In your part of the world, <em>if</em> someone has a washing machine, where is it usually kept?
It's a funny little cultural difference I'm curious about.
I've noticed that Russian washing machines are often fitted in the bathroom. This makes some sense, since there may well not be useable space elsewhere for such a large and awkwardly shaped thing. Plus, it keeps a lot of the plumbing and especially steamy fittings together in one place. It's something I've never seen in the UK, though, where they're almost always in kitchens. So I've started to ponder the <em>fascinating</em> question of national average washing machine location...
Interesting question, as I repair washing machines for a living. The vast majority of them are located in kitchens in the UK, with a small percentage in utility rooms/garages/out buildings. It's very rare to come across a washing machine installed in a bathroom here, so rare in fact, that if I come across one in a bathroom I refuse to get involved with it. The regulations in the UK regarding the installation of electrical appliances in bathrooms is so strict that it's not worth getting involved with. Electric showers/shaver points etc are designed to be installed and used in bathrooms when correctly installed. Washing machines are not, all that water/steam/condensation, naked wet bodies, and electrical equipment not designed for that environment, not a good combination. Manufacturers probably state in the installation instructions that the machine should not be installed in a bathroom, should anyone subsequently install/service/repair that machine in a bathroom they become liable.
That's brilliant, Andy. Thanks. I never would have thought this question would bring out such specialist insider knowledge. Much appreciated!
In my part of the world, It depends where people have a space in their houses if they don't have a utility room (which is not common in the old houses here), so it's either in the bathroom or in the kitchen. My house is old so we don't have a utility room, and we keep our washing machine and dryer in the kitchen :)
My country is Turkey and we think, there is no important place for washing machine. Sometimes, you can see washing machine bathroom or again you can see in kitchen. It changes in every family. In shortly, which part of home is empty, we fit washing machine in that part.
The washing machine is in our kitchen, adjacent to the cooker and as you say Dominic that is a common setup in the UK. Certainly the case for a lot of houses that I've been to over the years.
In my old house there was a utility room which contained the washing machine, but I think a lot of houses here aren't big enough to have the luxury of a utility room.
