03-27-09, 01:10 PM | #11 |
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That would be pretty cool to see Tim.
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06-02-09, 03:52 PM | #12 | |
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If your 4 gallons figure is accurate, then the dishwasher described by the OP is a better way to go... assuming that you can pile all the dishes from the day into and run it when full.
And assuming you don't rinse stuff first. Interesting. If I ever get around to buying/installing a dishwasher, this will be much more relevant! Quote:
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09-03-09, 01:41 AM | #13 |
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As nasty as it sounds, if my (single, bachelor) Father didn't have a dishwasher, he'd be wasting more water than you can imagine, cleaning up what happens when dishes sit for a week or more.
Instead, he puts the dishes in the dish washer, which apparently inhibits mold growth, or at least hides it so no one notices... Once he's getting low on dishes, he adds soap and turns the machine on, and it cleans/sanitizes his dishes. When they come out, they look just as good as new. It has a built in water heater, so it's not piped to the hot water supply in the house. |
12-30-09, 11:56 PM | #14 |
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The energy star web site says an energy star dish washer uses 5.8 gallons or less and 1994 or older as much as 8 gallons to be energy star... not all dish washers are energy star, but even at that that is almost half again more then the 4 gallons stated in the study and most people I know have dishwasher that are well over 15 years old.
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12-31-09, 06:48 PM | #15 |
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Hi,
I have a Bosch dishwasher, and not only does it use very little water (around 3.5 gallons, I think?), it heats up the water in the machine (using cold water), it has no heating element (so you can wash plastic items without melting them) -- the hot water evaporates with the latent heat, and it is extremely quiet, too. Oh, and it is all stainless on the inside, and there is about 2" more height available inside than a typical unit, so you can fit more into it. |
07-14-11, 03:09 PM | #16 | |
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Bumping this thread since I've been giving some thought to this problem lately. I've read/heard quite often that dishwashers use less water than hand washing, and each time I reply "That depends on how you wash".
This article has a similar statement to that in Paul Scheckel's book: Quote:
But how do I hand wash efficiently? I mean, what can a dishwasher do that I can't? Googling doesn't bring up much more than I already know, like this page: Maximizing Hand Dishwashing Efficiency in 5 Easy Steps. The first step (Use two sinks) got me thinking that using a bin instead would ease the collection of grey water for toilet flushing. This would save water, but more globally, the dishwashing process itself would still use the same amount. I read a while back that a certain dishwasher model stores an amount of grey water to use for pre-rinsing the next load, which supposedly reduces overall water usage. On the other hand, I usually use hot water only for greasy stuff, while the rest only get cold water. And rinsing is cold, too, to save energy.
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07-14-11, 05:49 PM | #17 |
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It's really really easy to see how much water you use, first step is to plug both drains so nothing goes down the drain, then wash your dishes.
I've washed an entire counter of dishes using a small mixing bowl full of water (about 4 cups, quarter of a gallon) and rinsed using the same amount of water, so half a gallon total, I'm not sure how a dish washer could use half a gallon of water for what ends up being about 4 place settings worth of dishes and the pans used to cook the food. |
09-18-11, 03:44 PM | #18 |
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I think dishwashers are one of the most advanced and cheap energy efficiency devices around. Hard to beat.
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09-18-11, 05:42 PM | #19 | |
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Quote:
I got over 130,000 miles before I finally sold it, too. Indeed, dish washers are hard to beat. -AC_Hacker
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09-18-11, 11:42 PM | #20 |
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Did You dry it in Your "Solar Powered Food Dryer"?
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