When I remodeled my house in PA, we did away with the dishwasher. It just was not a very big space and I had two large sinks. We have since moved and had two renters. No one has complained that there is no DW. The first renter was a couple, no kids. This renter is a couple, 3 kids.

I think it may depend on what part of the country you are in, though, as far as what other people think. That was rural central PA.

Thanks for your insight Sabjimata, appreciate it. Do you miss not having one now? Do you have a food disposal? There's not one in this hous either, on septic as well. I think I can do without a dw, but I'd love a disposal, DH puts just about everything down the sink. It's going to be hard to break him of this habit, esp. since he does almost all cooking.

I live alone and have an 18" dishwasher. I only run it about once a week - it takes that long to fill it up. I never pre-rinse, but the dishes always come out sparkling - no matter how disgusting they were when I put them in.

Haven't tried hummus-encrusted plates though. ;-)

This is the first dishwasher I've ever owned, and I have to say, I *love* it!!! My favorite part of my new kitchen. :-)

I personally wouldn't design a kitchen without a dishwasher, but thats just my opinion, if for no other reason than resale value.

We never really used our dishwasher too much either preferring to wash everything in the sink by hand. When we remodeled we purchased a drawer dishwasher which basically works like 2 mini dishwashers. Since the drawers are smaller and can run independently, this seemed like a good trade off for our small family. So far my wife is really loving it. No worrying about filling up the whole thing before a load, just load up the smaller drawer and let er rip!

Just my .02

Here is a link that might be useful: Picture of drawer dishwasher

My DH and I are both 65+ and retired. I didn't get a DW until our daughter was much older and I rarely used it. With just the 2 of us now, I got another DW but only ran it once or twice a month, mainly to make sure it would work. DH finally convinced me that the DW uses less water than when I wash by hand ( this model had a smart wash cycle ) so past 6 months had been using it 2-3 times a week. Even after several days of dishes sitting in the DW they come out spotless. Today DH installed our new DW drawers. I'm looking forward to this set up because now I'll be able to run a small load in one of the drawers-won't have to wait 2-3 days.

So, for us, even though we're empty nesters and don't rack up a lot of dirty dishes daily, a DW is very welcome addition to our family!!

I wanted to add a funny tidbit that some of you may find useful. I had a grandfather that lived in a small cottage in Michigan. Although they built the house, they never made an updates and after they had lived there for 20 years, some things didn't work that wonderful. I recall my grandfather never ran his dishwasher, but he used it to store tupperware style bowls.

Just a thought for those of you who may be thinking you wouldn't don't need a dishwasher yourself, but are thinking you still want one for re-sale. It can always be used for storage! :)

No DW or the lack of a place designed & plumbed for one would be a deal-breaker for me. Sorry, but I would never be w/o one...and I would not rent a place w/o one.

However, if this is your "forever" home and/or have no plans to sell it in the next 8 to 10 years or so, then do what's best for you, not some future buyers! This is your kitchen and it should work best for you & your family...however large or small it is!

I live alone with my dog and run my dishwasher every night. It uses four gallons of water, which you can easily use while hand washing dishes off and on through the day.

The coffee pot and my cup, the dog's bowls and a few plates are clean, sanitized and ready for me each morning. My Bosch dishwasher has a setting for a half load. I often use that, but not always.

I started this when I was doing a lot of work in the house and my arms were sore from repetitive movements. Using the dishwasher was a way to give my arms a rest.

I've had it both ways, and I really don't care much either way. When I have a party, the DW is never big enough and when it's just me, it never fills up. Theoretically, I'd prefer to clean up and do dishes after every meal, but I get busy or lazy. So it mostly is a place to put dirty dishes out of the way, and then since they are in there already...

It sounds like a single dish drawer may be a good option for you for day-to-day cleaning. An 18" DW won't be enough when you have company.

Our Miele 18"er has a Top Only feature; maybe we will use it more when DD leaves for college. Love the DW, esp. the top (3rd) rack. When we had the full sized DW, we would run it every 3 - 4 days and end up hand-washing our most frequently used items so it wasn't really worth it. Our current DW gets run daily, so I never have to hand wash my favorite coffee cup. Rinsing leads to badly etched dishes and use of too much water. Enzyme detergent eats up all the food, so we broke the rinsing habit.

