How to choose a dishwasher for your home

choosing a dishwasher If washing dishes has become a chore, evenly divided among all family members, but for some reason the woman still has to do more, then it’s time to buy a dishwasher.

It will save you from thinking about who should wash the dishes today and save a lot of time, which can be spent relaxing after a working day. But how to choose an iron “assistant”, what to pay attention to and be satisfied, without blaming the spontaneous choice or advice of the seller - that’s what you’ll read about in our article.

Choosing the type of dishwasher

The best place to start when choosing a dishwasher is to decide which type of dishwasher is best for you. And there are three of them:

fully built-in machines;
partially built-in;
not built-in or free-standing.

In this case, the choice of dishwasher depends on your kitchen. If the renovation is done, the furniture is made, but you haven’t even thought about a niche for a built-in machine, then in this case you can consider the option of a free-standing dishwasher 45 or 60 cm. If space allows, then choose a floor-standing option, and if kitchen space is limited, then as an option a desktop model. As a last resort, you will have to modernize the furniture a little and install a 45 cm built-in dishwasher under the sink or in a cabinet.

If repairs are only in plans, then built-in appliances of 45 or 60 cm are simply ideal. It will be hidden behind the furniture facades and will not violate the overall idea of decoration and design. And today this is considered stylish and fashionable.

Deciding on the dimensions

compact dishwasher Having decided on the type of dishwasher, decide on its size, and it is better to do this at the same time. Machines of all types, depending on their size, belong to one of three groups:

small or compact - the average width of such models is 45 cm, depth 55 cm, height 55 cm, but there are also slightly smaller models.
narrow models - the dimensions of such models vary within 45 in width, 60 cm in depth and 82 cm in height;
full-size models are considered standard and have dimensions of 60 cm in width, 60 cm in depth and 82 cm in height.

For your information! The dimensions of some models may differ from the average from several millimeters to several centimeters. Therefore, you need to know exactly how much space in the kitchen can be allocated for new household appliances.

Choosing a brand

Now let's move on to which brand or brand of washing machine to choose. This is not so easy to do, because there are a lot of dishwasher manufacturers. However, each of them has its own characteristics. The most popular dishwashers are brands such as Bosch, Siemens, Electrolux, Candy, Beko, Hotpoint-Ariston, AEG, Miele, Gorenie, Whirpool.

Dishwashers from Bosch are the most popular in the domestic market. The manufacturer offers more than 50 models of machines, differing in design, dimensions, and technical characteristics. These range from simple models with a minimal set of functions to elite-class models equipped with the latest sensors. Dishwashers from Bosch are considered reliable.

Dishwashers from Siemens are not much different from Bosch, but their model range is mainly represented by compact and full-size models. It was in their machines that the infrared beam technology appeared, which determines the hardness of water.

Electrolux dishwashers have an optimal price-quality ratio, but when choosing this model, you need to pay attention to which country it was assembled in. It's good if it's not China.

Let's celebrate! It is very difficult to give any advice about a brand, because some consumers have already formed an opinion about this or that brand, preferring it to others, no matter what they say.

German dishwashers from Miele and AEG can be called the most reliable; only the best components are used in production, but the price for such models will be high. Miele dishwashers can even be reprogrammed and you can choose the temperature and water flow parameters yourself. AEG is distinguished by the presence of a multi-stage system for adjusting water hardness and spraying.

Among Kandy dishwashers, compact models are the most popular. In addition, Kandy has a model that combines a hob, oven and dishwasher for 4 sets, which may appeal to owners of very small kitchens. You can read more about dishwasher brands in the article Which company should I buy a dishwasher from?.

Analyzing technical characteristics

And finally, the most important thing is a review of washing machines according to their technical characteristics. There are not many of them, but each of them has a certain meaning. The first thing you should pay attention to is capacity, which depends on the dimensions. The smallest dishwashers are designed for 6 sets of tableware. Narrow models can hold 9-11 sets, and full-size ones on average 13-15 sets, elite models up to 17.

