Most DC rowhouses don't have an attached garage, but plenty of homes still put laundry somewhere the heat doesn't reach. Detached garages behind houses in upper Northwest and parts of Northeast, unfinished storage basements under older rows, and enclosed back porches that were turned into laundry rooms can all drop into the 30s during a January cold snap. Washer and dryer manuals set a minimum temperature for exactly these spaces.
The limits in the manuals
Top-load washer (Whirlpool guide W10150593A). The installation instructions say to keep the washer out of service and out of storage anywhere it reaches 32°F or colder, since leftover water inside can freeze and damage parts. They point to the user instructions for winterizing, say not to install or store the washer where it will be exposed to the weather, and allow a maximum floor slope of 1 inch under the washer.
Commercial front-load washer (Whirlpool CHW9050/CHW9060). The installation instructions set the same floor: don't operate the washer below 32°F, with the same explanation about water left inside.
Electric dryer (Whirlpool 29-inch models, guide W10617663C). The dryer guide says not to operate the dryer below 45°F. At lower temperatures the dryer might not shut off at the end of an automatic cycle, and drying times can be extended. It also says the dryer must not be installed or stored where it's exposed to water or weather, notes that some codes limit dryers in garages, and allows a floor slope of up to 1 inch, with an Extended Dryer Feet Kit (part 279810) for steeper floors.
Gas dryer (Whirlpool guide 3405338). The gas dryer instructions repeat the 45°F room temperature limit and add that a gas dryer in a garage has to be raised at least 18 inches off the floor.
Notice that the dryer's limit is 13 degrees higher than the washer's. A space that stays just above freezing protects the washer but is still too cold for the dryer.
Why cold causes trouble
Water hides inside a washer. Even after a drain cycle, water sits in the inlet valve, pump, drain hose and the bottom of the tub. When it freezes it expands, and plastic valve bodies and pump housings crack. The damage often shows up as a leak days later when the space warms.
Supply lines freeze before the washer does. Pipes to a garage or porch often run along exterior walls or through unheated crawlspaces. A frozen line means no fill on a cold morning, and a split line means a flood when it thaws.
Dryer sensing depends on room air. Automatic cycles decide when clothes are dry by reading what's happening in the drum, and very cold incoming air skews that reading. That's why Whirlpool warns the cycle may not end.
Floors in outbuildings slope. Garage slabs are pitched toward the door for drainage, often more than the 1-inch slope the guides allow.
Where DC homes get cold enough to matter
- •Detached garages. Common behind houses in neighborhoods like Chevy Chase DC, AU Park, Shepherd Park and Woodridge. Most aren't insulated or heated.
- •Unfinished basements. A finished English basement unit is heated. A storage cellar under an older rowhouse may not be, especially near the front wall or an old coal chute.
- •Enclosed rear porches. Some rowhouses have a closed-in back porch on the first or second floor. They're handy for laundry but usually have little insulation and no heat of their own.
How to check your space
- Put a min-max thermometer near the machines during a cold week and read the overnight low.
- Hold that number up against the two limits: 32°F for the washer, 45°F for the dryer.
- Trace the water lines to the washer and flag any stretch that hugs an exterior wall or passes through unheated space.
- Check the floor with a level across the width and depth of each machine.
- For a gas dryer in a garage, measure the height of its base above the slab.
- If the washer will sit unused through winter, follow the winterizing steps in its user instructions.
Practical options
- •Keep the space above the limits. Insulating a porch or adding a heat source is the most reliable fix, but any new circuit or gas heater is licensed work.
- •Move the laundry inside for winter, if the house has hookups elsewhere.
- •Winterize an idle washer exactly as its manual describes rather than improvising.
- •Shut off and drain the supply lines to an outbuilding before a hard freeze if the machines won't be used.
What a cold-damaged machine looks like
- •The washer won't fill on a cold morning, then works later in the day.
- •A puddle under the washer after a cold snap, even with no load running.
- •The dryer runs on and on without ending an automatic cycle.
- •Walking or excess vibration because the machine sits on a sloped slab.
If a cold snap has passed and the washer now leaks or won't fill, leave the water shut off. A cracked inlet valve or pump housing needs replacing, and our washer technicians can confirm which part failed. Dryer cycles that won't end are a job for our dryer repair team.
When to call a licensed trade
- •Insulating or rerouting water lines is plumbing work.
- •Adding a heater circuit or outlet needs a licensed electrician; in DC, trade permits are pulled by a DC master licensed professional.
- •Gas heaters, or raising or moving a gas dryer, require a licensed gas fitter.
- •Before moving laundry into a garage, ask the DC Department of Buildings whether it's allowed for your property, since the dryer guide notes some codes restrict it.
Floor slope is its own topic; see what a front-loader needs from the floor.
Documents referenced
- •Whirlpool top-load washer installation instructions W10150593A: 32°F storage and operating limit, keep out of the weather, 1-inch slope.
- •Whirlpool CHW9050/CHW9060 installation instructions: no operation below 32°F.
- •Whirlpool 29-inch electric dryer installation instructions W10617663C: 45°F operating limit, codes that restrict garage dryers, slope limit and extended feet kit.
- •Whirlpool gas dryer installation instructions 3405338: 45°F room temperature, 18 inches above a garage floor.