Don't portables tie up use of the faucet? That would drive me nuts. My MIL bought a portable, didn't like it, and then installed a DW. She never got used to either, so now both are used for storage. If you truly think you will be like her, I am sure you can find other uses for your $$$.

Also, I am assuming you have an available circuit for a DW. I think California or at least my city requires a separate circuit for each and every kitchen appliance.

Debelli, the house we bought in FL had a dishwasher. It was terrible, old and required us to manually fill it with water before use. We just got a Samsung on clearance @ Lowes for $420 and it works like a charm.

We do not have a garbage disposal. I just keep a 1/2 gallon canning jar at the sink for compost. I have to empty it about 1-2 times a week.

I know a good amount of families with 5+ kids who do not use a DW or garbage disposal. I think it is definitely a lifestyle decision. Both my parents and in-laws (people in their 70's) love the GD and DW. I cannot imagine them living without it.

However, my friends who are very environmentally conscious shudder at the idea of using both. That is what I mean by "lifestyle decision."

Our house in PA, btw, has the original drain where the DW was in place. Someone with DW ambition would just need to remove a cab and slide it in if they wanted it badly enough ;)

I would never give short shrift to the dishwasher. I am a single person starting the process of remodeling. I am dreading most not having my dishwasher.

I would never get a portable. A built in just makes being in the kitchen liveable.

I'm not remodeling for resale, but if I were looking for a new home, I would never look at one that didn't have a dishwasher. Part of it is a prejudice that the lack of a dishwasher would imply the rest of the kitchen was also lacking or not up to code.

Dishwashers are not that expensive anymore. Give serious thought to installing a standard size one.

I live mostly alone now, and use the DW every couple of nights. I scrape the food off, but rarely rinse the dishes before I put them in the DW. In between I run the "rinse and hold" or "quick rinse" cycle. It runs for about 10 minutes and gets the stuff, which keeps the hummus from turning to concrete.

My daughter and grandchildren come to visit from Texas a couple of times a year, and this year will stay all summer, so they'll be 4-5 of us, and my other kids come over for dinner on Sunday evenings, so that's a lot of dishes to do, too.

I never do dishes by hand, it's a kitchen chore I hate, and it's so wasteful of water (and I have a well, I'm very conscious of how much water my appliances use) and clutters up the counters, and it's boring.

I would never consider buying a home without a DW, I agree, it would make me wonder what else is missing. And if your home is "normal" sized, get a regular size DW, I think otherwise, you are being penny-wise and pound foolish.

Good luck with your remodel.

I haven't had a dishwasher for 2-1/2 years now - our current house doesn't have one and lacks the plumbing and electrical capacity to support one until we re-do the kitchen. I've been handwashing since we moved in and it's not bad for just the two of us, although it means the sink area is always cluttered with the dishpan full of soaking dishes, the drainboard full of drying dishes, or both.

We certainly could do without when we remodel, but for convenience and cleaner dishes, we'll put one in.

I'm not a big fan of either the countertop dishwashers or portable models, and my beef with both is the space they occupy. The countertop ones take up precious counterspace (besides being energy suckers) and the portable ones hog floor space, unless you're going to roll it out of the way (and put it where?) after each use. For me, blocking out the 18" or 24" in a cabinet run next to a sink makes the dishwasher unobtrusive and maximizes its convenience and usefulness.

Love reading all replies, the opinions, suggestions and stories. There's definitely differences of opinions and whatever works for you is what's important.

I'm looking forward to getting back to the house the end of next week. I've measured a million things in that house but didn't get around to measuring the base cabinets (did the 10 drawers though) I'm going to see if there's a way to put an 18" dishwasher in to right or left of the sink. I don't see the need for anything larger.

But my first course of action is to tackle the cabinets, see if they take to the stain, and if not, paint. I can't go forward and do anything else in this kitchen til I find out what I'm going to do about the cabinets, after that, I can decide. If the cabinets won't work, we'll have to do new cabinets, which I haven't even thought about a layout for, but I'd definitely put in a dw. Not that we'd use it all that much, but I don't see myself staying in this house forever and I know it would make a difference to someone who'd buy it down the line.

