Cleaning up the Confusion on Dishwashers and DishDrawers

Cleaning up the Confusion on Dishwashers and DishDrawers

The dishes. It’s just a never ending cycle of eating, washing and cleaning. With so many different dishwashers on the market, how do you pick a good one? What are the four different types of dishwashers? Are there any hidden running costs? Read on as I clean up the confusion on dishwashers.

I’m always hesitant to name a specific product when a customer asks me what the best dishwasher is. Often the “best” product is one that suits your lifestyle, measurements, budget and other factors. For example, a single dishdrawer is an excellent choice for someone who lives alone and struggles to get down low to the floor. The same product is an awful fit for a family of 5 with teenagers, the dishdrawer’s 7 place setting capacity would be much too small for the amount of items used on a daily basis.

What are the different types of dishwashers?

Dishdrawers

As I mentioned above, one type of dishwasher is the dish drawer. Instead of your typical style of dishwasher where the door is hinged at the bottom and opens outwards to reveal to internal trays. Dishdrawers open the same way as a kitchen drawer, the whole tray still slides out in the same way, as its traditional dishwasher counterpart, with the front panel a fixed part of the dishwasher. The dishdrawer can come as a single drawer, and be mounted part way up your kitchen cabinetry, or as a double drawer to fit average measurements on an existing dishwasher cavity.

Freestanding

A freestanding dishwasher stands freely without the need to be fixed to cabinetry. This type is built with sides and a top. Sometimes the top is removable which can be handy if the bench you are installing it under is a few mm too low to fit the unit. Freestanding units can also be a good option for renters who would like to install a dishwasher, as it can easily be taken with you and requires no screws.

Built-In

A built in dishwasher needs to be secured to your cabinetry, as it does not have the same weight in the bottom as its freestanding counterpart, to prevent it from tipping forward when the door is opened. Most times these units are produced without a top, giving you a more flush fit with the top of the bench and a slightly larger internal space, making it more spacious for a cutlery tray at the top. 

Semi-Integrated, Integrated, Fully Integrated.

This refers to the product not having a “front” so that you can get a cabinet panel to match your kitchen and have it seamlessly blend in. Exact terms vary between brands, but the two different styles of integration will either have a small dishwasher panel on the front, being only semi or partially integrated in your cabinetry. Fully integrated however look like every other kitchen cabinet and is hidden until you open the dishwasher to reveal the control panel on the top edge. Both the traditional style of dishwashers and dishdrawers integrated, however they cost more than there unhidden counterparts.

What do I need to look at when comparing dishwashers?

Size matters

Before you go dishwasher shopping, measure the space you’re going to put it in. Whilst the “standard” height of a benchtop is 900mm, practical bench install heights can range between 850mm – 1050mm. Majority of dishwashers are made to fit snuggly inside of a 60cm width, 60cm depth cavity. Capacity of a dishwashers are measured in “place settings” but exactly what is considered a place setting will vary from brand to brand. However as a general rule of thumb;

6-9 place settings 1-2 person household

9-12 place settings 3-4 person household

13+ place settings 4+ person household, frequent entertainers

Wash Settings

A bigger option of wash settings isn’t always better. But make sure to check for programs that fit the way you will use, or think you’ll use your dishwasher. Busy households may benefit from a quick wash setting. If you plan to use your dishwasher at night, delay start combined with a quiet program might be features to prioritise. A heavy wash setting will be slightly louder and use a little more electricity but it could become your favourite program if you have a lot of dishwasher safe pots.

To cutlery tray or not to cutlery tray?

Generally if you have owned a dishwasher before, you will have a strong opinion on whether a cutlery tray or a cutlery basket is “better”. They both have their own strong points, but if you and your partner just cannot agree on which is better there are models out there like this Asko dishwasher that include both. And it’s cheaper than getting a divorce.

Running features

Three running features I urge you to look at is; decibel rating, energy rating and water usage. This gives you a good snapshot of how loud and how expensive it will be to run. 
The quietest dishwashers these days run at between 40dBa-45dBa. To put this in perspective a “quiet library” is regarded as 40dBa, a refrigerator hum at 50dBa and an electric toothbrush at 60dBa.
The energy rating website calculates yearly energy consumption by running one cycle every day. So to get your per wash energy usage, divide this number by 365.
Water consumption is already based per wash, when you consider that the average kitchen sink holds 15-18L of water to wash up, most dishwashers use less water than handwashing.

Comparing dishwashers

I’ve picked a freestanding dishwasher, a built in dishwasher and a double dish drawer to demonstrate some key differences. Each of the links takes you to the product on our website, where you can see the full specifications and a video rundown of each item.

Type	Freestanding	Built In	DishDrawer
Brand & Model	Westinghouse WSF6602XB	Asko DBI343ID.W.AU	Fisher & Paykel DD60D2NX9
RRP	$949	$1499	$1999
Height	850mm	819mm	820-880mm
Width	598mm	596mm	599mm
Depth	598mm	554mm	573mm
Place Settings	14	14	14 (7/drawer)
dBa	47	44	42
No. of wash programs	5	9	6
Delay Start	3, 6 & 9 hrs	up to 24hrs	up to 12hrs
Half Load	yes	no	yes (use 1 drawer)

Now that I've outlined the key differences above, lets look at true running costs, and total cost over a 10 year period where the dishwasher is used every 2nd day. I've calculated the below information using $0.32/kWh and $3.60/kL.

As seen above, over 10 years the running costs vary by around $130 between the most and least efficient dishwashers. Does that mean you should go buy the Asko? Not necessarily. Asko is a built in dishwasher, which is no good for a renter who wants to take the dishwasher with you at the end of the tenancy. It is also not the best fit if you are a household of one or two people as 14 place settings is a considerable sized dishwasher, whereas the dishdrawer you can run each drawer independently. 

Still not sure how to pick the right dishwasher for your needs? Give us a call on (07) 3397 1161 or come into our showroom at 445 Logan Road, Stones Corner so we can further assist.