Please tell me PROS and CONS to automatic dishwashers vs. handwashing dishes?

Question

Please consider, time, water waste/energy, effort, etc.

Answer 1

Dishwashers use less water .

Answer 2

Dishwashers use less water. Be sure you know what features it has to know whether or not you need to rinse dishes first, which will cause more water consumption. Dishwashers sanitize with extreme tempuratures that you can't do handwashing. (My 2nd dishwasher had a food grinder that worked really well so I didn't have to rinse my plates, my 3rd one has a grinder but it doesn't work very well, so I have to scrap/rinse the dishes well before I put them in the washer. I always use the rinse agent or there is food stuff left on the dishes.)
Handwashing takes less time but you use more water. If you put about 3 tablespoons of bleach in the wash water, your sanitation is taken care of.
Dishwashers are nice for hiding dishes that need to be done when you have last minute guests and you don't have the dishes done. If you have a family of 4 or more, get a dishwasher for sure. If it's 4 or less, your choice. We are down to 4 at home and I use my dishwasher once a day or so. I still have dishes I have to handwash from time to time.
Get some information about the dishwasher you are interested in and read the booklet about it before you decide to purchase it. ASK LOTS OF QUESTIONS, no matter how "stupid" you think they are, the more you know, the better the decision you will make. (I "hounded" my service guy for 3 days and asked tuns of questions before I bought my last machine. He seemed happy to be of service and was glad he could help me decide on the make and model that was best for my needs.) Good Luck!

Answer 3

With handwashing, you use an average of 20-30 gallons of water and only human energy. You may miss a few spots but I am sure you did your best. You could also drop one during the washing or might impale yourself on a knife that you can't see down in the sink. You get to fight with whoever it is turn. With dishwashers, you use 5-10 gallons of water and about $2 in energy per washing. If you are using detergeant tabs (I like Electrasol 3in1 as they don't streak or etch my dishes) you are already more economical because you are using the perfect amount with no waste. You also sanitize your dishes in the dishwasher. If you remember to fill the dishwasher with as much little stuff as you can and then wash the big stuff byu hand, you will have far less to do in the sink.

Answer 4

Dishwasher:
Pros:
All you have to do is put them in and turn it on.
Little effort.

Cons:
They don't always come out clean.
It takes too much energy to run a dishwasher.

Handwashing:
Pros:
You know they are clean.
You can wash them when you use them and that does cut down on time later that you would be standing there washing a sinkful of dishes .
You don't have to wait for them to cool down before you touch them.

Cons:
You have to have the time to do it.
You have to have the energy to stand there.
Your hands get all pruney haha


I hate dishwashers because I can't stand silverware and dishes that have old, dried up food on them. If a dishwasher cleaned them well everytime, I wouldn't have a problem with it... but until they put a little man in there to scrub them and not just shoot hot water on them, I will stick to handwashing dishes.

Answer 5

Dishwashers are the way to go if you comply with two simple criteria. “Run a
dishwasher only when it’s full, and don't rinse your dishes before putting them in
the dishwasher.” So says John Morril of the American Council for an Energy-
Efficient Economy, who also advises not using the dry cycle. The water used in
most dishwashers is hot enough, he says, to evaporate quickly if the door is left
open after the wash and rinse cycles are complete.

Scientists at the University of Bonn in Germany who studied the issue found that
the dishwasher uses only half the energy, one-sixth of the water, and less soap
than hand-washing an identical set of dirty dishes. Even the most sparing and
careful washers could not beat the modern dishwasher. The study also found that
dishwashers excelled in cleanliness over hand washing.

Most dishwashers manufactured since 1994 use seven to 10 gallons of water per
cycle, while older machines use eight to 15 gallons. Newer designs have also
improved dishwasher efficiency immensely. Hot water can now be heated in the
dishwasher itself, not in the household hot water heater, where heat gets lost in
transit. Dishwashers also heat only as much water as needed. A standard 24-inch-
wide household dishwasher is designed to hold eight place settings, but some
newer models will wash the same amount of dishes inside an 18-inch frame, using
less water in the process. If you have an older, less-efficient machine, the Council
recommends hand washing for the smaller jobs and saving the dishwasher for the
dinner party’s aftermath.