Definitely options to think about though, 24", 18", portable, countertop, drawer style and good old handwashing - lots of options.

I did find this interesting on the energy star website.

How much water do ENERGY STAR dishwashers use? Why is there no water efficiency metric (or "water factor") for ENERGY STAR dishwashers like there is for ENERGY STAR qualified clothes washers?
Answer

As of August 11, 2009, ENERGY STAR qualified dishwashers are required to use 5.8 gallons of water per cycle or less. Older dishwashers use much more water than newer models. A dishwasher purchased before 1994 uses about 8 additional gallons of water in each cycle compared to a new ENERGY STAR qualified model. Use the ENERGY STAR qualified dishwasher product search to learn the specific gallons of water per cycle for all ENERGY STAR qualified dishwasher.

If you want to save even more water: scrape don't rinse. Pre-rinsing dishes before loading the dishwashers 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 hand rinse.

Also keep in mind, washing dishes by hand uses much more water than using a dishwashers. Using an ENERGY STAR qualified dishwashers instead of hand washing will save you annually 5,000 gallons of water, $40 in utility costs, and 230 hours of your time.
******************

I see models mentioned that use as little as 3 gallons. I definitely would use more cleaning by hand than that.

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It was mentioned about the rinse/hold cycle by a few.

One agency wrote:

Don't use the "rinse-hold" setting if the load has only a few dishes; it uses 3-7 gallons of hot water each time.

*************
Lot's of info out there, lots of options, lots of opinions and lots of reading.

We'll see next week what I can come up with for this kitchen

(picture taken before I bought it)

Haven't been on gardenweb for quite some time but was browsing today and stumbled across this thread.

One of the things that's been reinforced with me recently is that most, if not all, of things in life are very subjective. As has been said here, in many threads, to each their own.

We used to go out to eat every night. It's hard to believe that we did that now but we did. When that was our lifestyle, our dishwasher was run once or twice a week.

Now I cook most every night and weekend. Many times it's simple things but it's very good, you control the quality, salt etc. Anyway, we think it's much better and I'm getting better at what I can do - so most nights and weekends we are eating at home - going out has become the exception rather than the rule.

I've read that once that you get into it that you may want to or need to do something simple at times because of time or physical energy constraints but that once you are into it that it's a time and process that you don't want to entirely miss. That's been true for me (us).

Interesting enough, instead of going out almost every night and staying home on the holidays we've actually reversed it.

Now we have been going out for Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve (for Christmas) and staying at home most other times (of course not all of the time) LOL!

For us going out on Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve (We never did make it an "every year" thing to celebrate New Years, Easter etc with an at home family dinner) is much easier than trying to plan for, coordinate, prepare, clean up and unfortunately then you do all of that and then find that (in our case) the family members involved don't really appreciate what's involved and are not always easy to get along with - so in any case for what it's worth, we do things differently now.

I enjoy cooking but when I do cook I use the dishwasher every day and I would even use it twice a day (if needed) - even if it's not completely full.

The reason is that you never know how empty you will need / want it to be for the following meal. I figure that it's there to serve me.

The way I think of it is that if I've cooked, I've already saved a bunch of money anyhow and that dishwashers are also actually money savers too.

I do also wash things by hand - any stainless steel pots, pans, lids - my thermal coffee pot and lid but the coffee basket, things like stainless steel vegetable steamers etc go in the DW and I run it if I am at all concerned about how much space might be needed at the next meal.

So anyway to each their own and the important thing is to experience peace and productivity in your own life - remember it's all subjective!

Personnaly, I think people should always consider resale in making decisions, even though you expect you don't need to. One never knows what the future brings. For resale, I put in a normal size dishwasher. I wouldn't buy a home without it. Small 18" may be convenient for you now, but not my not appeal at all to a potential buyer. Sometimes balancing your current needs vs future needs is a difficult act.

As a DINK I'd have to say an 18" would be fine with me, although we put in a standard 24" DW when we remodeled our 2bd cottage. Having had a really lousy DW (Kenmore/GE 1989), then replacing it with a really good DW (KA 2009), I can confidently say I use a LOT LESS water these days. Some DWs are fussy about what kind of detergent you use; the KA is not.

