Capacity and interior organization

Dishwasher manufacturers usually estimate their capacity in “sets”. This obvious parameter will tell you how many dishes will fit in the dishwasher at maximum load. The minimum that is presented on the modern market is 4 sets of dishes. Maximum – 17 sets.

A set is a cutlery set for one person consisting of seven items: salad plate, first course plate, second course plate, bread plate, dessert cup or saucer, two spoons or two forks.

This rating is convenient because it allows you to compare different models of different manufacturers with each other, but it is quite far from reality: you probably noticed that we are not talking about glasses, mugs, pans and pots at all – but in reality they can occupy more than 50% of the volume of the dishwasher.

Smaller countertop dishwashers are the easiest to install: they most often have one pull-out basket, in which a separate cutlery basket is installed.

All others – narrow or wide, freestanding or built-in dishwashers, as a rule, have one of two layouts: classic or modern.

Classic layout: lower basket for large items, upper basket for smaller items. Cutlery is placed in a separate basket, which is placed in the lower basket.​​​
Cutlery basket

More recently, as an alternative to the classic arrangement, the three-basket option has been introduced: bottom, middle and top.

The role of the lower basket has not changed, the upper one is now the middle one, and at the very top there is a horizontal retractable tray, which replaces the cutlery basket – if they were installed vertically in the basket, now they are placed horizontally on the tray.

Top cutlery tray

To our knowledge, there are no serious studies proving that the modern layout is more effective than the classic one in terms of washing dishes. However, most manufacturers are gradually abandoning the classic layout. In our experience, this is not more efficient, but more convenient – it is easier to evenly lay cutlery on the tray.

On the other hand, adding another horizontal tray to the structure steals height. Some users who switched from a classic to a modern dishwasher have complained that the lower basket used to allow taller items to be placed.

The middle (upper) basket can be height adjustable.

Also in expensive premium segment dishwashers there can be quite unusual (but very user-friendly) solutions. For example, the lifting lower basket, which allows you not to bend down for the dishes and when stacking them.

Ways of placing dishes depend on the specific model and design of its baskets, and, unfortunately, with a cursory glance at the dishwasher in a store or on a website, you can hardly evaluate (let alone compare) their convenience. Practice shows that in this case, a person is more likely to adapt to the technique over time than vice versa.

Whether the dishes are washed well or not depends, among other things, on how correctly they are stacked. Experienced dishwasher owners hone this skill for years, and when changing models, sometimes you have to start all over again.

Many models will have holders or separate shelves for fragile glasses, special rubber nozzles for fragile dishes and the like. It is clear that not all of them will be useful and will find application, however, when choosing a dishwasher, it will not be superfluous to ask how exactly the manufacturer decided to improve your experience in using the appliance.

Washing

Washing class is a category that is quite difficult to understand, which is determined by means of test tests – control washing of specially soiled dishes. If the dishes are perfectly clean, the machine is assigned class A. Class C corresponds to “minor soiling”.

In fact, the vast majority of models on the market are class A or B, and we are far from sure if the user will be able to distinguish between them in real, not laboratory conditions.

Almost all dishwashers (except miniature countertop dishwashers) are now equipped with three water sprays – bottom, middle and top. The bottom one is usually the largest. The classic design is a rotating “yoke” with holes from which water flows under pressure.

However, there are more exotic designs. For example, Electrolux in dishwashers of the middle and high price segments uses this version of the lower spray arm.

A ring is located at one end of the rotating “rocker” – and it also rotates

The middle sprinkler is usually a smaller “rocker” and is located under the upper (middle) basket.

The upper one is located on the ceiling of the washing chamber. At best, this is another “rocker”.

But sometimes, for simplicity, they put a regular spray nozzle.

Spray nozzle instead of “rocker”. But at least rotating.

Summing up: in general, the identity of the design most often ensures the identity of the result: most modern dishwashers wash dishes in about the same way. There is even an opinion (although we do not have objective evidence of its correctness) that now the effectiveness of washing depends more on the right product than on the dishwasher.

True, the inquisitive minds of engineers are constantly coming up with something new – well, for example, like the original design of the lower sprinkler mentioned above.

And, of course, if you are a perfectionist, then it is better to have a “rocker” on top, and not a nozzle. At least for some reason, we met nozzles only in budget models.

