Dishwasher versus washing up bowl

earthmother

So what is the more efficient?

I know it will vary for each household, so if I give my circumstances ...


We have a dishwasher - 26 years old so I'm assuming not that energy efficient. On a normal day it's fully loaded twice, three times if I'm baking.

However, for the last couple of days I've been handwashing as it's on the fritz (so I suppose this question may decide whether to get it fixed or dumped). I'm washing up three times a day (5 in the house) and using about 5 bowls of water - I reckon a baking day will add another 2-3 bowls to that.

Detergents are all eco-friendly, so that's equal, but on the energy side, which would you say is better - the old dishwasher 2-3 a day, or 5+ full bowls of hot/warm water over a day?

Horace

I don't have a dishwasher basically because I don't have any space. I use ecover washing up liquid and wash up maybe twice a day or if I am really lazy then I won't wash up at all. Any bowls of washing up water (if not too greasy) go on my plants.

I think that dishwashers are less eco-friendly especially as you have a problem disposing of them when they have died.

Cardew

There have been plenty of articles that conclude modern dishwashers, if full when used, are more economical than handwashing.

Steel_2

earthmother wrote: »

So what is the more efficient?

I know it will vary for each household, so if I give my circumstances ...


We have a dishwasher - 26 years old so I'm assuming not that energy efficient. On a normal day it's fully loaded twice, three times if I'm baking.

However, for the last couple of days I've been handwashing as it's on the fritz (so I suppose this question may decide whether to get it fixed or dumped). I'm washing up three times a day (5 in the house) and using about 5 bowls of water - I reckon a baking day will add another 2-3 bowls to that.

Detergents are all eco-friendly, so that's equal, but on the energy side, which would you say is better - the old dishwasher 2-3 a day, or 5+ full bowls of hot/warm water over a day?

Ooooooo...that's a tough one. To me it sounds like six of one and half a dozen of another. I think it boils down to the fact that, with green issues, it's not black and white but differs depending on an individual's circumstances and habits.

Unfortunately, as your dishwasher is on the blink it's going to be difficult to work out how efficient it is. If it wasn't on the blink or you decide to get it fixed, I'd say try the following.

To start with, do you know how much water the dishwasher uses per load?
As it's old and you probably don't have the instructions anymore, you may have to work this out manually. The dishwasher should have a flexible pipe in the back that drops into a plastic pipe leading to an outside drain. If you have a fitted dishwasher you'll probably have a problem reaching it as the cupboards will be in the way. If you don't, assemble lots of buckets and containers, pull out the pipe and start collecting the water as it goes through a cycle. Then work out how much water you use in your 5+ bowlfuls and compare the two figures.

Once you've done that, you can turn your attention to power consumption. An older dishwasher will use more power than a newer one and many of the newer ones also have economy options the older ones don't have. Also some of the older dishwashers take a long time to go through a cycle. I think most appliances should have the amount of energy they use in Kilwatt hours (Kwh) on a sticker on the back of them. Work out how long a cycle takes to complete and then what this works out to in Kwh. Your electricity company usually detail how much your electricity costs per Kwh on your bills so you can get a rough idea.

One thing to add to power consumption; some dishwashers take hot water from the boiler, other have an internal element to heat the water up. The later I think uses more energy than the former.

To be honest, I would be tempted to get a new energy efficient one, rather than fix the old one, and look for ones that have an economy cycle. You could also try to make it even greener to use. For example, as the detergents you use are all eco-friendly, perhaps in the summer (if you can pull out that flexible hose) you could collect some of the water and use it to water your flowers (not veggies!). I do sometimes with mine and end up pulling off a reasonable amount of water. I also do this with my washing machine and pull off about three buckets of water. I'd be a bit wary of the first lot you pull off, as that will have the bulk of the detergent in it and might be a bit too concentrated, but there's no reason why the rinse water can't be re-used to water some of your plants.

Personally, I always use a dishwasher as experience has taught me it's like Waterworld in my kitchen when I wash up, especially when I've been baking and I'm washing out cans and cat's food dishes. I have a small 2/3 sized dishwasher with an economy button that does a short cycle and draws water straight from the boiler. Don't ask me what model though. It was here when I moved into the house 2 years ago.