The second point is the efficiency of the dishwasher.Most dishwashers have energy consumption class A, premium models have energy consumption class A++ or A+++. Water consumption per wash cycle also varies; full-sized, cheaper models consume an average of 12-14 liters of water, narrow models about 11 liters. As for expensive dishwashers, due to the built-in sensors for determining the turbidity of the water, the consumption can be -7-8 liters. For example, the Miele G 6410 SCi dishwasher will wash 14 sets of dishes using 7 liters of water.

The next thing you should pay attention to when choosing a 60 or 45 cm dishwasher is the number of programs and additional functions. It is important to understand here that the more such functions, the more expensive the machine and the more complex its electronic “stuffing”. Most machines have 4-5 programs and 3-4 temperature settings. And this, as practice shows, is quite enough; other programs are usually not used, although there are models with up to 10 modes.

Users consider noise level to be an important characteristic. Not many people can get used to the fact that everything in the kitchen rattles and knocks, and for some it interferes with sleep. Machines in the mid-price category have a noise level of 45-52 dB, as users note, it is no noisier than a washing machine; some do not pay attention to such noise at all.

Elite-class dishwashers have an average noise level of 44 dB, but the prices for such machines are no less than $600, and in a machine from the Italian manufacturer Smeg the declared figure is generally 39 dB.

Ask the seller about the availability of a water leakage protection system; this will protect you and your neighbors from flooding. Bosch and Siemens branded machines have the Aqua-Stop system, AEG and Electrolux dishwashers have the Aqua-Control system, and Miele dishwashers have Waterproof.The most important thing is that such protection is complete and magnetic. The presence of child protection will also indicate reliability, but if you don’t have them and you want a built-in machine, then, in principle, you can do without such protection.

In addition, according to statistics from selling stores, buyers are often interested in the following functions:

delay start to start the wash at night;
a sound signal about the end of washing or a light beam on the floor;
indication of remaining time;
the presence of rinse aid and salt indicators that will notify the user when it is necessary to add or top up the product;
presence of a compartment for tablets.

Users give advice on choosing dishwashers with the listed functions rather than without them.

And finally, drying. The fastest is turbo drying, carried out with an internal hair dryer. Models of machines with such drying are the most expensive. Condensation drying is the most common and economical, and is carried out using the heat generated by heating the water during the final rinse. However, some users note that after using it, traces and sometimes droplets of water may remain on the dishes.

Studying ratings and reviews

Having decided on the brand of dishwasher and a specific model, do not rush. To be sure of your choice, you can refer to various ratings and reviews of real users of dishwashers; they will tell you about all the nuances that appear during operation and leave good advice on choosing.

Ratings most often provide information about the most popular models and can be compiled by both sales departments and service center technicians. It could be dishwasher rating 60 cm or 45 cm dishwashers, rating of reliable and high-quality machines.

In conclusion, we offer some more tips on how to choose the right 60 or 45 cm dishwasher:

Pay attention to the material used to make the machine parts. The more plastic elements, the higher the likelihood that they will break. Trays for dishes, sprayer and other internal parts should be made of stainless steel;
look at how the door closes and opens; ideally, you should not use excessive force, and the door should lock when opening;
For your information! Having opened the fully built-in model, do not be surprised if the door does not lock, which means that you first need to hang the facade so that the locking mechanism begins to work.
the dishwasher must be well adjustable in height and stand stable;
If you plan to use the dishwasher every day and wash different dishes, then you should prefer a medium-sized dishwasher with a maximum range of functions; for a small family of 2-3 people it is better to take a compact model; for large families it is better to take a 60 or 45 cm dishwasher.

So, as you can see, choosing a dishwasher is not an easy task. Sometimes it is difficult to choose the best option that suits the price and functions. Try to “walk” through online stores, study the models that are on the market, and only then look for the model in a real store. We hope our tips will help you avoid making mistakes.