Beko WMB91242LC review

The Beko WMB91242LC might have a budget price, but it’s full of features that you’d perhaps expect to find on more expensive machines only. A large 9kg washing machine drum makes it perfect for washing duvets, an eco setting promises efficient and cheap cycles and 16 programs are available, including a 14-minute refresh wash. For a washing machine that costs under £300, this sounds like great value. Our testing looks at all the variables, from power usage to cleaning performance, to see how good it really is.

POWER AND WATER USAGE

To get a clear idea of how well washing machines clean, we always test a number of cycles to compare the results. First off: Cotton 30C. Our 3kg test load went through the wash on the default 1200 spin speed, which retained 1.2kg of water and used 83L of water. This is quite high compared with other models we’ve tested. Power usage was 0.48kW, which combined with water usage, worked out at a total cost per cycle of 31p.

On Cotton 40C, the cost per cycle increased by 3p. Water retention worked out the same at 1.2kg on the default 1200 spin speed, water used was again the same at 83L, but power usage increased to 0.73kW.

Moving on to Synthetics 40C with a spin speed of 1200, water retention was higher at 1.35kg, total water used was far lower than the other programs at 58L, and power recorded at 0.55kW. This resulted in a lower cost per cycle at 25p, which is actually fairly average.

It was the Eco 20C cycle that we were most excited about. On paper, this is a huge selling point, especially for a washing machine at this price point. Water retention was the lowest of all the Beko’s cycles we tested, at 1.1kg, water used was again the lowest at 47L, as was power usage at 0.13kW. This all adds up to a super-low running cost, at just 15p per cycle.

We also calculated running costs based on the EU Energy Label, which gives you annual electricity and water consumption figures for a year’s use, based on 220 full loads using a variety of programmed cycles. From this we can work out the average cost of a wash cycle.

Its 9kg capacity should help save costs, as you can use fewer washing cycles per year

Using the EU Energy Label we worked out annual running costs (see how we test washing machines for more information). This gave us running costs of £57.65 for high usage, £43.24 for medium usage and £28.82 for low usage. These costs include water, waste water and electricity based on the UK average. For a 9kg drum-sized machine, these figures were quite competitive, though not quite the cheapest costs we’ve seen.