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points by pipe2devnull 19 hours ago | 0 comments

It’s only me and my partner and we run it every single day. To be fair we both work from home so we generate more dishes than two people that go to work I suppose but I just hate doing them by hand

[–] jebarker 19 hours ago

You don’t have to make excuses, modern dishwashers are really water and power efficient.

[–] londons_explore 15 hours ago

A European model uses about 1 kWh for washing 12 place-settings (big plate, small plate, bowl, saucer, glass, mug).

US models approx 2-3 kWh because energy efficiency laws are nowhere near as strict, and they use hot fill of usually electrically heated water.

[–] anthomtb 9 hours ago

I’m in the US with a Bosch dishwasher installed in 2024. It’s 1-1.5kw depending on the cycle.

Also, since when are electric water heaters common in the USA? Every home I’ve ever lived in here has used gas for heating water.

[–] londons_explore 9 hours ago

> It’s 1-1.5kw depending on the cycle.

But if it's hooked up to hot water, add in the 4 gallons of water it used and the 1.5 kWh to heat that.

[–] jebarker 8 hours ago

Is the suggestion that this is not efficient though? What’s the point of comparison?

[–] pandemicsyn 15 hours ago

> US models approx 2-3 kWh because energy efficiency laws are nowhere near as strict, and they use hot fill of usually electrically heated water.

Citation needed on this entire comment? Because cruising youtube and energystar.gov this energy use doesn't track. Like my bosch series seems basically the same as the EU one.

Heres a random pos frigidaire

Frigidaire: https://www.energystar.gov/productfinder/product/certified-r...

>they use hot fill of usually electrically heated water.

The US is a big freaking place. In my part of texas most houses have a nat gas access and most folks use gas water heaters because our water is incredibly hard.

But also: https://atlasbuildingshub.com/2025/07/16/visualizing-what-am...

"In the United States, 46 percent of households use electricity to heat their water."

[–] debatem1 17 hours ago

I think a really in-depth look at how people use dishwashers would be pretty interesting. There are a lot of surprisingly strong opinions about right ways to do it. Of course knowing the right way is also interesting, but how people came to be so convinced that their way was the right way would be even more interesting to me-- I suspect there are a lot of hidden generational and socioeconomic attitudes hidden in there.

[–] ghaff 15 hours ago

>suspect there are a lot of hidden generational and socioeconomic attitudes hidden in there

You're probably right about that. A lot of people grew up without dishwashers and don't have a way to economically install one outside of a major kitchen remodel even if they have the space which many in cities don't have. They're also not the, for lack of a better term, necessities that washers, stoves, and ovens are. And, of course, dishwashers don't eliminate the need for any handwashing and if you aren't cooking or doing a lot of entertaining a lot, they may not be all that useful. I do cook but still probably only run my dishwasher 2 or 3 times per week.

[–] phil21 8 hours ago

They completely eliminate the need for handwashing for me, unless cooking something very out of the ordinary like a huge vat of soup to freeze in the largest stock pot I own.

I have a rule that every single item in the kitchen goes into the dishwasher. If it doesn’t survive oh well - survival of the fittest.

The only thing exception outside of size that I can think of are the fancy knives. But we have an everyday set I don’t mind dulling and just sharpening once a month with a basic sharpener.

Everything used immediately goes into the dishwasher during the day, then before bed it gets ran full or not. Dishes put away with morning coffee and the cycle repeats. No dirty dishes cluttering up the kitchen, and no wasteful (water and time) hand washing required.