The Best Reason to Own a Dishwasher? (Hint: It’s Not Cleaning Dishes)
When I moved into my first apartment, my roommate and I had one major source of contention.
She was convinced that washing our dishes by hand would save us money. It’s not like we were in our twenties, living in an expensive city, pinching pennies. We were already close to forty, living in the suburbs of Indianapolis, with grown children and stable careers. Plus we were paying a premium for this apartment because it came with a dishwasher. Why on earth would we want to wash the dishes by hand?
To me, it was simple. A dishwasher would save me time.
The Best Reason to Own a Dishwasher? (Hint: It’s Not Cleaning Dishes)
It almost sounds too good to be true.
Not only does having a dishwasher mean cleaner dishes, but it may also save you time.
Wait, what? How can a machine that cleans and dries your dishes also save you time? Is it magic?
The answer, as it turns out, is yes… sort of.
See, the key to saving time with your dishwasher is using your dishwasher correctly. Otherwise, all that extra time washing and drying dishes by hand would be for naught.
After all, if you have to wash dishes before you load them in the machine or wipe down every single piece of silverware afterward, then what’s the point of having a dishwasher at all?
The best reason to own a dishwasher isn’t that it cleans dishes. The best reason to own a dishwasher is that it frees up time for other things.
When I moved into my first home, I had no idea how much time it would save me—and in turn, how much more cooking I would do. My friends who live without dishwashers tell me about the hours they spend cleaning up after dinner with piles of sudsy water, stacks of dirty dishes, and wet counters. The process sounds like a chore.
The real benefit to owning a dishwasher? It’s not the cleanest dishes or saving water. It’s the time you get back—and all the things you can do with that extra time: play a game with your kids, make another batch of cookies, or even just relax.
Long ago, before I owned my first home and before I was married, my wife and I were visiting some friends who had just bought their first house. As we were leaving, they said something that’s stuck with me: “We love our new house because we feel like we get our lives back.”
They had been living in an apartment when they bought their new home: no lawn to mow or weeds to pull or
One of the best reasons to own a dishwasher is that it saves you time.
Having a dishwasher can save you time, energy, and money. But the primary benefit of owning a dishwasher is that it saves you time.
If you own a dishwasher, your life will be much easier. You’ll save hours of work every month by not having to wash dishes by hand. And if you don’t own one, there are plenty of great deals out there!
In my last post, I argued that the time you save washing dishes by hand is dwarfed by the time you save not having to dry them. But there’s another, even bigger advantage to owning a dishwasher: it frees up a chunk of your day to do something other than wash dishes.
There are probably a few people out there who genuinely enjoy scrubbing the grime off their plates and pots. But most of us don’t. Once you have the option of doing something else instead, chances are you’ll take it.
In fact, when researchers asked American women how they’d spend the extra time they gained from using labor-saving appliances like dishwashers, washers and dryers, and vacuum cleaners, most said they’d use it for leisure—to read or watch TV. Others used it to work or run errands. Only about a quarter of them said they’d do more housework (and those women were more likely to be married and have kids).
An average dishwasher uses 6 gallons of water per cycle, while hand-washing the same load can use 27 gallons. So, it’s pretty clear that dishwashers are the way to go — unless you’re buying a small appliance every week or so. Model efficiency varies, but some dishwashers are Energy Star certified, meaning they are 10% more efficient, on average, than non-certified models.
But using a dishwasher doesn’t just save water, it also saves time. The average person spends about 20 minutes washing dishes by hand and loading them into the drying rack. If you have a busy life and family, that number could be higher. Investing in a good dishwasher can cut that time down to about five minutes (or even less), leaving you with more time to do everything else you need to do.
In a study conducted in 2011 by the American Cleaning Institute, researchers found that the average person washes dishes 13 times a week, spending almost an hour each time.
So how is that few people actually spend that much time washing dishes? The answer is simple: More households are investing in a dishwasher. In fact, industry data shows that the percentage of households with dishwashers has increased from about 25% in 1970 to about 90% in 2015.
But why should you invest in a new dishwasher? Here are three reasons why having one will save you time and money:
1. A Dishwasher Saves Water
2. A Dishwasher Saves Energy
3. Do You Know How Dirty Your Dish Sponge Is?