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How to Get the Best From Your Dishwasher
by Verna Arnott
http://www.fixdishwasher.com
Sometimes, dishwashers get a bad rap, mostly from the
assumption that they're energy and water hogs. However,
truth be told, dishwashers typically use less energy and
less water than hand washing your plates. So, the use
of a dishwasher can be more than convenient - it can
also be environmentally friendly. To get better
performance from your dishwasher and use it more cost
effectively, below are some tips.
The reason that most people think more water is used by a
dishwasher is that it is so big and the sink is so
little. Yet very few people only wash up once a day,
so you need to add up all those sinks full of hot water
plus any rinsing water you might use. You can work this
out for yourself given the size of your sink and your
washing up technique. In contrast most modern
dishwashers make good use of water and may use only
20 liters (a little over 5 gallons) of water each time
it runs.
Furthermore, it makes sense to do all you can to
economize the amount of water used by your dishwasher.
For instance, by first scraping your plates into the
garbage rather than relying on hard flowing water to do
the job, you can cut down on the hot water used. When
you do need to first rinse in water, fill the sink only
halfway. Also, many pre-rinse cycles are unnecessary
steps that can be skipped. Try experimenting with
these tips to see where you may overuse water.
Why run a dishwasher half full? Wait until the
dishwasher is full and then run it. Of course, you can
only do this if you own a lot of dishes. If going out
and purchasing more dishes is needed to do this idea,
you may find your purchases don't exceed the cost of
saving water!
The other big use of energy in a dishwasher is heating
the water. Of course you need to heat up water to do the
washing-up by hand, so this part probably costs no more
(could even cost less). You should keep your dishwasher
treated for scale build up if you live in a hard water
area (most of the US) because this really effects the
efficiency of the water heater. The key here is to use a
lower heat setting - not forcing the water to be heated
to the top temperature is a real energy and cash saver.
Most people like to think that they are killing germs by
sticking their dishwasher on the highest setting, but
this isn't really true. The temperatures we are talking
about for home (or commercial) dishwashers are nothing
like high enough. What your home dishwasher does is
wash away germs with the help of the detergent, so
forget about the higher temperature. It is also
possible to save some energy by knocking off the drying
cycle, opening the door and letting them dry naturally.
If you do upgrade your dishwasher, look for washers that
carry the best energy saving rating. These newer models
heat water in safer and more efficient manners in
comparison to older units. Also, these newer
dishwashers are often far more environmentally friendly
and cost effective than many of your neighbor's hand
washing habits.
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