Dishwasher vs hand washing dishes?

[breylormom]

We had a family debate about this over Easter dinner. LOL. So afterwards, I researched it online. It was a real eye opener. It seems as if using the dishwasher is more economical than hand washing. Of course, this varies based on how you do your dishes and how hot your water is, and if you use a faucet aerator. But here are some interesting averages:

Average water used in 1 dishwasher cycle: 4 gallons


Average volume of a kitchen sink: 15 gallons (ours is a split sink. I measured it at 6 gallons to fill completely)


Average volume of water flow of kitchen sink faucet: 2 gallons per minute


Average cost of electricity of running a dishwasher in Canada: $0.30 per cycle/use.


Average cost of electricity to heat 1 gallon of water: $0.02


Thus, to wash 1 batch of dishes by hand (assuming using 6 gallons of water and rinsing for a total of 5 minutes) = $0.32 in electricity + 16 gallons of water


To wash 1 batch of dishes in dishwasher = $0.30 in electricity + 4 gallons of water


It is really more economical to use a dishwasher.

One other thing I learned though: Dishwasher detergent is more harsh on the environment than dish washing detergent. Of course, this depends on the brands, but is true overall.

It would be easy enough to measure how much water you use to hand wash dishes. I am going to do this next time I do dishes. Take a 1 gallon bucket and use this to fill your sink. Then rinse into the 1 gallon bucket to see how much water you use to rinse.



This website is cool too: http://www.csgnetwork.com/elecenergycalcs.html

In electricity costs: It costs us $0.03 to brew 1 pot of coffee, $0.08 to run a computer for 1 hour, $0.05 to run our TV for 1 hour, and $14 per month to run our fridge (gak!!). Really puts things in perspective.

[dztraw]

I would agree that using a dishwasher is more economical, although take into account the amount of water one uses to rinse each dish before putting it in the dishwasher.

[walkonby]

yea OP I was going to say that very thing, every single item you dishwash, is really almost handwashed ( rinsed first ) so I'll stick with the same hand washing way. lol ( I do not own a dishwasher anyway)

[marmaduke]

Rinse before going in the dishwasher? Not necessary.

[ZooyNewt]

This is really interesting. I may use this to show my husband why we should consider a dishwasher.

[momof5boys]

I still think that if you factor in the cost of dishwasher detergent, as well as dishwasher repair bills, that handwashing will come out on top.

Each morning, after breakfast, I fill our sink with VERY hot water and use it for:
Washing the dishes of course. I then start my baking and this same water is still hot enough to use to wash those dishes. as well as the bake pans. Then the same water gets used for general cleanup before it gets drained.

So the water isn't only used once for dishes and then drained....it greatly depends on what you use it for.

I'll continue washing dishes by hand and save us the extra cost of possible repairs to another gadget , not to mention the cost of the dishwasher itself.

[marmaduke]

Dishwasher Detergent. There have been so many promotions I haven't paid for any (actual made a few cents on some) in 2 years.

[breylormom]

The other thing I found with my research is that rinsing your dishes before putting them in the dishwasher is not necessary. Just scrape of the large chunks. Today's dishwashers can handle the grime of not rinsing. Rinsing wastes water.

And I agree with Marmaduke...I have a small stock pile of dishwasher detergent that was all free with the promotions and samples. It is just waiting for us to get a new dishwasher. I think I have about a 2 years supply, although I haven't really counted it all, in my cupboard. LOL.

[Shirnette]

Do both...95% of the time we hand wash(more of a cultural thing)... Use dishwasher for it not to cease up.