Washer - Drain Height

In order for the drain hose on your Top Load Washer to function properly, the drain must be at least 30" up from the floor and less than 8 feet high. In order for the drain hose on your Front Load Washer to function properly, the drain must be at least 24" up from the floor and less than 8 feet high. GE and Hotpoint Top Load, Front Load and Unitized Washers have powerful drain pumps that can pump water vertically as high as 8 feet above the floor. Spacemaker or Space-Saving Compact Washers can pump up to a height of 5 feet.
 

Drain Flow Rate

The flow rate of the pump is dependent upon the height of the drain pipe.
 
  • The Top Load Washer pump will pump water at a rate of 15 gallons per minute.
  • The Front Load Washer pump will pump water at a rate of 10 gallons per minute.
  • For each 1 foot of additional drain pipe height, the flow rate will be reduced by approximately 1 gallon per minute.

Siphoning

The drain pipe should be a minimum of 1-1/2" I.D. (inside diameter) to ensure proper draining. The Washer drain hose is a 1-1/4" O.D. (outside diameter). To be confident that no siphoning of water will take place, the drain plumbing must be a minimum of 30" high for Top Load Washers. Siphoning means the washer will fill and drain at the same time. This happens when the drain height is too low. Siphoning can also occur if the drain hose is pushed too far down into the drain pipe. For new Top Load Washers, the drain hose should be no more than 5" down into the drain pipe. For Front Load Washers, the drain hose should be no more than 7" down into the drain pipe.
 

properly secured drain hose.

 

Drain Hose / Anti-Siphon Clip

If the drain for your Top Load Washer is not 30" high, included in the installation package with a new Top Load Washer is a drain hose clip (sometimes called an anti-siphon clip) that attaches to the hose and the back of the Washer to lift the drain hose up higher. This is not needed for a Front Load Washer due to the design of the appliance.
 

Additional Support

You may also want to check out our Washer - Drain Hose Information article.
 
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