I also find that by taking back the time I'm not washing up, I can devote myself to other more worthwhile pursuits. Like making Christmas presents instead of buying them. I'm in the process of knitting a pair of fingerless gloves for my sister and patchworking two padded lap quilts for my mother and MIL. Small things but important to me.

earthmother

Thanks for your replies.

I think on balance that we'll stick with the handwashing


It'll take a while to get the landlord moving on any repairs anyway - might try and convince him to let us take it out and stick a cupboard in there - could do with a little more storage space.


I'm actually enjoying the handwashing at the moment anyway , it's strangely satisfying :rotfl: Ask me again on Boxing Day though once all the extra catering is out of the way :eek:

kitchen_buff

I run a small kitchen studio and I pride myself on giving potential customers excellent and hones advice, so here goes.

It depends on how many people live in the house, the more people the greater reason for having one. If you live alone or there are just two of you and the house is empty most of the day, then a bowl is ok. However if you use a bowl you cannot be sure the bacteria has gone so you should rinse under very hot tap, two things then happen, you use more gas or electricity, more water and more time. If you enough cutlery and crockery, get a slimline triple AAA rated dishwasher Bosch or zanussi.

squashy

earthmother wrote: »

So what is the more efficient?

I know it will vary for each household, so if I give my circumstances ...


We have a dishwasher - 26 years old so I'm assuming not that energy efficient. On a normal day it's fully loaded twice, three times if I'm baking.

However, for the last couple of days I've been handwashing as it's on the fritz (so I suppose this question may decide whether to get it fixed or dumped). I'm washing up three times a day (5 in the house) and using about 5 bowls of water - I reckon a baking day will add another 2-3 bowls to that.

Detergents are all eco-friendly, so that's equal, but on the energy side, which would you say is better - the old dishwasher 2-3 a day, or 5+ full bowls of hot/warm water over a day?

I would get a new dishwasher that is economical. You say you loaded you old one 2 or 3 times a day- wow! There are 6 of us here and we only do one dishwash a day (and we do cook!). At my mum's there are only 3 of them but they do 2 loads a day because they drink coffee all day long and get a fresh mug each time. Me and DH quickly swill out our cup if we have a brew, so do the kids, we all have our own favourite one!

Mancy of the dishwashers now are very energy efficient, loads of "AAA" ones out there. As a rough guide they tend to use about 14litres of water per wash so I would say you would use much more than this handwashing, especailly if you rinse the suds off and change the water as you go. Also most are cold fill now which uses less energy than mixing hot water already heated in your boiler with cold as you would in an older machine and when handwashing. Many also have flexible layouts so if you use more plates than pans you can make the racks work to suit.

economiser

There is also the issue of quality. A dishwasher will wash more hygienically.[FONT=&quot]
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Poppycat

We recently got a dishwasher. I didnt no this until recently but the use up less water do some models than washing dishes manually. I checked the manual on mine and it does indeed its a AAA rated one, fairly new Beko

We uses it every other day and do manually wash to if its a few pots etc, we need some spare water for washing tins out to recycle and we are on a water meter

Cardew

kitchen_buff wrote: »

I run a small kitchen studio and I pride myself on giving potential customers excellent and hones advice, so here goes.

It depends on how many people live in the house, the more people the greater reason for having one. If you live alone or there are just two of you and the house is empty most of the day, then a bowl is ok. However if you use a bowl you cannot be sure the bacteria has gone so you should rinse under very hot tap, two things then happen, you use more gas or electricity, more water and more time. If you enough cutlery and crockery, get a slimline triple AAA rated dishwasher Bosch or zanussi.

Well I would say exactly the opposite about lots of people in the house versus a couple.

I have lived on my own for considerable periods whilst working away from home during the week. When alone I would put the breakfast dishes & cutlery in the dishwasher and again at suppertime + any glasses used after supper. Thus I would run the dishwasher once a week.

Following your advice I would be washing up 10+ times a week unless I wanted to leave piles of dirty dishes lying about the kitchen.

cazrobinson

eeeuuuww - only dishwashing once a week, that's yucky whether handwashing or in a machine!