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Dishwasher handles, recessed or bar handle?

11 years ago

Hi everyone,

I know this is a silly question, lol! Is there a difference aside from aesthetics between a bar handle or a recessed one?

We presently don't have a DW so I'm wondering if one style is more liked than the other? The models I have been looking at are both from Bosch in the 800 series.

thanks

Featured Answer

Cavimum

11 years ago

When you hang a dishtowel on that bar handle, and open the DW door, the dishtowel gets to drag all over the floor.

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Comments (10)

marcydc
11 years ago
I rented a vacation house with the bar handle type. Ouch. Maybe others are more aware of their surroundings that i am, but hip met handle at least twice.
dseng
11 years ago
The big difference - the bar handle lets you hang a dish towel on it so that your 130lb Kuvasz has something to play with when he gets bored and thinks no one is watching.
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Your options for the DW are: --lucking out and finding a handle somewhere that fits. --building a recess into the wall behind the DW so it can be pushed in further. --a different DW. --revising the adjacent cabinet with a filler piece so the drawer doesn't hit the DW. I saw your other post about your range not fitting either. What happened here? Did your KD and GC not pay attention to the appliance specs? Why aren't they solving this problem? Meaning recessing the DW vs a filler piece in the adjacent cabinet, and talking with the countertop fabricator about the range.
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Amazing what you can find on the internet. I have the SAME exact problem with my dishwasher. Only, it is isn't Bosch it is GE. Handle has plastic endcaps, which of course after owning it only a few months, first started to crack and then just crumbled. GE came to replace it under warranty. It was not so easy to replace, he had to take the door apart. I said there is no way it will last. He said it will, he has never heard of this problem. How can you make a piece like that out of plastic? Well, it has been a few months, I took a look and sure enough, it has started to develop a crack again. I got an extended warranty on it because of this. I am sure I will be using it plenty of times. Who designs these things???
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The handle issue came up in our kitchen, too. We don't have a large kitchen, the house is built in 1939 and we wanted a new kitchen but one that looked like it belonged to the rest of the house. Along one run of cabinetry we had the fridge, two DWs (one on each side of the sink) and the oven. That's alot of handles looking at you in a row, not to mention alot of stainless! We decided to integrate the fridge and DWs and get cabinet pulls to match. We have the new look of the oven and cooktop, but the kitchen doesn't feel overwhelming for the rest of the house. And no, with 18" pulls on the DWs next to the sink, never had a problem with bumping them.
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Let me explain something to those of you not in the know. Appliance manufacturers do just about anything to drive down cost. In order to do that they advertise and attempt to set a new style or trend. Pure marketing BS. Two examples are stainless steel and no handles. It is more expensive to make a painted fridge than stainless fridge. With a stainless fridge the buyer has to deal with endless fingerprints (there is no such thing as fingerprint proof stainless and they scratch if you breath on them). It is more expensive to make a fridge with no handles and market it as sleek rather than market it a PITA. Appliance makers will do anything for your money and will sell you the lowest quality product they can get away with.
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breezygirl
11 years ago
Unless your DW is in a corner where a regular handle might hinder a drawer from opening on the adjacent cab run (btdt!), I think its purely aesthetics. I'd rather buy a DW for how it cleans, low noise level, and how my dishes fit in it than for the type of handle. That said, I visually prefer the recessed handle myself. My current DW is this way, but I'd trade it for a quieter one that cleans better and had a bar handle any day.
frannell
11 years ago
Breezygirl is right. Buy the best dishwasher you can for your budget. We have a KA with a bar handle, not my preference, but our dishes are spotless and it's quiet. No contest.
Jodi_SoCal
11 years ago
Our kitchen is small. I insisted on getting a DW with a recessed handle just to keep the lines in the kitchen clean and unobtrusive. As such, we got one of the Bosch 800 series DWs.

Jodi-
geomeg
Original Author
11 years ago
Jodi , my kitchen is tiny! I've found a Bosch 800 series with recessed handle that I like. Are you happy with yours?
rdw829
11 years ago
I didn't even think about causing a problem with a drawer when I ordered my DW with a handle. Hope I don't wind up having to return it. (in the middle of demo now) Oy!
pricklypearcactus
11 years ago
Visually I much prefer the bar handle. I haven't ever hung my dish towel off of it because (like dseng) my 100lb German Shepherd would assume it's for her amusement while we're out of the house. It does stick out slightly so if I'm leaning into the cabinetry right there I am touching it, but I've never banged into it. If you have an immediate right angle of cabinetry adjacent to it (I do right now), you will have to check clearances of any drawers.
scrapbookheaven
11 years ago
My biggest concern with the handle was my kids hanging on it and loosening it. I noticed a floor model had that problem and I KNOW that my kids would hang on it no matter what the consequence. So, recessed handle was put in my kitchen. Bonus, no banging hip bones on handle.

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