I’ve never purchased a dish washer before. We always washed by hand until the last two houses we rented. And then I fell in love with convenience…
The former owners of the house took the dishwasher so we hit the stores on Black Friday this year.
Dish washers normally run between 171 kWh which uses the least amount of energy and 352 kWh which uses the most. Ours has a 270 kWh estimated electricity use per year. According to the Energy Guide from the U.S. Government, our estimated yearly energy cost when used with an electric water heater is $32 a year.
Could be better, but I don’t think that’s so bad.
I’d like to say we use it rarely and that I mainly do the dishes by hand. With this schedule, ugh, I give in. $32 a year not to do my own dishes. Until things calm down and we get unpacked and I get on some sort of schedule, I’ll have to pay $32.
Attempting zero waste lifestyle in a military household 
With six people in our house, it’s a dishwasher for sure! The bulk of the energy savings comes with not using the heat cycle for drying; that heating element is a power hog. When the load is done, just open up the door and air dry overnight. We use an enzyme-based detergent since our effluent goes straight onto our yard.
Dishwasher use FAR LESS water than hand-washing, particularly if you don’t rinse before you load (we don’t). Just knock off the chunks and set it in the machine. Don’t run water unnecessarily; put a bin in your sink for pre-soaking instead.
life without a dishwasher! How can this be? There is only two of us and for years I said we did not need a dishwasher..until we moved Bulgaria in 2007.. Now life does not exist without it. It is not used everyday but maybe every two days or if we run out of cups for our tea….. enjoy it !
Well you picked a great day to buy one. I replaced my broken down washer/dryer a few years ago on black friday – I think it was the only time I ventured out for it!
It would take a greater mind than mine to figure all this out, but from what I’ve tried to learn about dishwashers is that they use less water, therefore you have to heat less water, and even the equivalent amount heated water is heated more efficiently by the water heater – all in one shot, so to speak.
My daughter gets upset when people “singly” wash up their dishes because she says it’s so much more energy efficient to use the dishwasher!
The other is that families who use dishwashers seem to have fewer problems with illness.
I try to reuse my glass throughout the day rather than tossing each one in the dishwasher as soon as I’m done, especially since I drink mostly water. I use the short cycle as much as possible and don’t generally use the heated dry. And I’m very careful my good knives don’t go in or plastic containers. I also make sure it’s full when I use it – a problem I’m sure you don’t have! 🙂
Dish soap seems to be a bit of a problem – lots of packaging!
How your comments make my day!
I appreciate you three!
Howdy! Deb of debgoesgreen.com here and I know how you feel about comments, as I just got *yours* on my site and it made *my* morning!
I replied to you there, but am also replying here:
1. Thank YOU for your happy burst of energy
2. I hope Terra Cycle isn’t discontinuing the zero-separation boxes: I just order two last week: http://terracycle-us.theshoppad.com/#/product/no-separation-zero-waste-boxes
3. Babies take up time, but precious time worth spending. Before you know it, he or she will be in school and you will be going “what happened?”
4. *I* am amazed that you are doing the zero-waste thing your self, given how much Military Families have to put up with, with moving, deployment, dislocation, etc. Wow. It is hard enough to do as a stationary civilian! I am really impresses.
5. Dishwasher when used correctly like on of your other commenters said (ditching the “heat-dry” cycle, only washing when full) areway more energy and water efficient
6. And “Mommy Sustainability” is just as important as Envrionemental Sustainability, in my book.
Thank *you* for being in the world, too!
-Deb
Gah. Sorry about the typos above…iPad…”I just ordered” and “I am really impressed” (amazing how close the “s” and “d” keys are, especially on mobile devices!)
Deb, you made me smile. 🙂