The damn dishwasher died... advice on a new one appreciated

You say that now...
I couldn't imagine life w/o my dishwasher.

we bought a KITCHENAID about 20 years ago - just after i retired :wink: .
no problems so far - people comment on how quiet it is - our living room is across from the kitchen(no door in between) and we cannot hear it running .
it was a little more expensive than the sears model , but the salesman/friend highly recommended it at that time it also had a good rating in CR at that time .
don't know what their record is now .
hbg

link :
DISHWASHER COMPARISONS

E.G. and sozlet washed and dried tonight... it was kinda sweet actually. OK he looked a bit haggard at the end of it. I appreciated that they took it over and shooed me out for a bit of R & R.

Thanks for that link, hamburger!

drying the pots and dishes was a job i never shirked even as a boy but i never ebjoyed washing the dishes - didn't want to get DIHSPANHANDS :wink:
hbg

Unless they have changed, Whirlpool makes the Kenmore product. I recently had the need to replace my very old Maytag and I opted for the high boy Whirlpool. Quiet and cleans very well.

Only reason I made it a Whirlpool rather than Kenmore is to keep it the same as my fridge and stove.

I've got a lovely Kenmore from Sears that the hamburgers gave me mmmm 8 - 10 years ago. Very quiet - very occasionally I hear a bit of water sort of whishing - very occasionally. Gets things nice and clean - everything goes in, from pots/pan/dishes/cutlery to good china and crystal through to My Little Pony's and toy trucks.

You married one. Manufactured an assistant.

Stop wasting water. Its a preciouse resource.

Get an EnergyStar-certified dishwasher: http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=dishwash.pr_dishwashers
You should save money.

tth - FYI - don't put lead crystal in a dishwasher. It will eventually develope a fog on the glass which may be impossible to remove.

If you have some crystal that's developing a film, line the sink with a towel to protect the glasses. Then, cover with water and toss in an entire box of denture cleaning fizzy tablets. Leave in the water for a an hour or so.

I've noticed for years that Kenmore (Sears) appliances get consistently high ratings in Consumer's Reports, but we've never had one 'til we bought a new dishwasher about six weeks ago. Five out of the 10 top rated models, in C.R. are Kenmore.

We bought the Kenmore Elite, model 1376. So far, we love it. It cleans very well and is extremely quiet.

Thanks for the FYI Chai. I didn't know that

I have had one for 25 years. My wife, it's a little noisy but has saved me some money. Best dishwasher I ever owned. :wink:

Heh.

That reminds me, I came across this and wanted to show dadpad:



Sozlet's been sick (better now) and E.G.'s been in the midst of end-of-quarter craziness, so we haven't moved on the dishwasher yet, but probably will be doing that soon. Our usual arrangement is I cook dinner, E.G. cleans up afterwards, and he's been willing to keep doing that even though he has to hand-wash. I've been washing more dishes during the course of the day, though, too. So far it's been an annoyance but not a huge deal.

i'm in love with our diswasher :wink:
my preferred job is unloading and stashing dishes and cutlery etc. away - i'm really good at that !
wouldn't like to see us go back to washing in the sink - though mrs. h will sometimes scrub a pot in the sink , or rinse off a few plates .
hbg

We have a Bosch. I love it. It's energy efficient and super quiet] Got it at Sears.

I have a SUBAMMAS model.

I've done the calculation Soz. Actual practical measured it. not read it on the internet.

Hand washing
12 litres per day averaged over a week (a touch over 3 gallons)

(11.36 litres = 3 US gall)

No carbon/energy cost in manufacture, transport, storage, retail, Packaging installation and or use.

Plus when she's up to her elbows in soap suds I can usually cop a feel without getting a whack.

We kind of use it as family time.