We live in a state with bone-dry summers and in the 40 yrs I've lived here, there have been four major droughts. We are currently in a three-year drought and water is getting more expensive every year.

Because this DW loads flexibly and cleans so well, I run it a lot more than my previous DW, because I can now put in all kinds of encrusted pans/casseroles my old DW couldn't handle.

For anything I think might be a problem - a Miele rep was once quoted here as saying that egg yolk and mashed potatoes resemble concrete once dried - I soak in the sink with the barest minimum of water. I don't scrub, just drain and put in the DW when I'm ready to run it, since we run it almost every day (mostly due to the pots and pans used).

I am not quite sure what your objective is..
Do you want to spend the least amount of money and get a DW or try to live without a DW?
If you don't think there is a kitchen remodel in the short term future then I would just make the best of the current situation.
If you are redoing the kitchen in the next few years, spend as little money as you can now, and put the money in the DW in the future.
If you think you will live a few years with the kitchen as is, then put in a 18 inch DW (if it fits) and deal with that when you remodel many years from now.

I'm on the record as "not a dishwasher lover". I'm not really sure what the phrase for that would be...

I have owned 3 houses which had dishwashers and my two recent rentals had them as well. I don't think I ever so much as turned them on. We removed the one from my current house and have designed it right out of the kitchen. The way I work in the kitchen has never seemed to incorporate a DW as a logical step.

If I'm alone in the kitchen as I cook then I clean as I go (that's what the down time between phases is for! Lol.) so at the end all that's left is my one or two eating dishes and it's easy to make quick work of them.

If DH is with him then he is cleaning up as I go and we are left with even less dishes at the end and split the chore with much giggling over bubbles and occasionally splashing water.

If company is over than they had better be right there with us! At my house you stand and chop not sit and watch. So even though there are more dinner dishes at the end it's still split among a group of people.

There are things I don't like about DW's such as noises, smells and repairs needed and etc but MOSTLY I don't like the way it distances me from what's happening. I love the time we spend with me wiping down the counters and him drying the dishes. These things, to me!, are what end a good meal. The other option would be to use a DW and go watch tv or read a book.... but that wouldn't be doing things with my family.

I'm happy to take part in these small and meaningless rituals with my DH and our guests. I believe the DH is happy about this (if he isn't he may never say, lol) and I've had many guests comment that they aren't used to the offer of "can I help?" being accepted but that they like it. They feel less like bystandars that way and allows them to contribute something. It creates an interaction among us all, a task, that really affects me in an emotional way that I would miss if things were different.

I'm weird, I know.

morgne,

I don't think that you are weird at all.

I have commented many times that my grandmother NEVER minded doing dishes. She never complained about it - it was something that was a part of what we all did together.

"MOSTLY I don't like the way it distances me from what's happening. I love the time we spend with me wiping down the counters and him drying the dishes. These things, to me!, are what end a good meal."

What a great way to look at things - I'll try to remember that most of the time.

We have a very similar situation---older kitchen, no logical place for a dishwasher.

We really, really wish we had one (and are about to embark on a kitchen remodel that will get us one, yay!)---but in our case, retrofitting the existing cabinets to add one got to be too costly and illogical to be worthwhile. It really depends on the individual kitchen, though. We looked into portables and counter models and found that both were more trouble than they were worth in our particular situation (very limited counter space, small sink, no floor space well suited for a portable) so we stuck with hand washing.

I would not hesitate to do the 18" Miele (holds more than the equivalent GE, though I haven't seen the Bosch since it came out just as we decided not to go that route) in a situation like this. No, it's not great for resale---but you're not doing a full kitchen remodel, you're putting on a band-aid, and it's perfect for that if it saves you from having to rip out the whole kitchen just to get the dishwasher. (Also, I was really sold on the smaller dishwasher for a smaller house as we were entertaining that idea---I would love to have used the smaller size and saved the cabinet real estate with the remodel, but we are going full-sized because of the pesky resale issue.) If you end up designing from scratch I'd say of course go full-sized, but for squishing it into an existing layout, the 18" is perfect.

