Can a dishwasher be frugal? - Page 2

[Alkenny]

Thanks, everyone! So far, so good. I'm only running it EVERY OTHER day, so that in and of itself is a bonus (not doing a load of dishes everynight because they're stacked in the sink.)

[spero]

[EmsMom]

I recently installed a used dishwasher and I was surprised to find that it only uses 6 gallons of water per load. (It is an 18 inch dishwasher, so the regular size ones probably use more.) Even with the most careful handwashing with a dishpan of soapy water and a pan for rinsing water, I was using way more water than that every day to wash dishes (if I saved up all the dishes for a once a day wash I think that I would not even be able to face all those dishes so I would hand wash three times a day. The dishwasher also uses less soap -- in fact I have read of one frugal type who runs the washer only with hot water and her dishes are clean. I don't think the water heating would be much more expensive than heating the water for handwashing, either. One drawback is that I used to throw the used dish water outside in my flower garden to conserve water. I can't do that with the dishwasher. I figure I must free up at least one to one and a half hours a day with the dishwasher. So for right now, I do think that my dishwasher is a frugal choice.

[mrs.felt]

we live in an rental where the management pays the water, so they put in the most energy & water-efficient appliances available -- i'd say they're definitely more frugal and less wasteful than handwashing (although sadly i don't see much of the savings, although we do pay the natural gas bill and our water is heated by a gas water heater) but i don't complain because i hate handwashing dishes anyway. :LOL

[mnnice]

Running the dishwasher has to be cheaper than a marriage counselor. Having a dishwasher saves lots of arguements in our house.

[Alkenny]

Originally Posted by mnnice

Running the dishwasher has to be cheaper than a marriage counselor. Having a dishwasher saves lots of arguements in our house.

:LOL That could apply here, but it would be between DD and me. Hmmmmm....she has been alot more agreeable this past couple of weeks. Maybe we're onto something!

[melissa_honeybee]

oh, I want a dishwasher sooooooo bad..I am constantly washing dishes, and the sink is always full..I might actually get other stuff done if I had a dishwasher. I think if you run the dishwasher when it's full, it is better than handwashing...

[amyamanda]

I have to prerinse, as my dishwasher is old and kind of clunky, but here is what I do: I keep a plastic tub in my sink and keep it filled with water. After a meal, everyone piles their plate and silverware into the tub to soak. By the time I'm ready to load the dishwasher (admittedly, it's usually the next morning) the crud has soaked off and simply taking the plates out of the water "rinses" them so they're fine to put in the dishwasher. It uses far less water than rinsing under the tap. True, the water gets icky, so I dump and refill it every time I empty it. But it still doesn't use much water for prerinsing.

I use my dishwasher for time-saving, too. I can barely manage to keep the dishwasher and washing machine running to keep our dishes and clothes and diapers clean, never mind trying to do those tasks by hand. I like to think of it as freeing me up for other frugal things - cooking from scratch, meal-planning, sorting hand-me-downs, mending, etc.

[sabrinat]

My dishwasher cleans pretty well, I never prerinse or anything. I say it's frugal, becuz I consider my time very valuable too and it does save me some time.

[Alkenny]

I haven't gotten my first full month water bill yet, but doing the math and reading my meter myself it looks like our bill will have gone DOWN around $20 since getting the dishwasher.