Best Dishwashers For Your Kitchen

The desire to buy a dishwasher is not a whim at all, as many modern men think. If you calculate how much time each woman spends on doing dishes, it turns out that several weeks of the year go to hard and monotonous work. And this time could be spent with greater benefit.

Selection Tips

How to choose a dishwasher, which will become a real help in the household, and not a useless decoration of the kitchen and an occasion for constant quarrels and reproaches for wasting money? We advise primarily to focus not on advanced functionality and modern technologies, which are so praised by sales consultants, but on the most necessary technical characteristics. These primarily include the cost-effectiveness of the technology. For more useful information, check out this source.

It is better to choose a dishwasher with energy consumption of class A or A +, as well as with an economical consumption of water, which will not exceed 15 liters per cycle. You might pay a little more when you buy it but then save on the cost of water and electricity. We will tell you more about the energy classes below.

The second tip is to choose the capacity of the device correctly. If the family is large, the loading capacity of the dishwasher should be appropriate. Otherwise, you will have to turn it on several times a day, and the benefit of such purchase will be very doubtful.

Washing and drying classes also matter. In order not to be disappointed in choosing a dishwasher, carefully study this information. As in the case of energy consumption, it’s better to overpay for quality.

Dishwasher Stages

The operation of the dishwasher consists of several stages. Their number depends on the selected program. Very dirty dishes are better to be pre-soaked. Then the machine heats the water to the desired temperature, adds the necessary detergents to it, and the main washing phase begins. Dishes are constantly washed by jets of water.

After all, contaminants are washed off, the apparatus starts rinsing. It can take place in several stages, in cold and hot water, with and without rinse aid.

The final stage is drying. It can take place naturally or by blowing hot air on the dishes.

What Is A Dishwasher Class?

Classes of dishwashers determine the quality and efficiency of work. The buyer can find out all the necessary information by marking, which is applied to the equipment. As a rule, on the backside of the device, there is a sticker with multi-colored Latin letters. These are the classes.

Energy Class

The duration of dishwasher programs is sometimes more than 2 hours. Most of this time, the device spends electricity to heat water, and sometimes to dry. In order not to be horrified by how much you need to pay for electricity, take into account the energy consumption of the dishwasher before buying it.

European standards provide for 7 classes of energy consumption, marked with letters from A to G. However, mainly models with the markings A, B and C are found on sale, which have fairly high efficiency. Dishwashers of classes D and E are almost all discontinued, not to mention F and G.

So how much electricity does the dishwasher consume? If this is a Class A model, it needs 0.8-1.05 kW per cycle. A device marked B will spend 1.06-1.09 kW, and a class C dishwasher will spend 1.1-1.49 kW.

As you can see, class A models are the most economical. 

Washing Class

This class determines the quality of washing dishes. It is also assigned based on test results. Depending on how well the impurities and dirt are eliminated, the dishwasher is assigned the appropriate washing class.

It’s easy to guess that the highest class is A when the plates come out completely clean. If small contaminants remain on the surface, then the machine is assigned class B, and so on.

The quality of washing dishes depends not only on the assigned class but also on the selected washing mode. Many, wanting to save money, choose to wash heavily soiled dishes using a not intensive mode. Naturally, the result will be completely different from what was expected, despite the high-class dishwasher.

Drying Class

To assign a drying class to the dishwasher, experts analyze the moisture content of the washed dishes. If it is perfectly dry – this is class A, if there are a couple of drops left, then B, a fairly large residue of moisture – class C.

The higher the drying class, the more expensive the dishwasher will be. The best quality is shown by turbo-drying models, in which the dishes are blown onto with hot air using a fan. Devices with condensation drying (natural evaporation of moisture) have a slightly worse result, but they are cheaper.

Dimensions And Capacity

By overall dimensions, all dishwashers can be divided into three categories: full-sized, narrow and compact. The first two have the same height and depth. Only the width is different.

The sizes of desktop dishwashers (small-sized) are much smaller.

However, as already mentioned, deciding to buy a dishwasher, you need to consider not only its size but also the ability to accommodate the right amount of dishes.

The capacity of dishwashers is usually measured in sets of utensils. The set usually includes deep and shallow plates, large and small spoons, fork, knife, glass, cup, and saucer. That is, it is a kit for one person. Therefore, it is necessary to calculate the capacity of the dishwasher taking into account the composition of the family and the number of meals per day.

Small-sized machines can accommodate no more than 5-6 sets of dishes, so they are suitable for 1-2 people. Narrow models wash up to 10 sets at a time, which will be enough for a family of 3-4 people. Full-size dishwashers usually hold 10-15 sets, being the best choice for families of 5-6 people.

Installation

In order for the dishwasher to perform its functions, it must be connected to electricity, water, and sewage. If you choose a built-in model, it is better to entrust the installation to specialists, but any home master can cope with the installation of a freestanding dishwasher on their own.

The unpacked dishwasher must be put in the place chosen for it, making sure that it is stable and leveled. To connect the dishwasher to the water supply, you need a separate water outlet, which needs to preferably be equipped with a filter. You should be able to turn the water off at the main to protect the apartment from accidental flooding (even if the machine is equipped with leakage protection).

Connecting the dishwasher to the sewer is done using a flexible hose that connects to a siphon that prevents wastewater from entering the machine. The sewage entry point should be below the level of the drain hose.

The device should be connected to the mains using a triple-core copper wire with a cross-section of at least 2 mm. It is mandatory to install a circuit breaker with a capacity of 16 A, as well as to ground the machine.

Functionality

So what are the most needed dishwasher functions? A standard, fast and intensive washing modes, as well as soaking (for heavily soiled dishes),  are the most necessary ones. In some models, the Eco program for lightly soiled cups and plates is included in the standard list.

It is desirable that there is a half load function. It lets you wash the dishes, without waiting until the dishwasher is filled with a certain amount of plates and pots, etc. Also, about 20% of water and electricity are saved in such a mode.

More expensive dishwashers can have up to 12 washing modes. For example, a separate mode for fragile glass goblets or for children’s dishes that need sterilization, as well as heating the dishes after the end of the wash, so that plates and cups are more pleasant to touch when taking them out.

The leakage protection (Aqua Stop) is also a great mode to have, as well as the ability to change the height of the upper basket, delayed start, protection from children, etc.

Expensive dishwashers are equipped with water purity determination systems (Aqua Sensor, Water Sensor, Sensor system). The control unit decides whether to drain the water or clean and reuse it. There are also sensors that help the device automatically select a program based on the degree of contamination of the dishes. Opto sensor will help you choose (visit here) the optimal water hardness. Elite models of dishwashers allow you to create your own modes and save them to the device’s memory.