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Dishwashers: How much electricity do they use and how to use them efficiently?

By on January 9, 2023

Most stereotypical maids in old bollywood movies were always shown as those washing utensils with their hands. Cleaning, rinsing and drying utensils were and are still very commonly done with hands. But slowly and steadily dishwashers have started entering Indian kitchens. Many people in metros and big cities have started buying dishwashers to make every day cleaning of utensils more automated and reliable. As adding any other appliance adds to the electricity bills, even a dishwasher adds significant number of units to the electricity bills every month.

What are the operations in a dishwasher?

A dishwasher operates a few automated steps in sequence. First it fills up with water and heats the water to a desired temperature. Then the utensils are sprayed with hot water and detergent, alternately draining and refilling the water. After the final rinse the utensils are air-dried or heat-dried. Any heating operation typically consumes a lot of electricity and so the heating of water and heat drying will consume a lot of electricity.

How much electricity do they use?

Dishwashers come in different sizes and they also have multiple modes in which they can be used. But a typical dishwasher would consume about 1-2 units per load on dishes (Source: Florida Solar Energy Center). We at Bijli Bachao also measured a dishwasher at a friend’s place recently and found that her dishwasher used 1 unit of electricity for the most optimum and energy efficient mode available on the machine. For a month of use, it would sum up to 30-60 units of electricity. You can find out how much a unit costs you by using our calculator: Online Electricity Bill Calculator – For all states in India.

Tips to save electricity on dishwashers

Following tips can be used to save electricity spent on dishwashers:

  1. Use dishwashers at a lower temperature setting. Heating consumes a lot of electricity and thus it is best to use dishwasher at optimum temperature setting. You can refer manufacturer’s recommendation in the product manual.
  2. Make sure that the dishwasher is full when used but do not overload it.
  3. Use air-dry mode to dry the utensils if there is one. Avoid using heating element to dry the utensils, as it will consume a lot of electricity. Opening the door slightly after the final rinse will dry the utensils faster.
  4. Try using the most energy efficient mode as mentioned in the user’s manual.

Using energy efficient dishwasher and using them efficiently will not just save electricity but will also save some water. And both are precious resources.

Best Dishwashers in India in in 2024:

References

http://www.fsec.ucf.edu/en/publications/pdf/FSEC-CR-1772-08.pdf

http://energy.gov/energysaver/articles/tips-kitchen-appliances

About the Author:
Abhishek Jain is an Alumnus of IIT Bombay with almost 10 years of experience in corporate before starting Bijli Bachao in 2012. His passion for solving problems moved him towards Energy Sector and he is keen to learn about customer behavior towards Energy and find ways to influence the same towards Sustainability. .

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