Dishwashers for small families
jwilson7
| Posted in Green Products and Materials on
What’s the most energy efficient approach for washing dishes for a family of 2?
We dirty 2 place settings (2 dinner plates, 2 bowls and 2 small plates)/day. Our dishwasher holds 5 or 6 days of dishes. We only own 6 place settings, not enough to run a full load.
We live in a condo, don’t pay for water usage (hot or cold).
Currently we wash by hand and use the dishwasher as a drying rack. We probably run the dish washer a couple of times a year.
I wonder if one of the new drawer-sized dish washers would work better. We’re planning construction on a weekend home where we would only generate one full load a month.
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Replies
Jeff,
In case you missed it, here is a link to a relevant article: All About Dishwashers.
Hi Martin,
It was this very article that prompted my question. I see photos of full dishwashers and note, we don't own that many dishes and if we did it would take a week to fill our dishwasher.
I would suspect that a CEE Tier 3 dishwasher with "top rack only" option would be the best bang for the buck. Perhaps a narrower model too.
Drawer units might be a good option, though I believe they carry a price premium.
Another option is a countertop dishwasher, but they are generally low end no-name brands and have no efficiency ratings. They also hook up to the faucet, which is annoying. I imagine they're mostly meant for apartments where you can't install a dishwasher.