Appliance Spotlight: Dishwashers

Everyone agrees that dishwashers are great timesaving devices, but did you know they can also save water and energy over hand-washing the dishes? Dishwashers actually use less water than hand-washing. You’ll save even more if you don’t pre-rinse the dishes before loading them.

The key to getting dishes clean is using very hot water. Some dishwashers have a device that raises the temperature of the water coming out of your water heater.

Another feature you’ll like is a built-in food disposer. It grinds up food particles and flushes them out with the waste water. So they won’t end up re-deposited on your dishes.

Check the size of the spray holes on the wash arms. The smaller the holes are, the more scrubbing power they provide your dishwasher.

Check to be certain the dishwasher offers the cycles you need for the types of dishes you have. From pots and pans to fine china and crystal there’s a cycle for just about anything.

If you wash dishes only once every two or three days, you’ll want a rinse and hold cycle to prevent build up.

Make sure the rack system will allow you to load the dishes easily. Some dishwashers feature fold-down shelving to give you greater flexibility.

A delay-start timer will start your dishwasher when the energy rates are lower.

Some dishwashers use sensor technology to detect how dirty the dishes are and then adjust the cycle accordingly. You can start the washer with a touch of a button, and this feature prevents water from being wasted.

The amount of insulation around the dishwasher tub reduces the noise, so check to see how thick the insulation is. Thicker insulation will make the dishwasher more quiet.

Information courtesy of Lowe’s.

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