My new dishwasher--one of the first off the line of a new model--wasn't drying, so I, and various helpers I've dragooned into work, have been washing and drying everything that got put back into the kitchen from the boxes by hand. (The repair is scheduled for Thursday.) NO FUN!!! It's not the washing I mind, really, but the drying. Sheesh! After living abroad in my youth where there were no conveniences, I swore all I wanted in a kitchen, even in grad school, was a garbage disposer and a dishwasher. And even in grad school I got them! It helps that they're pretty common in rentals in my neighborhood. I do put the majority of the peelings, if there's enough to bother, in the composting green bin, and my gold trimmed company dishes do get hand washed, but I wouldn't want to be without my lovely little machines.

If I remember your kitchen right, there would be some difficulty putting in a DW in the existing, nice cabinets. An 18" more or less fit, though, didn't it? I'd do it if it were me, and I sometimes run my DW once a week. (Or twice a day. It depends on who's eating what.) I'd rather put some less often used things in a freestanding cupboard or top of a closet elsewhere than give up a dishwasher. I don't use all the fancy chemicals. Just 7th G. powder and no rinse aid. So if I have something that's going to sit and get stuck, like hummus, eggs, or thick tomato glop, I run a little water in the dish and leave it for a short while, so that it all slides off without wasting a whole lot of water. The newfangled detergents like Finish or Complete actually want you to have gunk for them to eat, and work better with good and dirty dishes than rinsed off ones. I think that's where the reports of good results after days in the dw come from.

Some people like washing dishes. I like to avoid it. :)

I got my first dw in about 70-71. with 3 kids and 1 on the way I swore I'd never be w/o one again.

I had one everywhere I moved up to 1990. By then it was just me so it didn't matter as much. I didn't cook much anymore either. not just for myself.

20 yrs w/o one and I'll be getting one in the near future when I move - and I can't wait. It's still just me and I still don't cook much but I'm sick of washing what I do use and washing the containers my sister sends home leftovers in. She is very insistant that I don't wash them, just return to her dirty for her dw. but i usually rinse them anyway. It's surprising what you end up with dirty even if you seldom cook. I've been using paper plates and plastic forks for several yrs now. I would like to use my dishes again...
my pans are stick free - easy to wash but i still don't like it anymore. I think it has a lot to do with the hand and arm movement - that really causes me back pain so I end up taking hrs to wash them - resting inbetween...

when I don't get out there to do up even my few dishes I hate that they just set around getting dirtier (desert dirt blowing thru).

I'll probably end up with a reg sized dw but I have checked out the 18" and dish drawers - but I don't want to spend a lot on it and I want bisque so I'm limited.

I 'spect I'll run it 2 or 3 times a week even if not full. I like the idea of running the d*og dishes thru it too.

I am soooo looking forward to a dw!

The discussions are great and I appreciate all who've chimmed in, it's interesting to read everyone's thoughts on this.

Morgne you brought memories back of my youth. My Grandparents had a summer cottage on Lake Ontario outside Rochester for alomst 60yrs. I haven't a clue when it was even built but I'm pretty sure they didn't build it and bought it already constructed. They did add on when I was a young teenager, putting in a bathroom and making the outhouse a storage shed:) I can't remember anything about a prior shower either, now that you made me think about it, I'm going to ask my Dad. Anyhow, from my memory, there was the front room that faced the lake, the kitchen and a narrow bedroom, they added on the living room aka Grandparents bedroom.

Weekends brought family and friends to the cottage and my Grandmother would cook up a storm, people brought dishes and Gramps would usually be grilling outside. To this day I haven't had a better hotdog than my Grandfather would make on that grill built outside.

Anyhow, no dishwasher, no disposal-after meals, no matter who was there or the day of time it was, one person would be washing, one drying and one putting things away. If more people, they'd be helping clear the table, putting leftovers away, sweeping, etc. Others could be sitting at the table talking. The kitchen was the biggest room in that little place. I wish I had pictures I could post, but I have very fond memories of those times, and the people in my life who've passed away. I wonder what it would have been like if there had been a dishwasher in that cottage back when.

