Water consumption in dishwashers

The benefits and necessity of a dishwasher still seem far-fetched for some housewives. Why do you need such an assistant that consumes a lot of energy and detergents? But be that as it may, everyone notes its main advantage in saving personal time. However, this is not the only advantage of a dishwasher; in addition to time, it also saves water, and this is not so little given the constantly rising tariffs. Different dishwashers consume different amounts of water, let’s figure out what the consumption is in liters.

Regular dishwasher

By a regular dishwasher we mean narrow floor (for 9 sets) and full-size (10 – 14 sets) middle-class dishwashers. Typically, water consumption in such machines varies from 9 to 14 liters of water. And most often cold, since in most cases dishwashers are connected to a cold water supply, this is reasonable both from an economic point of view and from a safety point of view.

For your information! Hot water contains more impurities that can affect the dishwasher units.

Why is the water consumption for the washing cycle so small with so many dishes? This is explained by the operating principle of the machine. After all, having collected water, she uses it several times during washing, while the water constantly passes through the purification filter, which is important. The machine then draws in rinse water and draws in water again for the final rinse. In this case, water is sprayed under very high pressure; water passes through the rocker arms at high speed, washing the dishes. This technology does not require a large amount of water.

Here are some examples of conventional dishwashers under $400 that are popular on the market. The water consumption for the washing cycle in these machines is shown in the table.

• Bosch SPV 53M00;
• Bosch SPV 58M50;
• Bosch SMS 50E02;
• Bosch SMS 40D12;
• Electrolux ESL 95201 LO;
• Hansa ZWM 606 IH.

Economical and compact dishwashers

Today, a consumption of 9 liters is not the limit for a dishwasher. Premium class machines, as well as small dishwashers, can consume no more than 7 liters of water. This is achieved thanks to certain technologies, as well as the design of the dishwasher. Reduced water consumption is reflected in its cost; usually these are premium dishwashers.

• Bosch SPV 63M50;
• Siemens SN 66M094;
• Smeg STA13XL2;
• NEFF S51M65X4;
• Smeg BLV2VE-2.

The listed models are narrow and full-size; water consumption per cycle is presented in the table. These dishwashers can truly be called economical, because water consumption is 40% lower.

Important! If the dishwasher has a half-load function, and such dishwashers probably have it, then water consumption will be reduced by another 20-30 percent, of course not by 50%, as some people think, but this is not bad. At the same time, energy consumption will also decrease, but in time the machine will work as usual.

Separately, you need to look at how much a compact or small dishwasher spends on a washing cycle. The difference in water consumption with narrow dishwashers is not great and is only 2-3 liters; for some models there is no difference in water consumption at all, At the same time, they can wash fewer dishes. Therefore, whether there is any savings in this or not, decide for yourself.So, we looked at how much water the following compact dishwashers waste:

• Candy CDCF 6;
• Bosch SKE 52M55;
• Siemens SC 76M522;
• Electrolux ESL 2400 RO;
• AEG F 55200 VI.

Let's celebrate! The actual water consumption of a dishwasher may differ from that stated in the passport by 1-2 liters. Does this matter much, probably not, but I would still like the information in the instructions to be accurate.

Are there savings?

Now let’s analyze, if the difference is in how much water a dishwasher spends and how much a person spends on washing the same amount of dishes, does the machine actually save water or not? You can only talk about saving water consumption if you have water meters; if you don’t have them, then the water consumption of the dishwasher doesn’t matter.

If we take, for example, a narrow Siemens SN 66M094 dishwasher with a capacity of 14 sets and load 63 items into it, for example:

• 18 plates,
• 14 cups,
• 2 pans,
• 3 salad bowls,
• 1 cutting board,
• 1 teapot,
• 24 cutlery,

then in about three hours with intensive mode it will spend 10 liters of water.

We tried to wash half of the set of dishes that the dishwasher washed, that is, 34 items. The whole process took 20 minutes. At the same time, the water was turned off when the dishes needed to be washed. As a result, 23 liters of hot and 20 liters of cold water were spent, a total of 43 liters. For just one wash, the figure seems impressive.

If we convert savings from liters to $, this is what we got: for 1 year of daily operation of the machine, you can save 8280 liters; the average cost of hot water in 2016 in Moscow is $1. This means that the dishwasher saves $10 on hot water. Savings on cold water will be $1.

Conclusion! A dishwasher will save $11 on water per year. But this is subject to the economical use of water when washing by hand; there are those who spend 100 liters of water a day washing dishes, which means that the machine will save even more.

Of course, this is a small amount, and in order to talk about real savings, you also need to calculate the electricity consumption and the cost of detergents. As for electricity, water savings cover electricity consumption by about 3-4 times. That leaves about $8 for cleaning supplies. This money may not be enough for a year, depending on what to wash and what to sprinkle, but we can say that the total costs of hand and machine washing are approximately equal. However, there is still a big advantage in favor of a dishwasher; it will save you time, which you can spend with pleasure.

Thus, even according to the most conservative estimates (with a water consumption of 14 liters), the dishwasher saves water. But whether your family budget saves or not, calculate for yourself. Everything will depend not so much on the model of the machine, but on what detergents you use to wash dishes. In our opinion, are these costs worth a few minutes of rest after work?

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