We have had our Miele for at least 8 years now, if I remember correctly. It's the closest thing you can get to magic. I have occasionally run it without detergent, when I got confused and forgot. And even then, the dishes come out sparklingly clean. We can load it to the gills (it holds much more than the clearly inferior Kitchenaid in our in-law kitchen), but it still works perfectly. Dishes are always clean and almost perfectly dry. The only exception are plastic containers that might have a few drops of water left on them. On the other hand, the Kitchenaid regularly requires me to hand-wash several items afterwards, as it inevitably leaves some things dirty -- even, when we pack it much less full than the Miele. As for the filter, I only check it when the dishwasher reminds me to do so. I haven't quite figured out the pattern, but it's only a handful of times per year. And the majority of cases, there simply isn't anything to clean. This is despite the fact that other than telling people to finish eating their foods, we don't do any scraping or pre-rising. Our dishwasher gets used about once a day. No problems with bad smells, other than we first got the dishwasher and used an off-brand detergent. Now, we usually use the Costco detergent packs, and it works great. We do have soft water though. If you have hard water, you might need a different detergent, or preferably you should use the Miele's built-in water softener. My family (in Germany) has been using Miele for at least five decades. But that doesn't mean all that much. They get an average of about 20 years of use out of them. So, I think in all this time, my Mom has only had three dishwashers. That makes it easy to justify the higher initial cost.

I had been using Cascade with Dawn Gel from Sams and was told that was the trouble. I also found out that most time with that problem it is the chopper that is bad. I took mine apart and it was fine. Then a tech I asked told me it was probably the pump/motor. I decided to use the Sani Rinse one day to see if it would help get rid of the bits and after that I noticed it was better. I kept using that for a while(I normally never use sani)and the cleaning got better. I believe the gel had stopped the pump or a pipe up and that was the trouble and the hotter water and powder detergent helped clean it out. When washing it also seemed like it didn't have much pressure because the dishes were not always clean, and they had been before, and sometimes the gel was still in the cup(partly) and bits all over the door. It is OK for now--so I DO NOT use Cascade gel anymore. I know some people here have said they didn't like GE dishwashers but I had one for 16-17 years with no problems and it cleaned better and faster than this Kenmore. I would have gotten another GE when I bought this KM but at the time they didn't have SS tub GE in anything but the Monogram line and I didn't want that, although now the newer GE's may be junk. The one I had would flip over large plastic bowls on the top rack but this KM wouldn't do that even on the bottom when it was new! Good Luck with the KAid. I bet you will love it.

It is possible. Not prefered, but doable. The problem would be if/when the DW is drawing MAX amperage during a extreme heating cycle and the disposer has an abnormal high startup surge because of design and or jamb at exactly the same moment as the heating spike. Unlikely to occur given the average kitchen use habits, but it could. As always, consult you local code/inspector regarding doing this if you don't have an option. I have an apartment with a Bosch DW and 1HP ISE that are both wired on the same line, no problems in 15 years. It's not how i do my everyday houses or what I advise our clients but it is possible. You may inquire over at the wiring/electric forum here at gardenweb too.

Our 70 pound 6 y/o chocolate lab/husky mix is fed raw. Mostly chicken parts and beef meaty bones, like soup bones with some other bones like marrow for gnawing. We'll give him a breast, or a couple of thighs or about 4 drumsticks or wings if it's chicken. We just kind of eyeball it and go with what feels right. He also helps with table scraps and I'll give him a spoon of coconut oil a couple times a week... LOVES that. His teeth are gorgeous, no tartar at all. Beautiful choppers on that boy! One thing we read that seemed to make sense was that wild dogs don't get to eat everyday, they feast when they have a kill and then may go for days without eating again. Anyway, the thought was that a fast one day a week was good for them. Gotta say that Rummy (dog) is not a big fan of this idea, lol. Here he is fwiw: