 As a result of federal regulations, today’s dishwashers use about half the electricity of earlier machines. Much of this improvement is due to water conservation. Newer dishwashers use less water (typically about half that used when washing by hand) and, therefore, need to heat less water. According to the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers, about 80 percent of the electricity used to wash dishes goes toward heating water. Today's standard-sized dishwashers use an average 8.11 gallons for a normal cycle. In comparison, this is just over half the average of 16 gallons it takes to hand-wash dishes.
New dishwashers do this by recirculating a relatively small amount of water through fine-mesh filters with high-volume pumps. The filters strain particles from the water to ensure thorough cleaning and the pumps deliver powerful spray to dishes. The pump in a Frigidaire Gallery dishwasher, for example, recirculates less than 8 gallons of water (for a normal cycle) at a volume of 42 to 50 gallons per minute--up to 2000 gallons per cycle.
Another benefit of most new dishwashers is that you don't have to pre-wash dishes before loading them (this boosts overall energy efficiency significantly). They employ voracious solid food disposers and sophisticated spray arms to blast away food. For instance, Maytag's Six-Tier(tm) wash system has a total of 52 jets that spray from just about every direction possible. Filters have improved, and many models now have a small built-in garbage disposer (sometimes called a ?hard-food disposer?) that grinds and then flushes away food residues. However, it’s best to rinse dishes with a lot of tomato residue before loading because tomato products can stain the dishwasher’s plastic interior.
For comparison shopping, each new dishwasher is posted with a yellow EnergyGuide label. This rates the average annual cost of using a particular model, based upon average usage and a median price for gas or electricity. When you compare a few of these, you'll discover that, annually, most dishwashers cost about $60 to operate in homes with electric-heated water and $40 where water is gas-heated. Numbers tend to vary only a few dollars per year from one model to the next, and more expensive units are not necessarily more efficient. Most differences are so minimal they're insignificant unless you compare a truly high-efficiency model such as the GE Profile, which is rated at $44 per year for electric and $24 for gas-heated water.
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