Do Dishwashers Save Water? Hmmm.

Posted by rebecca

4 Jan

As 2010 drew to a close and everyone around the world celebrated with fireworks and noisemakers, I had just one thing on my mind: Did my dishwasher fulfill its green promise? As I reported last January, we welcomed our trusty Energy Star appliance to the family after an entire adulthood of hand washing dishes.

Oh how wonderful these last twelve months have been! No more hours hunched over a sink full of dirty dishes. Just stacks of sparkling clean plates, forks, pots, and pans. And the best part is–the dishwasher saves water and energy over even the thriftiest hand washer!

Or so I’d heard. After a year-long study (sample size: 1), we ran the numbers. Did we save water in our Year of the Dishwasher compared to the previous year? The answer: no. We used almost the exact same amount of water both years. How could this be? Were we thriftier than the thriftiest hand washer after all? Maybe the dishwasher couldn’t compete with that.

I am trying to stay positive for 2011. It could have been worse. Our water bills could have somehow proven that the dishwasher was a huge water guzzler. Then what would I have done? I’m much too attached now.

Filed under: Washing Dishes

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7 Responses for "Do Dishwashers Save Water? Hmmm."

suzannah {so much shouting, so much laughter} January 4th, 2011 at 6:56 am 1
i believe it. whenever stories tout how much greener dishwashers are, they assume the hand-washer leaves their faucet running the entire time–something no one who care about the earth (or keeping costs low) would ever do.

at least it’s a wash (hehe). at least time, stress and energy (yours) were saved:)
Joy January 4th, 2011 at 7:21 am 2
We are also the proud owners of a new dishwasher in the last year, and while our water bills are only slightly lower, we have found that our electric bills are much, much lower. I’m not sure if it’s due to something else we haven’t even considered, but it seems like the dishwasher must help. And yes.. We LOVE this modern new lifestyle!
Gina - The Gluten-free Gourmand January 4th, 2011 at 1:25 pm 3
I also have a new dishwasher, and I also love it to death! My time is worth money, and having a dishwasher saves time, effort, and hassle. Plus, my dishes get a lot cleaner in the dishwasher. I think where I save the most is in the amount of soap I use. I admit I wasn’t as frugal with soap as I could have been, but I did try to conserve. Now it seems like I use very little detergent.

Another way to look at it is: how much hot water did you use hand washing vs. dishwasher? Did your gas or electric bills stay the same?
rebecca January 4th, 2011 at 1:38 pm 4
I am ashamed to admit that I probably wouldn’t give up the dishwasher even if I found out it was using twice the amount of water and energy as hand washing. That is how much I love it! Fortunately I do not have to make such a heart-wrenching and planet-destroying decision as that.

Gina, I am not sure if our gas usage has gone up or down in the last year. We have a gas water heater, gas stove, and gas furnace, so it would be hard to figure out how the dishwasher factored into all of it. I believe the dishwasher uses both hot water and its own electric heating element.

Joy–didn’t you get new appliances for your kitchen? That probably explains the electricity reduction in your household. Old fridges, ovens, etc., can be very inefficient.

Our electricity usage did go down, but we know why. We used to run a space heater in Audrey’s room all night long. Now that we can pile blankets on her, we’ve stopped using the heater. (As everyone reading surely knows, you should not leave a baby in a crib with blankets. However, Audrey is now almost 5!)
Mark January 4th, 2011 at 2:45 pm 5
Have you tried sand-blasting your dishes? Uses zero water and cleans them just as thoroughly. The only drawback is a slight gritty taste to all your food.
Lauri Burrier January 5th, 2011 at 12:07 pm 6
Well, if you have a small family, it’s a great place to store dishes until you have a full load. For us that’s usually about every day and a half. So, that’s gotta be better for my small sample group of 1 family.
Purisitcs January 5th, 2011 at 12:54 pm 7
Thanks for this post, very interesting. Reposting this on my twitter @Puristics.