Coin laundry equipment is not one product. A caravan park needs two machines that survive summer peaks and a self service payment method. A laundromat needs a machine mix that turns customers over quickly and a payment system that reports takings without anyone counting coins. Choosing well starts with the site, not the machine.
Match the equipment to the site
| Site | Typical mix | Payment | What matters most |
|---|---|---|---|
| Laundromat | 8 to 20 washers across 8, 11 and 18 kg, dryers at a 1 to 1 ratio or better | Cashless with card and app, coin as backup | Throughput, machine mix, remote monitoring |
| Caravan park or holiday park | 2 to 6 washers, matching dryers | Coin or app based, low maintenance | Durability through seasonal peaks |
| Apartment block or student housing | 2 to 8 stacked washer dryers | App based, no cash on site | Footprint, noise, unattended reliability |
| Campus or shared living | Stacked units in multiple small rooms | Card or app tied to student accounts | Usage reporting and remote fault alerts |
Coin, card or app
Coin mechanisms are simple and understood, and they still suit sites where a manager empties them regularly. The cost is cash handling, coin jams, theft risk and no visibility of takings until someone counts. Cashless systems take card and phone payments, let you change pricing remotely, and report revenue per machine. Most operators keep a coin option during the changeover and drop it later once usage moves across.
Sizing the floor
- Work from peak hours, weekends and evenings, not from a weekly average.
- Dryers need at least as much capacity as washers, because drying takes longer than washing.
- A spread of drum sizes lets customers pay for what they need and keeps small loads out of large machines.
- High extraction washers cut drying time, which means fewer dryers for the same throughput.
- Leave floor space and services for one or two more machines than you install on day one.
What to check before you buy
- Parts and service availability in your state, not just a national phone number.
- Control boards designed for vended use, with programmable pricing and cycle options.
- Extraction rating, since it drives your gas or electricity bill through the dryers.
- Water and power connections on site, particularly three phase availability for larger dryers.
- Warranty terms and expected response time for a breakdown in an unattended site.
If you are working out whether the site stacks up commercially before you choose machines, start with the running numbers rather than the equipment list.