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Thanks in advance for the feedback. My family will be building our dream home and moving to Europe in a few years. I’ve lived in various regions of the world and one of the biggest conveniences that I missed while being away from the US was American style washing machines and dryers. American washing machine cycle times are half their international counterparts and American vented dryers just get the job done compared to international ventless dryers or hang drying.

I really want to find a way to use imported American (Samsung or LG) washing machines and dryers in our new home. I’m not an electrical engineer, but through all my research I understand that I would need to solve for both the voltage difference (120 V vs 240 V) and the frequency difference (60 Hz vs 50 Hz).

Ultimately the feedback I am hoping for is what type of solution would be the easiest to use to resolve this problem.

Here are some options that I have thought of that may work:

Option 1: I read about someone replacing some of the internal parts of the 120 V machines with comparable parts from 240 V machines. I think this assumes that you can find a “matching” international model with a similar logic/motherboard (maybe not), which for a washing machine might be doable, but since vented dryers really aren’t made for the international market that might not be possible.

Option 2: Buy a heavy-duty voltage and frequency converter. This would cost a few thousand each and given that we may have more than one set of washers/dryers this would be very costly.

Option 3: Buy Miele commercial washing machines and venter dryers out of Germany. They are around $6K a pair which is roughly 3X the price of high-end American Samsung or LG machines.

Option 4: We are building our home from the ground up, so find an electrician that can convert some of the power coming into the house to 120 V, 50 Hz. The issue is finding someone that is able to do this since this would likely be against regulations and maybe more costly than Option 2.

Option 5: We plan to install a solar panel and battery pack system for our home. I’m wondering whether some of the power from this system can be distributed as 120 V, 50 Hz and dedicated to our washer and dry.

Other Options?

Transistor
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mjk39
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  • Europe is a big and diverse place. It will help if you say where exactly. – fraxinus Jul 24 '21 at 16:31
  • If the RPM is line frequency dependent, you might consider **option 6** Bosch front loaders – Tony Stewart EE75 Jul 24 '21 at 16:58
  • This would be Portugal. – mjk39 Jul 24 '21 at 17:02
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    Simple and reliable solution: Buy new ones. – Mitu Raj Jul 24 '21 at 20:44
  • Electrically heated dryers run on 240 -- that's why there's a giant plug back there, instead of the normal NEMA 1-15. You can probably run the washer off of a transformer; just make it big enough. By the time you're done, those Miele dryers may look cheap. – TimWescott Jul 24 '21 at 21:07
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    "American washing machine cycle times are half their international counterparts" They need a more aggressive washing powder, more water and more electrical energy to do the job in half the time. But the washed textiles will be ruined in less time. – Uwe Jun 02 '22 at 03:02

3 Answers3

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Most of the US stuff works at 120V/50Hz just fine. You may only need a transformer. Newer, inverter-based and CPU-controlled stuff generally doesn't care about the input frequency.

Some US home equipment is even made for 240V and can be run directly off European 220-240 grid (our 220, 230 and 240 standards are really not different if one includes the over/undervoltage tolerance).

But: European countries have their nasty electrical codes just like US do. In practice, you may bring your 120V equipment and even run it off a transformer, on the other hand you may not be really allowed to. What's more, European electrical codes differ somewhat between countries and it is good to check the local one first.

Even if you do find someone to wire it all for you, you may get a fine or an insurance claim rightfully rejected later.

But#2: Electricity and water prices. European washing machines and dryers differ from US ones for a reason. If you are hessitant about Miele because of their prices, think twice about long-run expenses.

A transformer doesn't add efficiency either, just take my word.

Here you have

Option 6: Get some high-end EU washing machine and dryer (personal oppinion: don't get them combined) and get used to them. Samsung and LG are popular brands here, too.

High-end ones (and even some low-end ones) have "accelerated" modes of operation that one can use when needed and "normal" modes when not really in a hurry.

p.s. wellcome to the better-electrical-grid part of the world.

fraxinus
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  • We plan to minimize our utilization of public water and electricity by building as robust a hybrid solar system along with rain water collection system to be as energy and cost efficient as possible especially given the power rates in Portugal. – mjk39 Jul 24 '21 at 17:07
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    What makes you think that EU washing machines are water, energy and time inefficient? Especially compared to USA models? Could it be that the EU ones take a long time because they reduce consumption of water and energy? – D Duck Jul 24 '21 at 18:02
  • I don't think the EU machines are water or energy inefficient. My understanding is that they function in a manner that doesn't satisfy my American need for speed because they actually try to be water and energy efficient. – mjk39 Jul 24 '21 at 18:27
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    @mjk39 I'm not sure that "Portugal" and "need for speed" go together. – Andrew Morton Jul 24 '21 at 19:11
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There's really no way to do this that would be easier than just getting a new washing machine and dryer designed for your 230 V 50 Hz mains. Fraxinus's answer isn't wrong, but does hide some complexity you're likely to run into: Washing machines and dryers are frequency-sensitive loads.

