I think it is an amzing idea. I only wish I could have fit it in my plan. One of my friends actually has 3 dishdrawers. Two are on one side of the sink and one is on the other side. This may be a good idea for you if you don't need 2 full size dishwashers.

I don't have 2 dishwashers, but I think it would be a GREAT idea and I'd love having 2 of them!

Are the things that are accumulating now able to go in the dishwasher? I have to handwash my pots and pans so having a second dishwasher would only give me a place to put more dishwasher-able dishes, and wouldn't solve the pots and pan issue.

We, too, will have one DW on either side on main sink (was high on my wish list for new kitchen, and I can't wait!). My original justifications were (a) so I don't have to really unload ever, and (b) for entertaining, which we do often.

I have always had a 2-bowl sink, with one bowl permanently holding the dishdrainer for all the handwashed items. I had not thought of using the second DW as a dishdrainer, but that is an excellent idea, sweeby. Is there any concern about the pots/pans/etc. not air-drying properly in a closed DW? If not, then maybe I can just get a large single bowl sink!

You could also consider dish drawer dw's--I find the constant cycling of dishes through the 2 independent dd's really cuts down on stacks of dirty dishes waiting for space in the dw. I love the set up. And I love just unloading one drawer at a time.

where does the garbage go if you have a DW on either side of the sink?

Good question. For us, small garbage p/o hopefully under sink (depending on plumbing set-up and disposal) and main trash/recycling p/o elsewhere (near prep sink). We don't usually have much to scrape off plates into trash, so I'm hoping this will work.

We have one on each side of the sink, and it sounds like you could benefit from having the 2nd one, too.

Malhgold, our trash is across the aisle from the sink in the island. If nothing else was possible, I would have gone back to the old trash under the sink thing. Maybe on an adjacent cabinet run (stove wall) would have worked to, so it could open at 90 degrees to one of the DWs.

Starfish - Our hand-washed dishes always get dry by morning even in our humid climate.

And Mahlgold, our trash is on the far side of one DW and for us, it's not too far. We also have a 2nd trash pullout by the prep sink.

Thanks to all of you who confirmed my thought that a 2nd dishwasher would be useful. I just stopped by an appliance store and they had both the dish drawers as well as an 18" dishwasher on display. I think I may go with the 18" regular dishwasher as this would mean I would not have to cut short another cabinet, kind of the best of both worlds. I will then move the trash pullout to the island right behind the sink.

I was actually thinking I would put everything (including pots , pans) into the dishwashers. I pretty much handwash all pots, pans, cooking stuff now becuase I just don't have the space in the DW and probably old habits die hard. Do others use their dishwashers for pots and pans and such?

We put our stainless pots and pans in the dw, and pretty much only handwash the cast iron.

we have 2 dw - one right next to the sink, the other separated from the sink by a pull out garbage bin...i thought i would use both fairly regularly, as we are a family of at least 5 (with one more in college), also with additional cooking due to my DH's celiac - what i have found is that the miele holds so much more than my old kitchenaid dw that i rarely need to use both except when entertaining (which we do often) - i do hand wash pots and casserole dishes...all that being said: i love having both, but i find it less of a need, than i had anticipated

We too have two, one to the right of the sink and one across the aisle next to the prep sink but just a turn away from the main sink. Our trash po is next to the 2nd dishwasher.

We often run 3 loads in a day as I cook all our food and love to bake and I wash EVERYTHING in the DW. Somethings, especially pots and pans, don't always come out perfectly clean but a bit of bar keeper's friend usually fixes that and a quick rinse nd dry and we can put those away.

Both are Miele's and they hold a LOT.

I put my Farberware in the DW, but have to wash the Calphalon by hand. (It's worth it, though.)

I suspect we have to win the award for irrational exuberance when it comes to number of dishwashers...we have FOUR. And there's only DW and me in the house! We have two Mieles in the kitchen, one F&P D/W drawer upstairs in the game room bar and one 18" Miele in the outdoor lanai. We use the two in the kitchen regularly but the other two get used only when we entertain or have house guests.

Here are several points for you to consider:

1. The 18" Miele has 18" rotors...but a 24" depth. Consequently, it has trouble cleaning deep items (like tall glasses) if they're loaded in the front or back. If you're like most folks who thoroughly wash their dishes before putting them in the D/W (nutty, but true!), that may not create a problem. But it does cut down your loading flexibility.
2. We have a 15" trash compactor between our sink and one D/W and an 18" cabinet between the sink and the other D/W. We've never found it to be inconvenient but maybe that's because we don't rinse our dishes (only scrape) before loading (i.e., don't have to drag drippy dishes across those distances).
3. We have two different Incognito Miele models in the kitchen. The only difference I can see in the two is that the bottom racks are different but neither seems to have an advantage over the other. We rotate between the two so they both have the same "mileage".
4. DW washes all our non-stick pots by hand, per the manufacturer's recommendation. But casserole dishes, etc. will typically get clean in the D/W...IF you load it correctly.

Because the kitchen is so central to our entertaining style, it's great to be able to get all of the dishes off the counter quickly, something that's near impossible with a single dishwasher.

Bob

Thank you montalvo for the info on the 18" dishwasher. I will certainly keep that in mind as I do a bit more research. I think we will be able to fit 2 full size dishwashers and I also appreciate the tip about rotating so each gets the same usage, would not have occurred to me.

The 18" will cost you as much as a full-size too.

We have 2 DWs and have been very happy with the decision. I did consider and 18", a single drawer or double drawers. The tall tub, 24" made the most sense for us -- anything could go in either side nad we hade more loading options. I also figured that since the 2 DWs would allow me to put some of my pots, large mixing bowls in if I wanted to, I didn't want to be limited by which one was loading.

I really do like the way it clears the counters, and like Sweeby, we have used one for washing and the other for drying at times. We had 16-20 for Christmas Eve, had all the dishes from before dinner, dinner and dessert washed and put away before the guests left, and no one was even aware of the DWs running (a couple of folks asked about the light shining on the floor).

We put our trash under the sink as it was pre-remodel. I would have liked a trash pullout, but there was no workable way. We did put one next to the island sink and it works well there. Our main sink is large and deep, so the small Rev-a-Shelf double pullout (2x27) just fit under the sink. While it was possible, I didn't want to be opening the cabinet and then having to pull the bin out since nothing would fit into it without pulling it out to clear the bottom of the sink. Instead, we put two bins turned sideways across the front of the sink base without pullouts. They are a bit shorter and we can put most things in without having to pull them out, and we did save some money there. It was more than worth giving up a trash pullout to get the second DW -- but I do love the pullout we have on the other side of the island for the prep and baking areas.

I have 2 DWs on either side of my main sink, one is a 24" and one is 18", with a pull-out trash can under the sink. I use my 2nd DW far more than I use my 2nd oven, and nobody ever questions the decision to have a double oven, right? My 18" DW is a Monogram and it was much less expensive (1/2 the price) of the 24". Good luck!