The material from which the heater is made. It is a tubular electric heater that heats the water in the machine to the desired temperature. Its durability and resistance to limescale depend on the material of the heating element. The following materials can be applied to date:
— Stainless steel. The classic material, used most widely, provides good efficiency. Hovewer, steel heating elements are prone to the formation of limescale, which can disable the heater and will need to be changed. Therefore, with the high hardness of the water used for washing, it is recommended to use a special protective agent.
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With ceramic coating. The main feature of the ceramic coating is its high resistance to scale formation, due to which such heaters can last much longer than steel heaters without additional protection, even with hard water. On the other hand, machines with ceramic heating elements are more expensive, all other things being equal.
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Nickel plated. Another option is designed to reduce the formation of scale on heating elements. Such a coating ensures the durability of the heating element, while it is considered more efficient and energy-saving than ceramics because nickel has a high thermal conductivity
— No heater. The absence of any heating element in the design of the machine. This feature is typical for the
semi-automatic models..., where you need to fill in water manually. Such machines are designed for relatively simple washing; they have a minimum of features and are noticeably inferior to automatic models in terms of washing efficiency. On the other hand, they are much more convenient to transport and are well suited for conditions where there is no way to connect a machine to the water supply.The presence in the machine
additional hatch designed for reloading laundry right in the process of washing (although this will have to pause the programme). Such a hatch usually takes the form of a small "door" on the main door of the washing machine; by opening this “door”, you can put the necessary items in a special compartment, and when closed, they will “unload” inside the drum.
The main purpose of this function is obvious: reloading the machine with items that the user remembered after the start of washing. Reloading eliminates the need to run a separate wash cycle for these items (or stop the current programme, drain the water and start all over again). Also note that this feature can be useful in other situations: for example, you can first load laundry for pre-washing, and when the preliminary programme is over, add laundry that does not require such washing to them.
