APPLIANCES: ENERGY STAR Dishwashers – how much water do they really save?

During your kitchen remodel, it is more than likely that you will replace your old dishwasher with a new one.  When you do, GetWithGreen.com recommends going with an ENERGY STAR dishwasher appliance.

According to the Department of Energy (DOE), ENERGY STAR qualified dishwashers typically use one-third less water than non-qualified models.  The average ENERGY STAR qualified dishwasher uses 4 gallons per cycle, while the average non-qualified dishwasher uses 6 gallons.   DOE says, if you want to save even more water: scrape don’t rinse.  Pre-rinsing dishes before loading the dishwasher can use up to 20 gallons of water.  Just scrape food off the dishes and load.  ENERGY STAR qualified dishwashers and today’s detergents are designed to do the cleaning so you don’t have to pre-rinse.  If your dirty dishes are going to sit overnight, use your dishwasher’s rinse feature.  It uses a fraction of the water needed to handed rinse. 

The DOE also wants us to keep in mind, washing dishes by hand uses much more water than using a dishwasher.  Using an ENERGY STAR qualified dishwasher instead of hand washing will save you annually 5,000 gallons of water.  $40 in utility costs, and 230 hours of your time.

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