New dishwashers that meet strict energy and water-saving efficiency standards
can qualify for an Energy Star label from the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA). Besides being more efficient and getting the dishes cleaner,
qualifying newer models will save the average household about $25 per year in
energy costs.

Like John Morril, the EPA recommends always running your dishwasher with a full
load and avoiding the inefficient heat-dry, rinse-hold and pre-rinse features found
on many recent models. Most of the appliance’s energy used goes to heat the
water, and most models use just as much water for smaller loads as for larger
ones. And propping the door open after the final rinse is quite adequate for drying
the dishes when the washing is done.

CONTACTS: American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy, www.aceee.
org/consumerguide/topdish.htm; Energy Star, www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?
c=dishwash.pr_dishwashers.

Answer 6

i personally prefer handwashing to dishwashing. i can have my dishes handwashed,dried and put away before the dishwasher and i know there clean and have no spots on them. what did people do before the dishwasher... washed by hands. i never use mine,cuz it takes too long to do it and its a waste of water and electricity. its a lazy mans way to do things. i am old school and i prefer it done myself and i know its done right. my dishwasher takes like 30-45 mins to complete cycle. i take half that time and go on to do something else. then when its done,i still have to put them away and oh, most likely dry them as well.

Answer 7

Some dishwashers are water efficient, but when i wash the dishes, i use the smaller side of the sink, and fill it once for the glasses, and top it up for the plates. so, that's going to be the most water efficient way for me. it takes as much times to stand there and wash dishes as it does to stack the d.w. and empty the d.w. which you have to do, otherwise the plates get smelly sitting in there, they don't on the drainer. yes, it's less energy to heat gas hot water, than use the d.w. AND heat the hot water.

Also, personally, i think that things are becoming plenty automated enough, without not doing your day-to-day dish washing by hand. Sure, if you have a dinner party and there's mountains of dishes, chuck em in, but if it's just the plates from dinner, wash them up yourself.

Answer 8

Modern dishwashers normally use less water and make it hotter for more sterilizing effects and better cleaning.
Hand washing, racking, drying, and putting up takes a lot of counter space and leaves wet towels behind and unless you are very careful, wetness under the drain pan. Effort is about the same depending on what kinds of pans you cook with and whether you rinse before machine washing.

Answer 9

dishwasher - pro : alot of dishes at once
con: electricity/water

handwashing pro: (probably) uses less water
con: takes more time and also more mess

Answer 10

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Answer 11

The thought occurred to me a couple of weeks ago, as I stood by the kitchen sink, dutifully following manufacturer's instructions to "rinse the dishes and dislodge clinging food scraps and baked-on foods with a soapy dishcloth before putting into the Dishwasher"; the thought was, I am being told to wash my dishes before I put them into a machine that is supposed to wash them..what's up with that?
The machine goes through 5 cycles, each one using 3.4 gallons of water (per the user's manual) equaling 17 gallons of water for every washing session AND it sits there grunting and groaning for almost 3 hours doing whatever it does.
Add to the 17 gallons of water the 8 gallons (measured) that I used to "rinse and dislodge food particles, etc", making a total of 25 gallons of water used and an additional 10 or 15 minutes.
Next big load I had, I washed by hand using that 8 gallons of water (measured) and time in the amount of 40 minutes.
Compared to the dishwasher, 17 gallons of water used about 15 minutes washing the dishes to put them into the dishwasher. Loading the dishwasher with a big load takes about 20 minutes so I've got about 35 minutes just to get the machine loaded and turned on.
Handwashing a load of that size took 8 gallons of water and about 45 minutes - 10 or so minutes longer than pre-washing PLUS my dishes are clean-unlike those from the machine.
I vote for handwashing.