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Hand Washing vs. Dishwashers 5

The other day I was challenged by my buddy George about whether Dishwashers are more harmful to the environment than washing dishes by hand.

My first instinct was that a full dishwasher would use less water than washing by hand because washing by hand seems inefficient since most people leave the water running and clean one dish at a time. He didn’t agree with me.

Fortunately there are other people out there who have taken the time to study which method is more efficient. As it turns out, we’re both right (sort of).

The best study I could find that addresses this question was completed by researchers at the University of Bonn in Germany. They measured 113 people in 7 European countries and concluded that the average consumption to clean 12 place settings of dishes was 103 litres of water, 2.5 kWh of energy, 35g of soap and 79 minutes of time.

They took this data and compared it to modern dishwashers in order to determine which method is more environmentally friendly. A modern dishwasher uses 15-22 litres of water for the same amount of dishes and 1 kWh to 2 kWh of energy and an average of 30g of soap.

In addition to these conclusions, the researchers also found there are 3 types of people when it comes to dishwashing:

  1. The “Super-Dishwasher”

    • This person makes an effort to ensure a good cleaning performance. Consequently this person does not try to be economical with water, energy nor detergent.
  2. The “Dish-Washing-Economizer”

    • This person is focused on consuming as little water, energy and detergent as possible.
  3. The “Carefree-Dish-Washer”

    • He/she does neither try to get a good job done nor does
      he/she seem that wasting water, energy or detergent is of any harm.

Even the most prudent hand washer will find it difficult to be as efficient as a modern dishwasher. But keep in mind that a dishwasher achieves its maximum efficiency when you run it with a full load. Rinsing your dishes before using the dishwasher could also cause the dishwasher to use more water than hand washing.

The study also doesn’t take into consideration the environmental impact of manufacturing or disposing of a dishwasher, but assuming you have a dishwasher already in your home and you need to choose between washing by hand or using the dishwasher, at least you know which method is more efficient (When used properly).

dishwasher

Image courtesy of “Latest Trends in Home Appliances

5 thoughts on “Hand Washing vs. Dishwashers

  1. Crankyputz Jan 27,2009 5:31 pm

    Most valuable information….

    On the other hand there should be different categories of dishwahers too:

    Like

    a) those new dishwashers that dance and clean at the same time
    b) my dishwasher, where dishes come out dirtier than when they went in
    c) Dishwashers so old, you don’t use them, so as not to buy them

    I could go on!…

  2. Prolix1001 Aug 21,2011 11:11 pm

    It’s a really nice information, I think that it’s a realted blogs. it’s a nice format of picture..

    Commercial Dishwasher

  3. Prolix1001 Aug 22,2011 4:11 am

    It’s a really nice information, I think that it’s a realted blogs. it’s a nice format of picture..

    Commercial Dishwasher

  4. Vinny Nov 29,2011 7:17 am

    This is a well informative content.Instead of scrubbing, rinsing, and drying each dish, just load them all in.The written skill is so good.I am very impress to this one.This is an amazing.Thanks to share this blog with us.

  5. Built-In Dishwashers Jan 30,2012 7:01 pm

    asasassasas

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