You also missed about comparing reliability, longevity and build quality. Not a very fair test.