How much energy does a dishwasher use?

Washing the dishes is one of the most dreaded household chores. Most people would gladly welcome any excuse to get out of scrubbing dirty pans; so, how about this one? It turns out that dishwashers are, in general, more economical than washing up by hand! Can life get any better than this?

Although common sense would dictate that washing up by hand saves energy, one doesn’t usually take into account the cost of heating the tap water. It is estimated that you would be better off using a dishwasher if you use more than six regular washing-up bowls of water or run a continuous stream of water for more than 9 minutes for washing up a day’s worth of dirty dishes.

By using a dishwasher you save both your money and time. Nevertheless, there are always some costs involved. How much energy is your dishwasher going to use?

A helpful tool for estimating your annual cost of using the most common household appliances is European Union energy label which is typically stuck to the side of white goods.

Since 2010, appliances are rated from A+++ (the most efficient) to D (the least efficient).

	A+++	A++	A+	A	B	C	D
Annual energy usage [kWh]	<50	<56	<63	<71	<80	<90	>90
EEI	<231	<258.72	<297.36	<328.02	<369.6	<415.8	>415.8

Did you know?

In case of dishwashers, EEI (Energy Efficiency Index) based on assumption that you are going to run 280 washing up cycles per year and keep the dishwasher in a stand-by mode in the meantime. EEI 100 corresponds to the annual usage of 462 kWh.

Does 280 washing machine loads per year represent your typical dishwasher use? How many cycles do you think you run per year?