You're going to have to either get a washer that accepts 240V, or change the circuit.
New Washer
Getting a new washer will depend on the manufacturer, dealer, and other factors that are off topic here.
Change the circuit
Modifying the circuit will require knowledge of electrical safety practices, and general electrical wiring principles/standards/codes. If you lack this knowledge, or are not comfortable working with electricity, please contact a local licensed Electrician.
If you decide to tackle this project yourself, here is an overview of what needs to be done. You'll be going from a configuration with two ungrounded (hot) conductors, and one grounding conductor (NEMA 6-20). To a configuration with one ungrounded (hot) conductor, one grounded (neutral) conductor, and one grounding conductor (NEMA 5-20). To do this you'll have to swap out the double pole breaker for a single pole breaker, and repurpose one of the conductors.
At the Panel
- Before you begin, you'll need to purchase a 20A single pole circuit breaker that is compatible with your service panel, and a blank panel cover insert.
- Start by turning the power off by flipping the main breaker to the
OFF
position, then verifying that power is off using a non-contact voltage tester.
- Remove the service panel cover (be careful working in the open panel, the main lugs are still energized even when the main breaker is in the
OFF
position).
- Locate the breaker for the washer.
- Remove the wires connected to the breaker (should be either black & red, or black & white).
- Remove the breaker from the panel.
- Install the new single pole breaker in one of the slots where the old double pole breaker was.
- Install the blank panel cover insert in the panel cover, so that is covers the empty space left.
- Connect the black wire that you removed from the breaker in step 5, to the new breaker.
- If the other wire from step 5 is white, connect it to the grounded (neutral) bus bar. If the wire is red, mark the wire with a bit of white tape, or a white marker, then attach it to the bus bar.
- Reinstall the panel cover.
At the receptacle
- Before you begin, you'll have to purchase a 125V 20A receptacle.
- Uninstall the old receptacle.
- Connect the black wire to the brass screw terminal on the new receptacle.
- If the other wire is white, attach it to the silver screw terminal on the new receptacle. If the other wire is red, mark it with white tape or a white marker, and attach it to the silver screw terminal on the new receptacle.
- Attach the bare or green grounding wire to the green grounding screw on the new receptacle.
- Mount the receptacle in the box, and install the cover plate.
Once everything is finished, you can flip the main breaker, and the new breaker to the ON
position.
WARNING:
This answer is only applicable in the US, and possibly Canada.
So, your GFCI (Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter) trips every time you plug in your washer/dryer, but not when you plug in other equipment.
A GFCI detects ground faults, where the power supply line is shorted to ground; it then interrupts the circuit to protect you. Sounds like your washing machine has a ground fault, and your GFCI detects this and then trips. (This is a feature, not a bug.)
There's lots of things this could be: a failed motor, a wire with worn-through insulation, a circuit board failure, etc. etc. etc. Figuring out which would take a lot more information, but an initial test would be to measure the resistance between ground and the hot or neutral plug terminals. If you measure the resistance as anything other than infinite, you've confirmed your problem.
Best Answer
For older homes, if your washer's in a garage or unfinished basement you have to have GFCI protection. If it's in a utility room and the outlet is not within 6 feet of a sink it doesn't need the GFCI. If you make changes, such as adding an outlet, then the laundry room needs GFCI protection as Kris pointed out from the 2017 code.