The electronics won't care, as they just rectify the line frequency to DC anyway. And the heater in the dryer won't care either, as it's just a plain old resistor, albeit a very large one. But the speed of an AC motor is intimately tied to the line frequency. You might think that's not too big a problem, and in many cases it isn't; the motor running 16% slower on a 50 Hz line wouldn't be a problem mechanically at all. But it would be a problem electrically.

A motor is also a generator. When spinning, the motor produces a voltage across its windings that opposes the applied voltage, which reduces the current through the motor. This voltage (called "back EMF") is proportional to the motor's speed, and with a lower speed the back EMF will be lower as well. This means that the motor, which is designed to operate with some amount of current through its windings, will actually be operating at some larger (likely significantly larger, but it depends on the motor and circuitry around it) current. This is not good for the motor, which is already likely running close to the limit of its ratings (hey, higher-rated motors are more expensive), and even if the appliances work at first, they won't likely last long. The higher current will also go through any other circuitry in line with the motor and quite possibly damage that as well.

Now that I've finished scaring you off, let me tell you why it quite possibly will work:

If you have sufficiently modern appliances, it's possible that they have a motor speed controller built in. This would likely render them immune to the effects of incorrect line frequency, as the speed controller is just a VFD that changes the drive frequency of the motor to adjust its speed. I would expect this is more likely to be used in a washer than a dryer, because while I've had washers that change speeds throughout a cycle (necessitating some form of speed control), I've never seen that in a dryer. I imagine they probably do exist, though, and you could specifically seek that out (though you may have to contact the manufacturer directly, as I doubt the average salesperson would know).

And one more note: Washing machines and dryers are huge loads, especially dryers. The electronics in either will consume only a handful of watts, even in the highest-end models, but the motors will probably take a few hundred watts, and the dryer's heating element a few thousand. A dryer is such a hefty load that it's one of the very few appliances commonly run on 240 volts in the US (yes, we do have 240 volt power here), to cut down on current. If you use a transformer for this, you will need a big transformer. Such transformers do exist, and you can get one; it will just be expensive.

Hearth
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  • Thanks for all the information. It'll take time for me to dissect what you wrote so hopefully I don't simplify this too much, but if the issue is the impact of the frequency on the AC motor, could one not replace that motor with a comparable locally made washer or dryer motor? – mjk39 Jul 24 '21 at 18:24
  • Yes, that is also an option. It'd have to be rated properly though; it's unlikely you'll be able to find a 120 V 50 Hz motor, but you may well find ones with sufficient margin in their ratings that they could run on 120 volts just fine. – Hearth Jul 24 '21 at 19:07
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Option 5: We plan to install a solar panel and battery pack system for our home. I’m wondering whether some of the power from this system can be distributed as 120 V, 50 Hz and dedicated to our washer and dry.

BOOM! That's it.

Since you're going to have a solar/battery system anyway, yup. Just tap the battery at the DC level and have a North American 120/240V/60Hz inverter running off battery. Solves all the problems.

The only issue is that a dryer cycle of 1 hour of 5500 VA is going to be a real gut-punch to the battery. The solution is to add a DC battery charger that is refilling the battery at 7000 VA (enough for simultaneous washer and dryer, plus a bit of reserve) so the battery is not set back. This charger would run on Euro 230V/50Hz.

Essentially, we're leveraging the battery system you already plan to have, and using it for 120V and 50-60Hz conversion by adding a charger you'll want anyway, plus an inverter.

This only works because you're affluent enough to pull it off, i.e. will have the battery. As a general rule, I consider hauling electrical appliances across oceans to be sheer madness. They make appliances on that continent, honest they do! Your complaint about appliance performance is a matter of appliance selection. American units are pretty cheap, so you shouldn't need to go to a high-end unit to have the same functionality.

The defining feature of American cheap dryers is a dryer vent. Your house will need the vent. Your European location may be pressuring you to use a ventless dryer because there isn't a vent. Running an American vent dryer without a vent is not going to work. It will degrade performance because it will be ingesting 100% humidity air! Effectively it turns the dryer into a condensing dryer using your whole house as the condenser! It will add gallons of condensation to your house, including in places that are not accessible to clean, and that will breed mold. Don't try it.

Harper - Reinstate Monica
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    @Agent_L Read the question. OP is already planning a battery system. I'm just taking advantage of it. As far as your opinion of battery's practicality, I'll be gracious and point out it's a fast moving field, 4 years ago I'd have agreed with you. – Harper - Reinstate Monica Jun 02 '22 at 09:28