Here's the answer to my internal debate...
What is more energy efficient: washing dishes by hand or in a machine?
Washing dishes by hand uses about twice the amount of water and energy as using a modern dishwasher.
According to the EPA, a dishwasher will typically save about 5,000 gallons of water, $40 in utility costs, and 230 hours of your time per year.
Of course, this is for a full load of dishes. If you put only a few dishes in your machine and run a full cycle, handwashing could win.
Also, this assumes water is wasted on unnecessary rinsing of dishes before placing them into the dishwasher. Scraping crud off with a spatula or lightly rinsing is all you need to do, provided you don't delay and let the stuff dry.
1 comments:
I wonder if they added in the actual cost of BUYING a dishwasher into the stats. So long to $600 to $1,200. So long savings for scores of years.
Whether you wash by machine or hand, it is hot water consumed. But come on, $40 a YEAR saved?
$40/52 weeks is 4/5 or 80 cents a WEEK....um, a little over a dime a day. You lose that much in your pants pocket when you do laundry for cryin out loud.
And, to get the crud off that the machine failed to do, you use MORE water and utility doing them again.
Biggest loss?
Quality time by yourself, pondering the day and tomorrow, as you swirl the dishrag and JOY soap to get those dishes clean. Solitude is priceless.
And no dishwasher gives you more space in the kitchen, a PLUS.
If you eventually have kids, THEY will do the chore.
And when they leave home, no one will care if the dirty dishes stack until there are none left to use.
This is the point you buy new dishes and silverware and glasses. And there is plenty of room to accumulate these as no dishwasher is in your way.
What I would like to see is an automatic cleaning TOILET!
Post a Comment