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Old 03-27-09, 01:10 PM   #11
Daox
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That would be pretty cool to see Tim.

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Old 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!



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Originally Posted by TimJFowler View Post
I just measured my kitchen sink (each side ~ 13.75" * 14.75" * 5") and did a rough calculation of volume (rounding down for rounded corners and sloping bottom) ~ 4 gallons. I can usually wash all the dishes from one to two meals in less water than will fill one bowl of the sink. So I can wash 4 settings of plates and/or bowls, cutlery, glasses, serving and cooking utensils, pots, pans, etc. in approximately 4 gallons of water.

I may just make a more rigorous study of this. It's geeky, but hey all in the name of efficiency!

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Old 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.
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Old 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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Old 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.
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Old 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:
Dishwashers More Efficient Than Hand Washing
Scientists at the University of Bonn [pdf] in Germany who studied the issue found that the dishwasher uses only half the energy, one-sixth of the water, and less soap than hand-washing an identical set of dirty dishes. Even the most sparing and careful washers could not beat the modern dishwasher. The study also found that dishwashers excelled in cleanliness over hand washing.
Unfortunately, the link to the PDF appears to be broken.

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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Old 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.
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Old 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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Old 09-18-11, 05:42 PM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Slavic381 View Post
I think dishwashers are one of the most advanced and cheap energy efficiency devices around. Hard to beat.
Yep, I rebuilt an engine out of a Honda Civic, some time back. When I got it back from the machine shop,and before re-assembly, I put the block in the dishwasher, and ran the pots & pans cycle on it to make sure there were no stray bits from the shop.

I got over 130,000 miles before I finally sold it, too.

Indeed, dish washers are hard to beat.

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Old 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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