Verdict

Pros

• Speedy programmes
• Easy to use
• Fairly quiet spin
• Decent stain removal
• Good value

Cons

• Poor spin results
• Small porthole
• Cramped drum
• Poor half load eco
• Knobs can be slippy

What is the Indesit EWD 81482?

In the bargain basement for an A++ washing machine, Indesit’s My Time EWD 81482 is a 1,400rpm spin, 8kg machine available for less than £250. It’s relatively quiet, and offers sensor load adjustment and a host of standard programs that take less than an hour to complete.

The numbers stack up well for the EWD 81482. While its water consumption and half-load performance aren’t great, and the drum is too cramped for 8kg, it washes sensible sized loads well while keeping your electricity bills in check.

Indesit EWD 81482 – What’s it like to use?

The EWD 81482 mixes some old-school knob controls with a neat, modern LCD display. Three main knobs select programme, temperature and maximum spin speed, while three buttons access the delay timer, Extra Wash and Energy Saver features – more on which later.

While the three knob/three button operation is simple in principle, it isn’t without its quirks. The knobs themselves are rather smooth and slippy, and require a positive turn. That’s okay if you have dry hands. But if your hands are damp, or you have limited finger-grip strength, it will make selecting the right programme or adjusting temperature a little tricky.

The maximum temperature and spin speed are limited by the actual programme, so there’s no danger of turning the wool programme into a boil wash. You do, however, need to exercise a little caution with the programme section itself. The popular Eco Cotton programme is right beside a 90-degree Cotton programme. Move that knob one click too far and you’ll have underwear to fit a Cindy doll.

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The soap drawer is basic but pulls out easily, and programmes are labelled on its front in large bold letters that won’t have you scrabbling for the reading glasses.

A pump filter sits at the bottom, hidden behind a flap. That clung tenaciously to the machine itself when we tried to prise it open. At least it won’t fall off every time you accidentally kick it.

However, the porthole and drum are dimensionally challenged for an 8kg machine. The opening is so narrow that fancy footwork will be required to cram in larger wash items such as duvets. Moreover, the drum itself is fairly shallow from front to back, reducing its volume capacity.

The upshot is pretty much zero chance of this machine taking 8kg of dry weight clothes. Even our 80% max test at 6.4kg of dry washing proved a challenge to get into the drum; we settled on just under 6kg for the test. We have no doubt it can wash an 8kg load, but only if it’s well-folded bedding or similarly heavy, dense materials.

This is a sensor washing machine with Indesit’s water balance technology, so there isn’t a half-load per se. It weighs the load as the cycle starts and reduces water and electricity consumption relative to the size of the load. Once running, the green LCD counts down the time to finish, while LED indicators on the right side of the fascia tell you what part of the cycle your wash is at.

Given sensible load sizes and dry hands, the EWD 81482 is very simple and straightforward to use.

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Indesit EWD 81482 – How noisy is it?

The noise figures on the energy label for the EWD 81482 aren’t a million miles away from our test results. The wash noise does indeed average 50dB, which is okay by modern standards, while the spin noise actually came in some 6dB quieter than stated, at a very respectable 72dB. That’s very quiet for a budget 1,400 spin machine – and not much louder than you might have your TV.

While this is great news in terms of the spin, the wash noise is far more variable. Changing phases in the cycle, reversing rotations, the pump operating and stop-start drum action mean the wash noise varies between 40dB and 60dB.

While it does average 50dB, this more erratic sound is rather more obtrusive and annoying than a machine that runs at a consistent 50dB. If nothing else, it just goes to prove that the energy label can only be considered a rough guide to the reality for domestic appliances.

Indesit EWD 81482 – What programmes does it have?

Top of the Indesit’s 16-strong programme list are half-a-dozen Everyday Fast high-speed wash programmes that give this machine its “My Time” billing.

Shorter washes meaning more time to yourself, even if few of us actually sit around watching the drum go around until the end of the cycle. (Unless you’re a reviewer, in which case it’s an occupational hazard.)

Full 8kg (…ish) load-compatible Everyday Fast programmes cover Mix Coloureds and Cottons, both coming in at minute under the hour. That’s an unusually speedy wash for a full load in a machine this size, particularly an A++ rated one.

Wash performance is way down on the normal programmes, but these will be handy for day-to-day lightly soiled loads.

Quicker still at 45 minutes is a “Cotton” programme for up to 4kg, a 30-minute “Mixed” wash and a staggeringly speedy 20 minute “Express 20” programme. The latter is so quick that it might well be worth sitting by the machine waiting for it to finish. The Everyday Fast suite is complete with a 4.5kg synthetics wash that completes in just under the hour.

Do be aware, though, that all the Everyday Fast programmes have a limited maximum spin between 800 (20- and 30-minute cycles) and 1,200rpm (Cotton 45), so expect the wash to be pretty wet when complete.