Drying

But the drying class will be much easier to understand: class A means perfectly dry dishes, classes B and C correspond to slightly damp dishes. Note that today it will not be so easy to find dishwashers with a drying class C or D – they are quite rare. Drying itself in this case can be carried out by two different methods: condensation or using a turbo dryer.

Cheaper machines usually use the condensation method, in which the dishes are rinsed with hot water, after which the water droplets evaporate, condense on the walls of the chamber and flow down. This process takes quite a long time. Expensive dishwashers use a turbo dryer, which means blowing warm air on dishes using a special fan. This way will be faster and more efficient.

Recently, a new feature has appeared: in dishwashers with condenser drying, at the end of washing, automatically open the door a little so that the drying process becomes faster. This is a logical and correct idea, therefore, other things being equal, a dishwasher with such a function looks preferable.

Cleaning the filters

Every dishwasher has a filter, usually located approximately in the middle of the bottom of the washing chamber. From time to time it needs to be taken out and manually washed from fat and food debris. If you have made a cult out of your own laziness or are simply squeamish, it makes sense for you to look for a model with a “self-cleaning” filter – it does not require manual washing.

But to be honest, our built-in skeptic doesn’t really believe that “self-cleaning” will be as effective as manual cleaning yet.

Dishwasher detergents

If you do not take all sorts of exotics, there are four types of chemicals for household dishwashers: dishwashing detergents, softening salts, rinses, and finally – detergents for washing the dishwashers themselves.

Salt is used for softening if you have “hard” water in the water supply with a high content of calcium salts. You can verify this in the simplest way: if you boil tap water in a kettle, look into it. A lot of scale? So the water is hard. Not at all? So there is no need to use salt. As a rule, there is a rotating arrow on the cover of the salt compartment, which, depending on the hardness of the water, should be set to a certain division – this is how the intensity of salt supply to the water is regulated. But to find out the hardness of your tap water, you will most likely have to take a sample and take it to a special laboratory. Only very expensive premium dishwashers can determine the hardness of water and dose salt on their own.

Rinse aid

Energy consumption and water consumption

While we are talking about different classes, it is not superfluous to mention the energy class. Exactly the same scale is adopted here, with the exception that the highest class is A ++ (modern dishwashers have become much more economical than those models, based on the parameters of which the once highest class A was calculated). The higher the class, the less electricity your car will consume.

More understandable for the user is such a parameter as “energy consumption per cycle”, with which you can easily calculate how much electricity the machine will spend, for example, during daily operation for a month.

In addition, the standard water consumption for the standard program is indicated for each machine. Models with a water consumption of up to 15 liters per cycle are considered economical, medium-sized machines will spend up to 20 liters, which in any case will be less than when washing dishes by hand.

Separately, it should be noted dishwashers connected not only to cold, but also to hot water. By using already heated water for washing dishes (the required temperature is obtained by mixing hot water with cold), they can significantly reduce energy consumption. On the other hand, some owners of such machines complain that the dishes are less clean due to the lower quality of hot water in the water supply.

Control and display

Modern dishwashers operate under the control of an electronic system that includes a set of buttons (mechanical or touch) and, possibly, a display with which the machine will “communicate” with the user. The display usually shows the selected program and the current state of the machine (time until the end of the program, error code in the event of a malfunction, etc.). It hardly needs explaining that machines with a display will be more convenient to use, but also more expensive (compared to models without a display).

Typical control panel for a fully built-in dishwasher

The absence of a display is often compensated by the presence of LED indicators corresponding to the various operating modes of the appliance. They, as a rule, are responsible for indicating the presence of salt and rinse aid.

Separately, it is worth mentioning that many dishwashers have a special indicator that is projected onto the floor. For built-in dishwashers, it is an indicator beam that allows you to understand without opening the door when the dishwashing process has ended: the beam glows while the machine is running and goes out (or changes color) at the end of the program.

A more advanced display option involves projecting the parameters of the selected program onto the floor (for example, the exact time remaining until completion of work).

It is also worth paying attention to the presence or absence of built-in lighting. The illumination of the chamber makes the process of loading and unloading dishes more comfortable.