For me, the dw isn't about the money, it's trying to see how it would fit in to the scheme of things. As I said prior, the cabinets are original to the 1960s built home, and in great condition. I just can't see pulling out wood cabinets for new (crappy) if I can stain or paint them and update everything else so where it looks good and is functional. If it means no dw, I can handle that. If I have to get new cabinets (there are worse things in the world!) I'll definitely configure the kitchen for a dw.
The cabinets as they are now, were built on site it seems. They are all one piece, so I also have to take in to account that if I cut in to cabinets it may possibly weaken the cabinets. Need someone professional to give me an expert opion. I wish they'd been in pieces, at least then I could possibly move things around.

If I can't install a dw it wouldn't be the end of the world. I can try and look on the bright side of it. The hundreds of dollars I'd have to pay for the dw, the $ for installation and new hook ups, the cost for possible repairs in the future, the cost to run it, I wouldn't have to put out money for. If I live there for 8-10yrs, the money I'd save by getting a dw I'd probably break even with the savings for not getting one. Just a thought.

Would I rather have a dw than not, yes. It's not that I enjoy doing dishes by hand, but I really don't mind it when it's just the two of us. When we have people over we use at least 3 dishes per person, not including serving pieces and it adds up and then I can't wait to use the dw. But would it kill me not to have one? No, not at all, generations before me didn't have it and they lived a long and happy life. Many don't have one now for one reason or another and do just fine without it. It makes things easier at times.

We are not fancy people and I don't want OR need a luxurious kitchen, I can't see spending a ton of money on a kitchen, not that I have a ton to spend, but I want function and nice looking, I don't need to have an impressive kitchen, I don't try to impress anyone.

I'm not a conformist, I don't feel the need to have the latest and greatest just because everyone else has it or is doing it. But that's a whole other thread I can get into. Everyone talks about granite, gotta have it, it's the latest rage, etc. etc. I actually like the formica I have in my kitchen and bathrooms and what's come out over the years since I've remodeled my current kitchen gives more options. Not that I'm against granite, but I won't buy it unless I really like it and the way it looks with whatever I pick, I just won't go with something because it's the latest, greatest and most popular. I've never felt the need to conform to the latest trends, I do what I find is most comfortable.

I found this interesting article at the link below:

http://www.consumerenergycenter.org/home/appliances/dishwashers.html

DISHWASHERS
Did you know that you can expect to keep your new dishwasher for 11 years? That's a lot of washing cycles and hot water, Today's dishwashers need water hot enough to melt dishwasher soap and clean greasy dishes - at least 140 degrees. By purchasing a dishwasher with a booster heater, you can set your home's water heater at 120 degrees, and still allow your dishwasher to operate correctly.

According to research, a load of dishes cleaned in a dishwasher requires 37 percent less water than washing dishes by hand. If you fill the wash and rinse basins of your sink instead of just letting the water run, however, you will use half as much water as the normal dishwasher load.

As much as 80 percent of the energy your dishwasher uses goes to heat water. Remember-by saving water, you're also saving the energy used to pump it, treat it, heat it in your home, and clean it up afterwards in your city's waste water facility. Up to 50 percent of a typical city's energy bill goes to supplying water and cleaning it after use!

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Buying Smart

Appliances have two price tags - one is the purchase price, and the other is paid out month after month, year after year, in the form of your utility bills. That second, on-going price tag is why it's so important to consider the operating costs as well as the purchase price when buying a dishwasher. Fortunately, there are several tools available to help you.

Dishwashers have an EnergyGuide label that estimates how much electricity, in kilowatt-hours (kWh), is needed each year to run the appliance and to heat water, based on the yearly cost of gas or electric water heating.

Ratings are based on washing six loads a week using the normal settings. If you plan to use other setting options, your energy use can vary substantially.

Look for features like "energy-saving" and "short-wash" cycles. Using more efficient operating cycles helps you use less water and save energy.

Choose a dishwasher that gives you heat-drying and air-drying options. Heat-drying elements use considerable energy; air-drying options use very little.

Dishwashers are classified as compact capacity and standard capacity. Compact models use less energy, but they also hold fewer dishes. Having to run a compact dishwasher several times to clean your family's dishes will result in greater energy use.

