Way OT: Dishwashers

[pjmsj21]

We purchased an ASKO 13 years ago when we built our house and it needs replacement. Our priorities are: low water consumption (we do rainwater harvesting), quietness, and general dish cleaning.

We are looking at Asko, Bosch and Miele. Any thoughts or innsights?

[Louis]

If you really want to conserve water: I just do my dishes by hand. Of course it's just me, but I doubt I use more than one gallon a day for dish washing. I don't turn the faucet on full-blast and run it only when it needs to be running. I've been debating whether I should tear out the dishwasher and replace it with a cabinet, but that particular project hasn't been high on my priority list.

Edit: re-reading your list of priorities, I see that hand-washing hits them all very well. ;)

[Richard]

Surprisingly, Conumer's Union rated a number of Kenmore Elite models above all of the boutique brands in efficiency, quietness and cleaning.

[dave thompson]

My wife. (ooh I'm gonna pay for that!)

[Louis]

My wife. (ooh I'm gonna pay for that!)

Now she's no longer going to wait for you at the top of the hills.

[tiretrax]

I bought a midlevel Bosch two years ago. I'm vey satisfied with it. I only bought it because it was the only one that fit in the space. I wouldn't spend too much on one since they seem prone to break down more often than I'd like and it's too easy to handash..

[tele]

Mixed experiences with Bosch: we built our house over 10 years ago, my buddy and I bought appliances at the same time to get a better deal and we both got the same Bosch dishwasher. His crapped out after 4 years but ours is still going working well as of last night...knocking on wood...

[jumpjube]

Our Miele dishwashers -- not the highest priced models -- have both been ultra-reliable and quiet.

The only reason we bought the second was to coordinate with a kitchen re-do.

Have not owned either of the other brands.

[Bruce K]

Curious about this too

Our 26 year old Kenmore machine has started to leak every time we run it.

Replacement going to happen in the next few weeks

Probably going Kenmore Elite

BK

[malcolm]

For what it's worth and your experience may be different but we just replaced a dishwasher in the past couple months. We went with a Bosch unit, and it was whisper quiet but my wife sent it back because we just couldn't get it to dry dishes. It does not have a heating element to dry. If you look on the internet you'll find a ton of discussion about the issue with Bosch and several other European designs. There is a protocol to follow, I don't remember exactly but it involves opening the door immediately after the cycle and some other such stuff, which defeats the purpose for us as we wash dishes overnight. Even following the instructions to the letter it was better but the dishes were still wet.
Exchanged it for a kitchen aid and have been happy. It's close if not equally quiet and the dishes are clean and dry. I have no idea about water consumption.

[dgauthier]

Our priorities are: low water consumption (we do rainwater harvesting), quietness, and general dish cleaning.


We love our mid-range Miele. Even though the higher range models are supposedly quieter, the noise it makes is only noticeable if you're standing next to it in the wee hours of the morning. The dishes come out looking much cleaner (our glasses used to look slightly fogged, now they are crystal clear).

According to the manual, water use varies between 1.3 to 6.3 gallons depending on the cycle. I suggest you download the manuals for the models you are interested in from the manufacturer's web sites to compare the water usage specs.

[VTCaraco]

Bought an Asko 2 years ago and love it.
What discouraged us from the Bosch was the caution expressed by a few shops with regards to woes with electronics.
We're very happy with our purchase from a sound, function and efficiency point of view.

[dekindy]

When we need a new appliance we go to Sears. Review them online and usually takes longer to get waited on at the store than it does to write up the order.

Our model was purchased a few years ago and says KitchenAid on the front. Quiet as a mouse. Kitchen and family room are continuous and it sets a few feet behind me and the kitchen counter. Can watch television and literally not even notice that it is on.

[Mikej]

DO NOT BUY AN LG- you've been warned.

[gasman]

We just went through this several months ago. We bought a Meile-it has been quiet and cleans the dishes really well. The only downside has been getting used to the smaller depth of 18" compared to 24" for our old Kitchen Aid.

We looked at the Kenmore at length. My big concern was that all the spray units inside are made of plastic and there are a lot of rotating arms with small rotating arms on the end. They seemed flimsy to me and when pushed the Sears salesperson quietly agreed with me.

We didn't get a Bosch because when we asked our appliance repair guy he said since the company changed ownership a few years ago parts are hard to get and the prices have skyrocketed. Just one man's opinion.

[csm]

I've got a Fisher Paykel.... 8 or 9 years old and works. Had to replace the control panel a few years ago but it was easy and cheap.


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[Ozz]

we bought a new dishwasher to go in our new house a couple years ago, and ended up with a KitchenAid...it was their top-end one, all stainless interior, stainless exterior, hidden controls, super quiet. I really mean really, super quiet...it is hard to tell when it is running other than a small blue light on the front of the machine.

we were looking at the european models, but they were all much smaller than the "american" brands...shorter depth as "gasman" pointed out.

we had a KitchenAid in our old house and it lasted for 15.5 troublefree years

of the euro-brands, we did like the bosch and miele, but really pricey and small...the sales-guy was really keen on a brand called Blomberg. It is German brand, but lesser known, well made and better price point than Bosch or Miele

In the end, capacity, sound level, and good previous experience won out

[pjmsj21]

Just an update from the OP. We ended up getting a mid-pack Miele for about the price of my recently purchased Athena/Chorus group. My wife has been very supportive of my decision to acquire a new(used) frame purchase along with the other stuff to make it into a bike, so it was my turn to do the same. Thanks for all of your input and thoughts.

[Ken Robb]

I have a 12 year-old Kenmore/Whirlpool that still works fine but I had to do a little repair a few months ago because it wasn't cleaning well. I found good how-to-info w/pix on-line. This model and many other USA units has a sump with a small grinder below the main tub. The idea is that food scraps get washed down there, ground up and expelled with the water at the end of the wash cycle. I found pieces of broken glass and bone blocking the grinder and much of the outlet so bits of dirt and food were being recirculated and left on the supposedly "clean" dishes. The glass came from a crystal wine goblet that broke in the machine . Most of the pieces remained in the bottom of the main tub and I didn't know that some smaller bits had made it through the coarse strainer in the bottom of the main tub. It was an easy repair and restored like-new performance.

Friends have two Fisher-Paykel units that have required 3 new control panels in 5 years. They would get something else but they designed their kitchen cabinets around the small size of these washer so they are kind of stuck. They do an ok job of washing but lack the grinder mechanism so even though they are careful to rinse dished before putting them in the washer they still have to clean old food from the sump once in a while.

I think that Whirlpool now owns Amana, Maytag and Kitchenaid besides making some of the Kenmore appliances so there may not be much real difference in performance among these brands any more.

[merlinmurph]

When we need a new appliance we go to Sears. Review them online and usually takes longer to get waited on at the store than it does to write up the order

We have a Sears outlet near us and we have bought a number of appliances from there at around 40-50% off - fridge, gas cooktop, washer/dryer. Some stuff has scratches/dents, some pristine.

[Cat3roadracer]

My Mother has a Kitchen Aid that is more than 50 years old. We joke about it, about 15 years ago she had the kitchen remodeled. Had the front of the dish washer sprayed to match the new fridge. Looks perfect.