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Saving on hot water when washing dishes

Mistral001
Posts: 5,397 Forumite



I am trying to cut back on electricity consumption. The hot water for my dishes is presently provided by an electric immersion heater which I switch on for about 10 minutes every time I do the dishes. When I tried to think of ways to cut back on the use of the immersion heater, a friend of mine who use to visit Greece a lot, came to mind. She would wash her dishes, in what she called, the way the Greeks do. This involved only using about a pint of hot soapy water in a small plastic basin. She would wash dishes in the basin one at a time using a small sponge and then rinse them in running cold water. I have tried this by heating the required pint of hot (not boiling) water in a kettle. This method seems to clean the dishes just as well as my old way and while it takes slightly longer, I reckon that the electricity consuption in washing dishes is reduced by about 80-90%. Has anybody washed dishes this way? It seems such a simple thing to do.
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Comments
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Umm yeah is that not how everyone washes their dishes, I have always done it that way!
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It might reduce your electricity bill but will it increase your water bill if you are on a meter, can you not have a separate bowl filled with cold water to rinse the dishes.
Thrifty Till 50 Then Spend Till the End
You can please some of the people some of the time, all of the people some of the time, some of the people all of the time but you can never please all of the people all of the time3 -
I have a large thermos flask that throughout the day I fill up from the excess from the kettle and our cuppas. Then I use that to wash up. This might work for you (depending on how many cuppas you drink in the day).
I have greatly reduced the amount of water I use… at school (ironically in “home economics” class which was mostly about cooking) we were taught to fill the sink ready to wash up.working on clearing the clutterDo I want the stuff or the space?2 -
As there’s only me and we are on a combi boiler that uses loads of cold water before it runs hot. I use the kettle water after I’ve made my cuppa. Not a lot of water but enough to do my plate,.Focus on contribution instead of the impressiveness of consumption to see the true beauty in people.2
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Ms_Chocaholic said:It might reduce your electricity bill but will it increase your water bill if you are on a meter, can you not have a separate bowl filled with cold water to rinse the dishes.
Regarding the cost of the water I have done a few calculations. Even if you wanted to use a lot of cold water, say 10 litres @ say £1.2 /m3 that would cost 1.2p. 3kW immersion heater costs about 66p per hour so the 10 mins that I used to use costs 11p. I am saving say 80% of this which 8.8p. I am not on metered water charges, but if I was I reckon I would still saving a lot.3 -
BigSpenderLittleSpender said:Umm yeah is that not how everyone washes their dishes, I have always done it that way!2
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How do you get a dinner plate in a small dish?Btw I always leave the old water in the bowl to soak dirty stuff then do wu next day.3
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roddydogs said:How do you get a dinner plate in a small dish?Btw I always leave the old water in the bowl to soak dirty stuff then do wu next day.
With regard to very dirty items, doing what you suggest is a good idea. At present I rinse very dirty items in a little cold water before washing with the soapy water. Most of the dirty stuff will be easily removed. If you soak dirty pots in cold water just after they are used and then use a brush to release the dirt it is amazing how much you can get off.
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Dishwasher
Ours is a slimline and its put on every 2nd or 3rd day - uses 4 gallons with each use and only heats the required water
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4 gallons?
Non me fac calcitrare tuum culi1
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