Programs and functions

On the one hand, the availability of special programs can be a decisive factor when choosing a dishwasher model. On the other hand, many users do not use all the provided opportunities, I use two or three modes (as a rule, fast / normal / enhanced washing).

However, it makes sense to list the most common programs and features that a modern dishwasher has to offer.

• Automatic program – the machine itself selects the optimal mode, washing the dishes until it finds them clean. As a rule, the degree of contamination of dishes in automatic mode is determined using a water transparency sensor.
• Bio-program – a program for working with detergents containing special bioadditives designed to combat fat and protein contamination;
• Quick wash – program for washing lightly soiled dishes;
• Intensive wash – program for heavy soiling. Differs in the increased temperature and the increased time. Suitable for pots, pans and dishes with dried food residues:
• Delicate wash – suitable for thin glassware (eg glasses) that do not tolerate high temperatures;
• Economy program – lightly soiled dishes can be washed at a temperature of 50-55 °C, which will save up to 20%-25% of electricity during the washing process;
• Rinse is a special program for lightly rinsing dishes placed in the dishwasher without washing them. This is necessary if you plan to start the washing process later, adding more dishes, but you are afraid that during this time the already laid can “sour” and give an unpleasant odor;
• An alternative to the previous option is to start the car wash with an underloaded machine. A special “half load” mode can help here.

It is considered good form to have a delay start timer – this is a standard feature that is present in most modern models. The presence of a timer allows you to start the process of washing dishes at a set time, which is especially in demand in the presence of a two-tariff meter (i.e., reduced cost of electricity at night).

In expensive dishwashers, you can also find the automatic detection of water hardness, which allows you to correctly use the softening salt. In models of a cheap and medium segment, the salt consumption is set manually by the user, and it is proposed to find out the hardness of the water yourself.

Noise level

For modern dishwashers, the noise level cannot be called a very critical parameter: they all work quite quietly, and the best models are almost silent. However, if the dishwasher is installed in a kitchen combined with a living room, it may be worth giving preference to a quieter model.

Leak protection

Finally, the last but not the least important point for many is the leakage protection. The prospect of flooding the neighbors does not please anyone. As with washing machines, the most vulnerable places for leakage are the water supply and drain hoses, as well as the body of the machine itself.

The body of the machine is traditionally protected by a drip tray and a float: if water gets into the tray, the float rises and stops the system. The hoses are protected by nested “double” hoses and solenoid valves. If water enters the “external” hose, the protection system is triggered and the water supply stops. By the way, such a hose can be installed separately – they are suitable for almost all machines. The presence of full protection allows you not to worry about potential accidents and calmly put the dishwasher on a delayed start, even if you are not at home.

Conclusions

So, let’s list once again the sequence of steps when choosing a dishwasher.

• First we need to decide on the built-in and form factor – whether our dishwasher will be wide, narrow, or maybe even a compact desktop.
• Choose one of the options for organizing the interior space – classic or modern. It depends solely on your personal ideas about convenience, but if in doubt, we would still offer a modern option.
• If you are uncompromising in your approach to the quality of washing, take a closer look at the upper spray: the “rocker” is preferable to the nozzle. If you are a supporter of everything new and unknown, a lover of experiments – look for a dishwasher with a more original design of the lower sprayer than the “rocker”.
• If the speed of obtaining clean and dry dishes is important, you will need a dishwasher with a turbo dryer (if not, feel free to take a conventional one with a convection dryer, this will save a fairly significant amount).
• If the dishwasher with convection drying is able to open the door a little at the end of washing – this is a useful feature, the dishes will dry faster. But, again, the question is whether speed matters to you at all.
• Lazy and squeamish should pay attention to dishwashers with a self-cleaning filter, otherwise it will have to be removed and cleaned by hand from time to time.
• Different dishwashers have different power consumption and water consumption, but, frankly, we find it hard to imagine a domestic consumer who would base his choice on these factors. If you are sure about the quality of hot water in the plumbing, you can look at models that connect to hot water – this is a way to save a lot of electricity.
• The ease of operation is highly dependent on personal preference, so there are no alternatives to inspection. As a consolation, we can say that we have not yet met a single dishwasher, the control of which would not allow washing the dishes 🙂
• Regular, intensive, delicate and fast programs are available for all modern models.