For your specialist washes, this Indesit covers Baby clothes with extra rinsing, a Duvet cycle for duvets and loose down puffer jackets, plus gentle Wool and Silk & Curtain programmes.

For the sporty family, the Gym Kit programme covers sports items and sweaty towels (…it says so in the manual), and on the same theme there’s a dedicated “smelly trainer” programme for two pairs of Sports Shoes.

The big-hitting programmes are the two Eco Cotton cycles on which the energy label headline is based. You have a choice of 60 degree or 40 degree versions, both offering full load capacity, full 1,400rpm spin and a duration that creeps in under three hours.

That might sound pretty lengthy, but as some A++ machines have Eco programmes long enough to measure in lunar cycles, that’s fairly speedy.

Options are rather limited but Indesit has chosen a couple of our favourites. You get a delay start timer, Extra Wash – which extends the wash phase for heavily soiled loads – and Energy Saver. This uses cold water and, ideally, liquid detergent for lightly spoiled loads, giving the drum a little extra wash action to compensate.

Indesit EWD 81482 – How well does it wash?

On the first full-load test, we immediately hit a snag with our typical wash load mix of shirts, a towel, tea towels, t-shirts and some bed sheets.

The regular 80% of max dictated 6.4kg of this typical washing, which is very bulky. There simply wasn’t enough room for it in the drum. We crammed, rammed and shoved, but then had trouble closing the door and realised there wasn’t enough room for the load to move around. We reduced the load to just below 6kg and pressed on with an Eco Cotton 40 programme.

Wash results were good for a model at this price point, with our test stain strip cleaning up relatively well, even using non-bio powder.

While there were the faintest hints of the coffee and turmeric stains, the blood, ketchup and wine were suitably dispatched. The engine oil stain didn’t really show much improvement, but that isn’t unusual for basic machines using non-bio powder. Overall wash results were pretty good for the money.

Energy consumption of just over 1.1kW for the full load confirms this machine’s A++ credentials, while water consumption was also good at around 70 litres.

Spin results really let the side down, however. After the spin, the load was carrying an extra 47% of its weight in water. This is below par, even for a budget 1,200 spin machine. Indesit may well need to do some work on its drum design considering this is a 1,400 spin model.

Using the same Cotton Eco program with 40% max/3.2kg of dry washing replicated a typical half-load, although the drum was still fairly full. Indesit’s load-sensing comes into play, reducing energy and water consumption – but not by much. The half-load used only 12% less energy than the full load, and water consumption was a fairly thirsty 59 litres.

Half-loads usually show improved spin efficiency since it’s easier to spin the water out of less washing. Sadly, that improvement was only 2%, and our original load was carrying a soggy 45% of its original weight in water. That will have a significant impact on energy use and drying time if you’re using a tumble dryer after the wash.

Trying out a combination of an Everyday Fast wash and the Eco Saver feature gave some interesting results. While energy consumption plummeted to a super-frugal 0.25kW – less than a quarter of the standard 40 degree Eco Cotton half-load wash – water consumption went up to 60 litres and spin efficiency got worse!

With this load carrying 50% of its own weight in water at the end of a programme using the Eco Saver option, you’ll need plenty of drying time.

Indesit EWD 81482 – How much will it cost to run?

Living up to its A++ energy billing, the EWD 81482 will put a very low burden on your electricity bill. For an average family doing 200 full-load washes per year and 40 half-loads split 50/50 normal and Eco Saver, this machine would use less than £40 per year in electricity.

The fly in that ointment is the very poor half-load energy results on the normal Eco Cotton programme. Clearly, this machine is at its best well loaded-up. If you do want to do a half-load, make sure it’s very lightly soiled so you can use the Energy Saver function for lowest energy half-load washing.

Water consumption is impressive on the main full-load Cotton wash, so this machine will be relatively easy on your metered water costs. Using the same usage calculation as above, over the course of a year this machine would use around 16.8 cubic meters of water. That is just shy of £60 for those paying the national average of £3.50 per cubic meter for combined supply and waste.

The half-load Energy Saver was much heavier on water than we’d have anticipated, so not the best option for metered customers. Stick to the main programmes and keep this Indesit fully loaded and it will reward you with respectably low running costs.

Should I buy the Indesit EWD 81482?

While the EWD81482 has its foibles, the overall package is an attractive one at this price – but there are some caveats.

The drum is cramped and it isn’t really an 8kg machine; half-load results are poor and spin efficiency is frankly appalling. Yet neither of the latter issues are real deal breakers, unless you regularly wash small loads or dry in a tumble dryer.

If neither of those apply, then its solid wash performance, low resource consumption on full load, good spread of programmes and very attractive asking price make the EWD 81482 a solid buy.

Verdict

A solid budget performer with low running costs; at its best with full loads and in homes with space to hang washing to dry.

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