10 Tips to Save Energy and Money with your Dishwasher

Your dishwasher inevitably uses up energy in the home. The electricity that is used to heat the water that cleans your dishes ends up costing you on your energy bills. Most people don’t want to wash their dishes by hand using cold water, though. For that reason, it’s important to learn about the ways that you can save energy with your dishwasher.

Here are ten tips that will save both energy and money as you wash your dishes:

1. Invest in an energy-efficient dishwasher. The number one thing that you can do to reduce energy waste with any appliance is to make sure that the appliance is as energy-efficient as possible. It’s worth it to spend the money to invest in a better dishwasher because you’ll save money in the long run.

2. Keep the heating element clean. This piece of the dishwasher is used to heat the water during the wash cycle as well as to heat the machine for drying. If it’s dirty, it has to work harder. Run your hand along it once every month or two to make sure it’s clean. If it isn’t then simply clean it up with a soft rag.

3. Run the dishwasher only when you have a full load of dishes to do. This is another one of those tips that applies to most appliances.

4. Load the dishwasher properly. You want a full load that’s organized so that all dishes get clean the first time around.

5. Use the energy-efficient settings on your dishwasher. If you have a setting for "economy" or "energy-efficient" then definitely use that. Also, if you have an option to "air dry" then use that setting as well. Both of these reduce energy waste.

6. Air dry manually. If you don’t have an "air dry" setting then get in the habit of air drying dishes manually. As soon as the final rinse cycle is complete, turn off the dishwasher. Open the door and let the dishes air dry.

7. Skip the long rinse cycles. Many machine let you add extra rinse time for very dirty dishes. This uses up a lot of hot water which wastes a lot of electricity. If you have very dirty dishes, pre-rinse them in cold water before putting them in the dishwasher. Use the short rinse cycle for all dishwasher loads.

8. Run the dishwasher during off-peak hours. This doesn’t save energy but it does save money on your electric bill if you live in an area where peak hours are charged more.

9. Insulate the dishwasher. This isn’t usually necessary. However, it your dishwasher is located in close proximity to your refrigerator then you should insulate it to avoid energy consumption problems between the two appliances.

10. Invest in a solar water heater. Connect the dishwasher to the hot water on this machine.