How to use a dishwasher
"Vic Smith" > wrote in message
...
> On Fri, 15 May 2009 14:47:16 GMT, "brooklyn1"
> > wrote:
>
>>
>>"Dave Garland" > wrote in message
...
>>> Lou wrote:
>>>
>>>> The point is that air drying the
>>>> dishes isn't necessarily cost free either. Neither is using a towel to
>>>> dry
>>>> them - the water is absorbed by the towel, which becomes damp. You
>>>> hang
>>>> the
>>>> towel up when you're done, and that water evaporates.
>>>
>>> True.
>>>
>>> And again, it takes a
>>>> certain amount of heat to evaporate a given quantity of water, and if
>>>> it's
>>>> during the heating season, that heat is coming from the furnace. If
>>>> you
>>>> live in a climate where you don't need to run the furnace, then that's
>>>> not a
>>>> consideration. I don't know how much water has to be evaporated to dry
>>>> a
>>>> load of dishes, but it doesn't look like it would be much, and the
>>>> amount
>>>> of
>>>> electricity used is correspondingly small - I doubt if anyone would
>>>> notice a
>>>> change in their electricity bill one way or the other.
>>>
>>> But that's assuming that all the energy used goes into evaporating
>>> water. In the case of air drying that's true. In the case of heated
>>> drying, it's hard to believe. The heat leaks into the environment
>>> (not a total loss, of course, as the furnace runs less, but not a wash
>>> either, since resistance heating is usually much more costly than the
>>> furnace's heat). I don't have any figures for the percentage of total
>>> heat used that evaporates water, but would guess it's a small
>>> percentage. The rest goes into making the dishwasher warm, leaving
>>> the plates warm.
>>>
>>> (It's all theoretical to me, I've never had a dishwasher.)
>>>
>>> Dave
>>
>>Ahahahahaha. . . .
>>
>>Folks, it's a dishwasher... a marvel of modern *convenience*, something no
>>one actually *needs*, but a major part of the convenience is the dry
>>feature... if you open the unit right after it shuts off the dishes will
>>be
>>so hot that they will fully air dry in minutes... but if opened hours
>>after
>>it's fully cooled down (like in the morning) condensation will have formed
>>inside the machine. I typically start my dishwasher last thing before
>>retiring for the night, then I set the heated dry feature because I hate
>>opening the dishwasher and finding many of the dishes covered with
>>droplets.... the heated dry doesn't need to be used all the time, that's
>>why
>>there is a button that gives you a choice to exercise your brain. Never
>>using the dry feature is like folks who install central AC but never use
>>it
>>unless it's like 100 degrees (and then they set it at 90), like buying a
>>Porsche but being ascared to drive over 45 mph, like installing a fancy
>>schmancy hydro jet tub but never using it other than something to dust and
>>show off because it uses too much hot water, like buying nice living room
>>furniture covered with silk brocade but covering it with clear plastic
>>slip
>>covers in hopes it won't ever wear, like roping off the living room so no
>>one walks on your horrid dago robin's egg blue plush carpeting. The
>>heated
>>dry feature on a dishwasher uses so little energy compared to the total
>>energy it consumes that it's negligible... I bet yoose types are so cheap
>>yoose haven't bought a new toothbrush in like twenty years... yoose are
>>all
>>just a buncha mental masturbators over silly minutia.
>>
>>In fact I just got off the phone with the Maytag help desk, they varified
>>that choosing the heated dry feature only slightly extends the heated dry
>>that comes on anyway as part of the standard clean cycle... that the
>>energy
>>cost savings by not choosing the heated dry feature is miniscule and
>>insignificant compared with the total energy consumed in using a
>>dishwasher
>>(naturally they couldn't give me an actual dollar amount as electric rates
>>differ). Think about it, how many times a week does someone use their
>>dishwasher... tops I use mine twice, that's 100 times a year... by not
>>using
>>the heated dry feature I'd save like 10¢, that's a whole $10/yr... and I'd
>>lose the convenience of not having to wait with the door open for the
>>dishes
>>to fully dry or having to wipe... I don't know about the slobs but I don't
>>like to stack my dishes in the cabinet with water droplets... then
>>moisture
>>gets trapped between stacked dishes, very unsanitary... wiping by hand is
>>also unsanitary, negates the main purpose of an Auto dishwasher, minimally
>>handled dishes. And dishwashers do indeed contain a blower, that's what
>>circulates the heated air at the end in order to dry the dishes, choosing
>>the heated dry feature merely lets the blower circulate the heated air a
>>few
>>minutes longer. If I listen carefully I can hear the blower running
>>(because nothing else is running at the end) and I can see the vapor
>>blowing
>>out the front vent, it's a very small blower and a very small heater, but
>>it
>>works in that very small space. There is also a water heater, that uses
>>much more energy than the dry heater. There is a definite savings in
>>energy
>>and the dishwasher will operate better if the water at the kitchen sink is
>>run till it runs hot before turning on the dishwasher... my Maytag manual
>>explains that and even says to test the water at the sink by runing it
>>into
>>cup and checking with a thermometer, optimally it should read 140ºF, or
>>the
>>dishwasher's water heater will have to make up the difference and that
>>heater will cost a lot more to run than the drying heater, it's also
>>cheaper
>>to let your domestic hot water heater do the work... initially running
>>with
>>water not hot enough will negatively affect the performance of the
>>dishwashing compounds... everyone's plumbing is different but typically a
>>gallon of cold water comes out the hot water tap before it turns hot...
>>filling the dishwasher with cold water wastes more energy than the heated
>>dry feature uses. I just read my owner's manual again, a lot of good
>>stuff
>>in there I missed/forgotten since I read it 5 years ago, the machine has
>>features I didn't know about.
>>
>>Not using your modern dishwasher's heated dry feature saves less energy
>>than
>>not using your modern frost free refrigerator freezer to make ice, and
>>makes
>>as much sense... just don't fill the ice cube trays, you'll save enough to
>>take an around the world cruise... maybe in about forty life times. I
>>wonder how many of yoose imbeciles believe you have to change the air in
>>your car tires every 6,000 miles.
>>
> You should write a book. "My Dishwasher and Me: A Personal Journey."
>
>
Um, I just did.
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