Before you go shopping, explore the Energy Star® dishwashers for those with the best efficiency features. These feature improved technology, energy efficient motors, and other advanced technology such as sensors that determine the length of the washing cycle. They also save energy by using less hot water to clean, and they feature the built-in water temperature boosters we mentioned. To qualify as an Energy Star� dishwasher, the appliance must exceed minimum federal standards by at least 13 percent.

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It's Your Money

Avoid using the "rinse hold" setting on your dishwasher. "Rinse hold" uses three to seven gallons of hot water for each use, and heating water takes extra energy. Never use "rinse hold" for just a few dirty dishes.

Try to wash only full loads-the savings will surprise you.

Use short cycles for everything but the dirtiest dishes. Short cycles use less energy and work just as well.

If your dishwasher has an air-dry setting, choose it instead of the heat-dry setting. You will cut your dishwasher's energy use from 15 percent to 50 percent. If there's no air-dry setting, turn the dishwasher off after its final rinse and open the door. The dishes will dry without using any extra electricity.

If you rinse dishes before loading them, use cold water. Don't waste water by letting it run continuously, either.

Install your dishwasher away from your refrigerator. The dishwasher's heat and moisture make the refrigerator work harder. If you have to put them next to each other, place a sheet of foam insulation between them.

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Dishwasher Tips

According to researchers, a load of dishes cleaned in a dishwasher requires 37 percent less water than washing dishes by hand. However, if you fill the wash and rinse basins instead of letting the water run, you'll use half as much water as a dishwasher would.

80 percent of the energy your dishwasher uses is for heating water. Remember-by saving water, you're also helping your city's wastewater facility save on the energy used to pump it, treat it, and clean it. Up to 50 percent of a typical city's energy bill goes to supplying water and cleaning it after use!

When you buy a dishwasher (also known as a dish storage device!), select one with a booster heater that raises incoming water to 140� F or higher. The higher temperature melts dishwasher soap and cleans those greasy dishes. Booster heating allows you to save energy by setting your home water heater to 120� F. Look for an energy efficient dishwasher that features air or overnight dry settings. Using these features can save up to 10 percent of your dishwashing energy costs.

Avoid using the "rinse hold" setting on your dishwasher. This feature uses 3 to 7 more gallons of hot water for each use. Never use "rinse hold" for just a few dirty dishes. Instead consider the old-fashioned hand wash/rinse basin option.

Use short wash cycles for everything but the dirtiest dishes. They use less energy and work just as well.

If your dishwasher has an air-dry setting, choose it instead of heat-drying. You'll cut your dishwasher's energy use 15 to 50 percent. If there's no air-dry setting, turn the dishwasher off after its final rinse and open the door. The dishes will dry slowly, but without using any extra electricity!

Many newer dishwashers do not require you to rinse dishes off before loading. If you prefer to pre-rinse use cold water on your dishes before loading them-but don't waste water by letting it run continuously.

If you have a choice, install your dishwasher away from your refrigerator. The dishwasher's heat and moisture increase your refrigerator's energy consumption. If you have to put them next to each other, place a sheet of foam insulation between them.

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Keep those opinions coming. For those without a dw, would love to know how you have found it best to tackle this chore without using a lot of water. I found a piece to put on to the existing faucet that stops the flow of water to a trickle and just the push of a lever allows it to fully flow again so to lessen the water waste. When I do the kitchen over and replace the faucet I'd like to find one built in and will have to search to see if it even exists on a faucet as I don't think the piece I found would ever fit on a more decorative faucet. Does anyone know of a faucet that has this feature?

Again, thanks to all who've chimed in about this, would love to read more opinions, thoughts and ideas!!!

I found this, don't think it's in the US yet, haven't had time to look, but if so, would definitely be a consideration!

Siemnes wall mounted dishwasher:

Hi morgne, I'm weird. too.

No DW, no disposal, no dryer.

The house came with a DW; we used it occasionally for bigger gatherings, but we didn't use it on a daily basis.
We tend to clean up as we go so it rarely got full enough to run. We kept having to take things out and hand wash something we needed.

When we put the new floor in and the DW wouldn't fit, we said bye-bye. Haven't missed it once.

Full Disclosure: DH is the new and improved DW. Him I would miss. :)