Camping Washing Machine vs Launderette: Is a 2kg Portable Worth It?
A portable caravan washing machine takes a 2 kg load, runs a cycle in twelve to fifteen minutes, and draws 180W. A site launderette costs a few pounds a load, needs coins or an app, and involves carrying wet washing across a field in the rain. Whether the machine is worth it comes down to how long you go away for, how many of you there are, and how much you value not queuing.
Here is the arithmetic and the practical reality, so you can decide rather than guess.
What a portable machine actually is
It is not a small version of a domestic washing machine. It is a twin-tub descendant: a drum that agitates, and in most cases a separate spinner. It does not heat water, which is why it draws 180W rather than 2,000W. You fill it with water at the temperature you want it, it agitates for a set time, you drain it, and you spin.
The Mestic Washing Machine MW-100 is rated 180W at 220-240V, takes a 2 kg filling weight, runs a 12 to 15 minute wash cycle with an adjustable 15 minute timer, measures 36 x 35.5 x 50.5 cm, weighs 4.8 kg and is rated at 49 dB.
Two of those numbers matter more than the rest. The 180W means it is electrically trivial: at 230V that is 0.8A, so it will run on any hook-up including a 6A pitch, alongside a heater, without any of the arithmetic that governs kettles and air fryers. The 2 kg load means it is a small-and-often machine, not a weekly-wash machine.
The cost comparison
At 180W a fifteen minute cycle uses 0.045 kWh. At an example metered rate of 30p per kWh that is about 1.4p in electricity, plus detergent and the water.
| Portable machine | Site launderette | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost per load | Around 2p in electricity plus detergent | Typically a few pounds per wash, more with a dryer |
| Load size | 2 kg | Full domestic drum |
| Cycle time | 12 to 15 minutes | 30 to 60 minutes plus waiting |
| Water heating | You supply the hot water | Heated by the machine |
| Convenience | In the awning, whenever you like | Depends on availability and opening hours |
| Space cost | 36 x 35.5 x 50.5 cm carried permanently | None |
On pure running cost the portable machine wins overwhelmingly. The honest question is whether it pays back the space it occupies, and how many launderette loads you would actually have done.
Where it makes sense
- Long tours. Two weeks or more, where the alternative is either a launderette run or packing fourteen days of clothes.
- Families with young children. The 2 kg load is well suited to small items, and the volume of small items is exactly the problem.
- Seasonal pitches and static caravans. The machine lives there, so the space cost disappears entirely.
- Sites without a launderette. Common on smaller sites and CLs.
- Wet trips. Winter and shoulder-season touring generates far more washing than a dry July week.
- Continental touring. Where launderette availability and cost are less predictable.
Where it does not
- Weekends and short breaks. Take enough clothes and wash at home.
- Small vans with no storage to spare. It is a rigid box that has to live somewhere.
- Bedding and towels. A 2 kg load will not take a duvet cover, and towels are heavy when wet.
- If you have no practical drying option. This is the one that catches people out.
The drying problem, which is the real constraint
The machine is the easy half. Getting things dry in a caravan in November is the hard half, and it is where the plan usually falls down.
Do not dry washing inside the van. Every gram of water that evaporates from a wet shirt goes into the air, condenses on the windows and walls, and becomes the damp problem you spend the rest of the winter fighting. It also makes the interior feel colder, so you burn more electricity heating it.
Realistic options:
- Spin thoroughly first. The spin removes far more water than any amount of hanging.
- Dry in the awning, with ventilation, ideally with some airflow through it.
- Use a site dryer for the final stage even if you washed yourself. It is usually cheaper than the wash cycle and solves the whole problem.
- Wash small and often, so you are drying two or three items rather than a full load.
That last point is the key to making a 2 kg machine work. Washing a small load every day or two is far more practical in a caravan than trying to replicate a domestic weekly wash.
Running it alongside everything else
At 0.8A the machine is one of the few appliances that never competes for your hook-up allowance. You can run it with a 1,500W heater on a 10A pitch and still have around 600W spare. Compare that with a kettle, which at 1,000W leaves you having to turn the heater down.
If you are building a winter kit around a limited supply, the washing machine is one of the easy decisions.
The verdict
Worth it for long tours, families, seasonal pitches and anyone touring through the wet half of the year. Not worth it for weekends, or for anyone without a sheltered space to dry things. The electricity cost is negligible either way, so the decision is really about storage space and drying, not about running cost.