On Mar 29, 4:50*pm, Kalmia > wrote:
> First off, the oldie-goldie Kenmore came with the house, sans manual.
> My dw experience was almost nil.
>
> About the rinse and hold: *thinking that maybe it would just given em
> a lick and a promise, *I tried it tonight and it seemed to be almost
> as long as the china and glass cycle, which I usually use.

Rinse and hold is pretty much a gimmick. Just rinse the dishes
before you put
them in the dishwasher and they will hold fine till the washer is full
and you need
to run it.
>
> If you run the china and glass cycle, does the dw race thru or skip
> the rinse and hold?

These cycles are more about timinig than anything else. A "pot and
pan"
cycle just runs longer than the china and glass cycle.
>
> Water rates are high, *so I'm trying to conserve as much as possible.
> I wish I knew a way to measure the water usage when using the dw.

The washer fills up for each wash cycle and then empties before
filling up for the
rinse cycle.
I would run a full load on the longest cycle stated on the knob and
see how
many times it fills up. It still isn't much water though, probably
not more
than a gallon or so per cycle. Dishwashers are very efficient at
using water,
way more than handwashing dishes ever was.

I have a friend who insists that handwashing uses less water....and
then leaves
the water running to rinse each dish individually...... go figure.


>
> Thanks for any input - I can even take insults along with helpful
> information.