Yes, the figures for the study are best case scenario (completely full dishwasher, no pre-rinsing), and real world figures will vary - the less full the dishwasher is, the less an advantage you’ll get. Add pre-rinsing into the mix and your water saving will drop dramatically.
And also yes, there are many things that should be hand washed anyway - delicate china, non-stick pans, wooden chopping boards and the like, so even for the biggest washing machine devotee you’re still going to be doing a hybrid wash.
All that said, we still encourage people to use their dishwasher as a more water efficient option.
6 Likes
I bought the Electrolux comfort lift and after it has finished it pops the door open to assist with drying. I almost never have any moisture left on anything and when I do it is something plastic.
Also this dishwasher has an eco cycle which I used once or twice. It goes forever and one would think any water saving would be offset by extra electricity cost. I use the 30 minute cycle and have done so for the entire time I have owned this, maybe three years, and it gets my dishes clean.
6 Likes
Not a consideration if you have solar PV, run your DW in the middle of the day and live on tank water because you don’t have the luxury of that service.
It’s not clear whether choosing an Electrolux product makes any difference to which powder or tablet product is used.
Our previous dish washer purchases over the previous 15 yrs have included two Miele, one Bosch and two F&P drawer units. The Bosch was the best.
Choice’s recommended products have worked well in all of these including,
5 Likes
I was replying to a post that said lots of dishwashers did not fully dry the dishes. Electrolux’s answer was to pop open the door when the cycle was finished to let the heat escape. It works.
I do not have solar panels nor tank water but usually do run my dishwasher in the middle of the day.
I use Finish and have some Fairy to try after I have finished the Finish.
I did not find the eco cycle beneficial to me.
5 Likes
Dishwasher machine is me 
but I use EcoStore
4 Likes
Seems counter-intuitive but that’s not the case. Your eco mode will most likely be a lower temperature program than most of the others, and as most of your dishwashers energy consumption goes into heating the water, it will use less energy, even though it may run for longer. So called eco programs are often designed for registration testing (look at the star rating sticker on your appliance and it will tell you what program was used) - that is, to just barely pass the minimum performance standards, so they use less electricity and water, giving the machine the best possible energy star ratings (and a good star rating sells a lot of appliances). The marketing people realised calling it an ‘eco’ program rather than a ‘registration’ program would be much more appealing for consumers, hense the name.
So should you use the eco program? If it gets your plates clean than absolutely, and we’re now seeing roughly the same number of dishwasher owners using the eco program as use the ‘normal’ program. You might not get the same washing performance as a more intensive program, and because of the lower temperature you won’t get as good a drying performance, but if it works, it works.
Conversely, a quick wash program may well use more energy and water, because it’s got to get the job done in a shorter timeframe.
7 Likes
The main issue with “eco” programs is the excessive time taken. I can’t remember how long it is on our dishwasher, but it takes well over 3 hours on the washing machine!
4 Likes
Yes, with dishwashers, and moreso washing machines, there’s a tradeoff between speed and water efficiency - the less water, the longer it takes to get your plates and your clothes clean. My advice is to run these appliances overnight (using the timer for the washing machine) and hang your clothes out first thing in the morning, though this doesn’t help if you need to run multiple loads.
6 Likes
Unless you have solar PV? Wash in the morning after 9 am, leaving plenty of line time.
Most who live in the vastness of Australia where the sun shines most of the day have this option.
Our washing will dry to a gentle softness providing it is hung out by lunch time, or in summer if hung by 10 dry to starch like crispness by noon!
Some sympathy reserved for those living in the SE fog, cloud and rain triangle where the great mystery of the sun that is lost for weeks at a time remains unsolved. 
6 Likes
Unless unless your FiT is better than your night time use tariff …
Got a load out just after 1600 the other day, dry by 1730 … when it is actually summer here, I reckon if one folded a towel appropriately before hanging it could be used as a cricket bat when crispy dry … almost
5 Likes
Last summer when the RH was 2% (!), it was windy and the temp near 40C, I swear my bike shirt dried between grabbing it from the basket and hanging it!
3 Likes
Some 40 years ago when our first daughter was still in nappies, we flew to Alice Springs in January and my wife hung a nappy she had just washed ober the balcony railing at the motel.
She happened to check it a mere 10 minutes later, and to her amazement, it was already bone dry.
Blistering heat and no humidity. You drank a can of soft drink, and as soon as you had finished it, your mouth was already dry, even whilst driving, but at least you never got sweaty.
1 Like
Eco powder is working great. No fear , good results.
I saw the reference to Eco dishwasher detergents in November 2020 Choice printed mag. We have been using a few different eco dishwasher powders in our (19 year old and still going strong) Miele dishwasher over the years. Most with good results, a couple of mixed results. Generally pretty much as good as market leaders, like Finish, but sometimes a bit of a residue has been left at end of cycle. We have typically used Finish for a couple of loads from time to time as we feel it needs to be ‘cleared out’ after many loads of the less harsh dishwasher powder chemicals.
For several months now, though, we have been using a new Eco powder from Kin Kin Naturals. We spotted it in our Food Connect weekly local fruit&veg&grocery shop. It has been the highest performing eco powder we have ever used. It does not seem to have any less performance than Finish, and we no longer feel we have to ‘flush out’ the machine with a couple of loads using Finish any more.
It’s a family company just outside Noosa and the guy who does the formulations apparently used to work for one of the majors (OMO), so probably knows about all the dirty tricks that the majors use, including fillers. Initially I thought it was a bit expensive, but then I did the maths and found the tiny amount (15 ml) you need per load makes it very cost competitive.
I would be interested in seeing a Choice review of eco detergents that includes the Kin Kin Naturals eco powder. I imagine it would come out well against eco as well as non eco dishwasher detergents.
1 Like
Never noticed this thread before, wish I had. I’ve never had a dishwasher in my life, except an organic one (me!) and because I’m finding it increasingly difficult to stand at the sink to do a washup, I jumped on the chance to buy a “mini” benchtop dishwasher (my kitchen is way too tiny for a regular one, either built in or freestanding or normal sized benchtop), just last week… I chose the black one of these https://www.starsparky.com.au/collections/midea-mini-dishwashers
So there I was with a dishwasher and no dishwasher detergent, so I did what any normal person would do, and got Finish tablets. My glasses and plates are coming out clean and unstreaked so I’m happy, but a less expensive option is definitely on the cards, given that the DW only gets a 1 star energy rating (water is 3 star). Oh yeah, the DW is designed so that the tablet falls into the bottom, maybe the Choice testers have hit on something useful.
3 Likes