Attention Ossobuco - O'Keefe & Merrit, now that is quality Americana and, if in good condition, could generate quite a bit of interest. Check out Automaticwasher.org - a website dedicated to antique and classic appliances. I am guessing that your machine is more than 30 years old. Many of those dishwashers used either the impeller system or they had a single washarm at the bottom of the machine. To get the top rack cleaned required a special way of loading the bottom rack to allow water to reach the one on top. Would you be able to post a couple of pics of the in- and outside of your machine? If you are curious about your dishwasher the above website can put you in touch with people who would know a great deal about getting it back to usable condition. I love mid-centure American design and swear by American-made up to the late eighties. Nobody else designed better and more beautiful appliances.

Hi sozobe - I have to spruik about my Fisher & Paykel dishdrawers. They are a little more expensive than those four and five hundred dollar machines that will also do an excellent job. Though, I've had the dd's for just on 14 months and absolutely LOVE!!! them. I'll give pro and con reasons below.

First the pros:

Top loading design - superior ergonomics and drawer contains messy spills that can occur during loading. Very easy to load and unload.

Filtration system - very efficient and easy to keep clean. Only two parts to maintain, unlike some other dishwashers with filters that come in four or five parts. I don't pre-rinse, only scrape off food residue. Holes in washarms have 'NEVER' clogged up in the time I've used the machine. I very rarely remove the large round filter screen. Only three times since I've had this dishwasher. The small filter trap insert at the front removes easily and rinses clean under running water (every other week).

Washchambers - have no nooks or crannies that collect gunk. They keep perfectly clean and I've never had any odor issues. Some front loading dishwashers will collect gunk underneath the door boot, in the corners at the front and around the filters.

It seems to really move water inside the washchamber and powers everything very clean.

Each drawer can be used independently of the other - effectively giving me two separate dishwashers.

Programs range from heavy, regular, delicate, quick-wash to pre-rinse and there is an eco option, which lowers the wash temperature and energy consumption.

Cons:

Both drawers are the same size and will not accomodate some tall items that would fit into a front-loading dw.

Washtimes are a little longer than with traditional dws - the super cycle takes about 120 minutes of which forty make up air-circulated drying. Normal cycle is about 111 minutes on regular and 92 minutes on eco option. Again, the machine really only washes and rinses for about 60 minutes and then goes into drying mode. I have mine connected to hot water, which cuts washing times down by approx. 10/15 mins. Water supply must never be hotter than 140 degrees.

Drying is not heat-assisted. The heat from the last rinse plus the circulating fan are meant to get things dry. They usually do, but if there is a depression in the bottom of glasses, cups and bowls it pays to dab those dry before removing them.

No built-in hard food disposer. This doesn't effect the overall performance. I am just used to having dishwashers with that feature and not having to worry about cleaning any filter screens. That is really just me anyway.

Dadpad,

Dishwashers clean dishes much better than handwashing. If you handwashed and rinsed dishes to the same standard of a dishwasher in your sink - for a family of three or four people - you'd be using more than just 3 gallons.

I refuse to be made to feel guilty for living a modern lifestyle. By gad, those folk who get their gobs on the tele to tell us about our evil, carbon producing ways don't actually practice much of what they preach either. Take Al Gore as the perfect example. The way energy prices are going right now, modern living will become the exclusive domain of the well-off and everyone else will have to do without soon anyway.

BTW, this new environmentalism is fascism dressed up to look respectable. It is becoming very clear that it has more to do with re-negotiating people's access to resources and economic/political power, than actually saving the environment. It is very much an upper middle-class driven initiative, aimed at restricting the opportunities (and therefore competition) from those who are economically vulnerable. Anyway - I think this is a topic that is better discussed in another forum.

Cheers

Snickdoo

Thanks for clueing me in, Snickerdoodle. The house was built in 1986, so my O'Keefe and Merritt is, I trust, 20 years old. I'll study the matter of loading specifics re blocking the water. Yes, it has one of those arm thingies...

I won't be taking a photo any time soon, but may do it when I get into selling some things on Craigs List or EBay, any month now. I won't be changing the dishwasher until such time as I fix that row of cabinets, which may be when hell freezes over.