Dishwasher or handwash?

AnnieP6

In our present home, we are not on a water meter but decided to get rid of our dishwasher when doing a kitchen refit. There are only two of us at home now so we decided to use the space for an extra cupboard and to hand-wash the dishes.
We are hoping to move into an apartment soon which has a water meter and includes a dishwasher built into the kitchen.
We have just been speculating whether it will be more economical to continue to handwash after every meal or to use the dishwasher every few days.
Which do folks think is the more economical?

Blackbeard_of_Perranporth

We use the dishwasher.

Gloomendoom

Water is so cheap that I doubt it makes any difference worth bothering about.

I know what I'd do. I take after my father and he went out and bought a dishwasher in 1966. The first one in the village. Neighbours came to gaze in wonderment.

PasturesNew

For water usage alone studies have said that a dishwasher is most economical, using "sprays" of water rather than bowls of it.

There's also the thing of "toss them in there out of sight", whereas with hand washing they can sit 1-2 days while you accumulate enough to feel obliged to do something about it

I hand wash, I've never had a dishwasher... I don't mind handwashing, but when you get a bit behind it's an awful clutter in the kitchen that never seems to go away - especially as I let them drip dry too... so there's always washing up on display at various stages.

Farway

I've got a dishwasher and would never go back to hand washing by choice, just the sheer convenience, chucking it in, out of sight, until washer full. I do a rinse wash just to keep the maggots at bay;)

fibonarchie

Apparently dishwashers hardly use any water, but we don't bother with one, it feels like a bit of an extravagance and we don't have space for a DW and a washing machine.

NaughtiusMaximus

Me and my other half are both in our early 40s and neither of us had ever lived in a house with a dishwasher until we had our old kitchen re-done in 2012. With a couple of months we'd decided we never wanted to go back to handwashing.

The only things we do still handwash are our nicer glasses which would gradually get damaged and anything too big for the dishwasher.

Ms_Chocaholic

I thought dishwashers were an extravagance I could live without ...... until we moved into a house with one and now I wouldn't be without one.

For convenience sake as I put my dirty dishes in there out of sight rather than them piling up in the sink. Even after a couple of cups of coffee and breakfast, you can get a sink full of dishes. They do make a better job of your dishes too (if you get a good one).

Oh and there's only 2 of us at home now too.

Linda32

The only issue I see is whether you have enough cutlery and crockery to wait until you have a full load. There is only two of us here and we certainly haven't .

NaughtiusMaximus

Linda32 wrote: »

The only issue I see is whether you have enough cutlery and crockery to wait until you have a full load. There is only two of us here and we certainly haven't .

That is the one down side of them if there are just the 2 of you. We have 6 of each type of plate and bowl along with an 8 person cutlery set for exactly that reason.

AnnieP6

Thanks so much for all your replies. Fortunately, we have plenty of crockery/cutlery - although to downsize a lot will have to go! It seems that the dishwasher wins on the economic front, which was at the heart of our discussion.

I just need to consult the de-clutter forum now on advice to get rid of 50+ years of accumulated and inherited stuff! 4-storey house into 2-bed apartment. Eek!!!