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Replacing an older dishwasher with an energy efficient dishwasher will reduce heating costs and water bills. A standard unit heats water up to 140 degrees Fahrenheit. Additional energy is used to operate the cycle, and even more energy is used to dry heat the dishes after washing. The average cycle, therefore, consumes approximately 493 kWh annually. In terms of cost, you pay 48 dollars and 36 cents every year for average use of your dishwasher.
The least energy efficient dishwashers can do better than that. They only use 380kWh per year, for a maximum average cost of 37 dollars and 28 cents. On the average, however, the kWh usage is even less than that. Statistics have demonstrated that replacing any pre-1994 dishwasher with an energy star model will save 25 dollars per year.
Operating costs are even lower when water is heated by gas rather than by electrical power.
It is clear, then, that it serve you well to invest in an energy saving dishwasher that will more efficiently use power. Since these appliances can last well over 10 years, we are not just talking about a 25 dollars savings. That is only for the first year. Multiply that by the life of the machine, and you have a savings of 250 to 500 dollars over the life of the machine.
Energy efficient dishwashers do more than simply use less power. They also do a much better job of cleaning dishes. In past decades, it was common practice to wash dishes by hand to some extent or another. This got food particles and dry sauces off the plates and silverware. The dishwasher then did the rest of the cleaning.
This is no longer necessary. Newer dishwashers are perfectly capable of getting any dishes clean without prewashing. It is still recommended that you scrape off food scraps, but aside from this, you can put the dishes and silverware in your unit as they are.
Some manufacturers claim that their energy efficient dishwashers are more even more energy saving than hand washing. This is not an idle boast when we consider the way most humans wash dishes by hand. Few ever do it in cold water alone. People also do not turn the faucet off while they are soaping up the dishes. They simply let it run until they need to rinse the next one.
This costs money to heat the water, and it wastes water. Instead, you can save yourself time, power, water, and money by getting an energy saving dishwasher that has either a light wash cycle or an energy saving cycle. Energy saving cycles are of particular value because they do not use heat to dry dishes. Instead, they use circulations fans to dry the dishes with room temperature air.
Finally, keep in mind that you still need to operate your energy efficient dishwasher just as responsibly as its predecessor. Wash only full loads. Consider as well how simple it is to towel dry dishes by hand, or simply to open the door and let them air dry after the rinse cycle is complete.
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