Comments on: Dishwashers Use Less Water

By: Peggy

Peggy — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 04:38:01 +0000

Diana,

The study does take into account all energy used by the dishwasher when running, including drying. However, I didn’t see anything in the study regarding manufacturing and disposal of dishwashers, but sinks and faucets require some manufacturing as well…

By: diana

diana — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 00:27:45 +0000

Everyone I know who has a dishwasher rinses their dishes first and washes pots and fragile stuff by hand. They generally don’t fill the sink to do this but instead leave the water running, it makes me cringe! We fill the sink with water plus a squeeze of 7th generation. We rinse the dishes with cool water into a dish tub and water plants with the rinse water. The dishes air dry in no time at all.

Do you know if the energy to dry the dishes and manufacturing and disposal cost of the dishwasher is considered in the equation?

By: Cyndi L

Cyndi L — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 14:18:07 +0000

Peggy, you rule! Thanks for making me feel less guilty LOL!! Actually, we always wait until the washer is completely full before running it, and we opt out of the drying cycle, so I do think it is a good choice.

By: Jodi Plume

Jodi Plume — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 11:56:18 +0000

Peggy, nah you didn’t (at least not me anyways). It’s just what I have to do for now. I try to do the least amount of “loads” as possible. But we have all 4 of us home 24/7 (dh is not working due to an injury) and the various kids in and out. It’s hard to not slip back into using the paper products again. It would be so much “easier” and worse at the same time.

By: kisha

kisha — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 04:02:04 +0000

I wish I had a dishwasher then I would only have to do one load a day instead of 3-4 sinkfuls.

By: Peggy

Peggy — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 21:02:28 +0000

Sunnydaydreame, You’re right. Most people use too much soap when they hand wash and in the dishwasher.

Jodi, I hope I didn’t make the hand washers feel guilty! Even with dishwashers, most of us still have a few items that have to be hand washed — wooden chopsticks and cutting boards, etc.

By: Jodi Plume

Jodi Plume — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 17:19:55 +0000

Even Ed Begley agrees that an Energy Star dishwasher uses less water than handwashing. And he was dead set against using a dishwasher for a long time. I wish I had the space for one, but my kitchen is way too small. So for now it is hand washing for me, but I try to use as little water as possible. And I’ve found the 7th Generation dishsoap is better than Method dishsoap. The Method was harder to rinse off.

By: Sunnydaydreame

Sunnydaydreame — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 16:23:22 +0000

The uses less soap part is probably only true if you use the RIGHT amount of soap. You only actually need 1 tablespoon in the pre-wash cup and 1 tablespoon in the wash cup. This is WAY less than filling the cup. If you have hard water, add more soap. If you add too much soap it is what makes your glasses look foggy over time.