A current hot button in the world of dishwashers is “energy efficiency.” In the 1990s, federal regulations imposed minimum energy-efficiency standards on new dishwashers. As a result, all of today’s dishwashers use about half the electricity needed by dishwashers made back in 1972. They also use less water, which represents a significant portion of the energy a dishwasher uses.
According to the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers, about 80 percent of the electricity used to wash dishes goes toward heating water. Many new dishwashers save you energy by heating their own water. Purchasing such a model can achieve savings of up to 20 percent off the total cost of heating water for your house. These dishwashers keep their water temperature at a sanitizing 140 degrees, so you can lower the temperature on your water heater.Today’s standard-sized dishwashers use an average of 8.11 gallons for a normal cycle compared to the 16 gallons it takes to hand-wash dishes. New dishwashers achieve this efficiency by utilizing high-volume pumps to recirculate a relatively small amount of water through fine-mesh filters. The filters strain particles from the water to ensure thorough cleaning, and the pumps deliver a powerful spray to dishes. The pump in a Frigidaire Gallery dishwasher, for example, recirculates fewer than 8 gallons of water (for a normal cycle) at a volume of 42 to 50 gallons per minute—up to 2,000 gallons per cycle.
Another benefit of most new dishwashers is that you don’t have to pre-wash dishes before loading them (this boosts overall energy efficiency significantly). They employ voracious solid food disposers and sophisticated spray arms to blast away food. For instance, Maytag’s Six-Tier wash system has a total of 52 jets that spray from just about every direction imaginable.
For comparison shopping, each new dishwasher is posted with a yellow EnergyGuide label. This rates the average annual cost of using a particular model based upon average usage and a median price for gas or electricity. When you compare a few of these, you’ll discover that, annually, most dishwashers cost about $60 to operate in homes with electric-heated water and $40 where water is gas-heated.
Numbers tend to vary only a few dollars per year from one model to the next, and more expensive units are not necessarily more efficient. Most differences are so minimal they’re insignificant unless you compare a truly high-efficiency model such as the GE Profile, which is rated at $44 per year for electric and $24 for gas-heated water.
