My LG dishwasher is a condensing dry, They must have a stainless steel liner for the system to work. There is no heating element or fan and it does not blow hot steamy air out of the top of the door. The moisture condenses and goes down the drain. It will not operate without Jet-Dry. 2 hr and 28 min on a normal cycle. I have been getting perfect results.

My Bosch is condenser dry, I guess. We run it at night and it dries by morning. Aren’t they more energy efficient?

The condensing type uses less electricity

I just went through this in April and read tons of reviews about condense heating. So many people were unhappy with it, (way more than who were) that I upgraded from a simple Bosch dishwasher to a more expensive model that uses a different method entirely. Crystal something but what it is, I couldn’t tell you exactly. What I do know though, is that so far it works better than anything I’ve ever owned. The goal is energy efficiency but apparently with condense drying it’s a hit and miss depending on brand/models.

Thanks for you thoughts. I believe the vented drying is pretty much no drying at all, which we have now. I generally leave the door open to dry the dishes anyway, but I was wondering if the condense-drying did a much better job.

Oh, fooey. I misread Elizabeth's post and thought her dishwasher had a 28 minute cycle!

How can these long runs 'save' anything? I have a pair of Fisher Paykel dish drawers; normal (shortest) cycle is 128 minutes; vent-dry. I think I could run four loads of clothes in my front load washer in that time. Both appliances use minimal water and detergent.

Not to divert but how do you like the dish drawers other than the time it takes? I have not been using my dishwasher unless I want to sterilize something.

Love my Bosch, I do highly recommend the flatware shelf. It's easier to load & unload and it just feels like the flatware is cleaner since it's not stuffed together.

maifleur -- I'd buy the dishdrawers again. (I did.) I love the convenience of the top drawer. I've seldom used the bottom one -- a few times on a heavier setting, for pots and pans. We run the top drawer after dinner -- breakfast, lunch, dinner dishes for two retired adults. Teeny amount of detergent, Jet-Dry. Quiet/not 'silent'. This set is 12 years old. The first set was a hassle to get installed properly, and I never thought they were quite 'right'. Failed after about 7 years. (Never put cabinet-matching wood fronts on something that will not last 20 years.)

I used to really miss my dishdrawer when we were on Maui with a noisy, 'bend over' type.

I'd award my dishdrawers an A for convenience and energy-saving; a B+ for cleaning/drying function. Check to see if the drawer is deep enough for your dinner plates; I know some early models were not.

In our next house I think I might get dish drawers. My SIL had them, and like chisue usually uses just the top one. Or uses the bottom one for pots.

Our current z Bosch dw has the third rack for utensils and I love it! Also perfect for other small, or long flat things like a spoon rest.

The Bosch is so quiet it's easy to forget it's running, it sings out when it's done.

sjerin, I think you're making a good decision to go with Miele. We're on our second (first one lasted about 20 years) we couldn't be happier with it. They're workhorses.

Ours does have the built in water softener because our water system supply is hard, I suspect yours may be too. It's funny this topic came up, my wife mentioned last night that items she'd put into the dishwasher's most recent cycle were much dirtier and with more difficult stuck on food items than usual (like melted cheese) and she was pleased with how clean everything came out.

I'm not sure what approach it uses for drying, it doesn't exhaust moist air in to the kitchen and there is no visible heating coil in the cabinet. We don't put plastic items into the dishwasher. Everything comes out very dry.

And it's nearly silent when running. The water noises when filling or emptying (coming from from the sink) are nosier than the machine running.

We have the Miele Crystal Ecoflex (model G6665SCVISFSS). It has the water softener as our area has hard water. It's no big thing -- just a reservoir where we pour in the salt every now and again. The specs state its heated and vented; everything comes out dry except the plasticware. I like that it has a built in pan to protect my hardwoods from leaks.

My friend and I went looking at dishwashers last year when hers quit. What an eye-opener! Anywhere from $600 to $2500. Not sure what the heck a $2500 one can do that a $600 one does. Put the dishes away perhaps??

If your dishes aren't as clean, you might want to check your machine's filter. Why do I say that? Because it took FIVE YEARS for us to learn that we were supposed to be regularly cleaning the filter. Yikes! It functions much better now, lol.

My dishdrawers have stainless steel plates in the bottom of the drawers that I can take out and clean very easily. This is in addition to regularly cleaning the water trap.

Elmer, every few months I have to scrub the filter mesh with a little brush to get the lint off. Where does lint come from in a dishwasher?? I suppose it's not actually that, but it looks like it. After I've done that, all is well again. I think I'll order the dw. Hope I get it before Christmas!

That's interesting, I'll give it a look. I'll admit we're not attentive to that maintenance step (taking it off, removing debris, rinsing the pieces). Probably because there's usually nothing there.

I don't know why there might be lint. Try calling Miele tech support and ask - the few times I've called them with dishwasher or clothes washer questions, the people on the other end of the phone were very knowledgeable and helpful. They're in New Jersey, if I remember correctly.

sjerin

Elmer, every few months I have to scrub the filter mesh with a little brush to get the lint off. Where does lint come from in a dishwasher?? I suppose it's not actually that, but it looks like it. After I've done that, all is well again. I think I'll order the dw. Hope I get it before Christmas!

~~~

It isn't "lint" -- it's debris from the dirty dishes! Lint is dry fabric fluff. You should probably be cleaning it more often, I admit that I forget too.

I know, it just looks like lint. Once in awhile I do find a piece of something--onion? stuck to the filter.

I've talked to the (German accented?) guy in NJ or NY before, who was very knowledgeable and helpful. Friend spoke to him too for her issue and felt the same.

Okay, here goes. I opened mine up and found..........what looks and feels like lint!. And a small amount of gunk in crevices of the round plastic piece under the screen. There was no food residue, just the lint-like stuff.

Thank you so much sjerin ! Water, hand and toothbrush wiping cleaned it.

Thinking about it, I have two thoughts. The first is- we use Finish detergent tablets. Some variations come in foil packets that you rip open and put the tablet in the compartment. Others come in plastic-like coverings. You put the whole thing into the dispenser without opening it, the covering dissolves with water. I wonder if the white granular stuff is residue from the dissolving covering? Do you happen to use that product?

Second thought - maybe it's mineral residue of some kind. One mineral that can be white and fibrous is - shudder- asbestos. I don't know if that's found in our water here. We do live in the same general area. If it is asbestos, it's most dangerous when inhaled, I suspect less so when eaten. We don't drink much tap water.

Otherwise, I'm now better informed and will check it periodically. Thanks again.