Dishwasher - don't rinse first?

[Tony Hwang]

Hi, Some new DWs even has soil sensor which dictates wash/rinse cycle when operating.

[Doug Miller]

Tony Hwang wrote in news:xSbhu.147086$ [e-mail]:

Yes, ours does -- all the more reason to let the dog clean the plates as much as possible first, which shortens the dishwasher cycle.

[Two doors]

My dishwasher just scraps the plates into the trash can before washing. She better, if she doesn't want another black eye.

[krw]

Lefties always think they're superior to everyone else, including other lefties. It defines the stupid bastards.

[Ed Pawlowski]

Consumer Reports uses the worst possible scenario figures. No reason to heat the rinse water. Where did the 16 gallons a day come from? I bet I don't use half a gallon on the worst day. I gave up reading CR decades ago for just that reason. Can't trust them.

[DerbyDad03]

That why I added the ? after the 6000. Sounded outrageous high to me too.

However, the comments related to the wasting of water and energy if you use hot water to rinse, as I'm sure many, many people do, is valid.

[Higgs Boson]

I need to find out whether you and Ed and others, when discussing pre-rinsi ng, mean RINSE CYCLE IN DW or (as I intend) QUICK RUN UNDER WATER FAUCET.

Would make vast differences in projected water usage.

(However, even when just "quick run under water faucet", must take into acc ount energy used in heating water, so pref, use cold.)

We are only one modest-using household. But multiplied by millions, some m ore profligate, and given future water shortages in some areas of the count ry, it behooves us to define our terms. (One of the two buzzwords way back at university. The other was "what's your frame of reference". Both quite useful.)

HB

[trader4]

The reason most people will use hot water when rinsing dishes by hand is that it's not very comfortable running cold water over your hands in winter. And I know people who just about wash them clean before putting them in the dishwasher, which is done easier with warm water than cold. Grease doesn't come off very well with cold water.

[trader4]

sing, mean RINSE CYCLE IN DW or (as I intend) QUICK RUN UNDER WATER FAUCET.

Both approaches have been mentioned, but in what I wrote above and what I think they are talking about is rinsing by hand.

And which way do you think uses vastly more?

ccount energy used in heating water, so pref, use cold.)

I would think a quick run under the faucet for most of what goes into the DW could easily use a lot more water than running the rinse cycle on the DW.

more profligate, and given future water shortages in some areas of the cou ntry, it behooves us to define our terms. (One of the two buzzwords way ba ck at university. The other was "what's your frame of reference". Both qui te useful.)

I already don't rinse. So no issue here at all.

[DerbyDad03]

I can only speak for myself, but I meant that you probably waste more water and energy by using the sink to rinse the dishes vs. using the Rinse cycle of the DW. I've never measured the usage, but it would be easy enough to do just by checking the meter.

However, the energy usage required to heat the water is a bit harder to quantify, especially if you only rinse one or 2 dishes per sink based pre-rinse. In other words, if you wait for hot water to sink rinse a plate or 2 at breakfast, then do it again after lunch and then after dinner, I'd imagine you'd waste more energy than if you stuck them in the DW and ran the Rinse cycle once a day.

Trust me, most dishes can sit unrinsed for more than a day in the DW and still come out perfectly clean once the full cycle is done. We do it all the time.

[Ed Pawlowski]

I'm referring to the running under the faucet when loading the DW. I may use a quick "psst" under the faucet on the really messy stuff. I've measure it to be about 4 ounces of water and I may do that on four items, total 16 ounces per day. That is 45 gallons a year of cold water, not the 6000 gallons of hot water referenced by CR.

We never use the Rinse Only cycle. When it is full, or nearly so, it gets run.

[Ed Pawlowski]

I hold the dish by the edge and my hand stays dry. I let the machine take care of great, I just get rid of big solids.

[Higgs Boson]

That's about the way we operate. We don't worry about grease; that's what DW is for. But of course scrape as much as possible into trash to avoid fu ture line problems. As to cold water on hands (horrors!) c'mon!

What I DO worry about -- shifting topic slightly -- is the long time it tak es for the hot water to get from kitchen boiler to bathroom, while faucet r uns, WASTING water. Some people actually keep a bucket in the shower and u se cold water for plants, etc.

I made a huge mistake decades ago when remodeling bathroom in NOT installin g one of those electric heaters -- "point of demand" or some such terminolo gy. By now, the technology must be light-years ahead.

This area (So. Calif) would be a desert if water hadn't been brought down f rom the Sierra Nevada (100 years since Mulholland!). With global warming -

---ing everything up world-wide, if the snowpack in the Sierra is scarce fo r several years, water will be scarce and rationing might follow. What a c an of beans, considering how some people cooperate -- but many do not.

HB

[Norminn]

I'd suppose it is just a marketing gimmick....I see no reason NOT to rinse dishes other than to save a little time. There is a lot of crap built into appliances nowdaays that is designed by engineers who have probably never done housework :o) I rinse, just because my logic tells me that they will be cleaner with less gunk in the water. Today, for the first time, I noticed small particles of stuff on the drain strainer in my dw...couple of bits of brussel sprouts and a couple of little chips of plastic. The plastic looked totally unfamiliar and can't imagine where it came from...perhaps from some new purchase I sent through dw prior to using it. Ennyhoo, unless most food comes off dishes with a quick scrape, I'll rinse the majority of it, or soak if dried on (that doesn't happen much now that I'm retired:o)

[DerbyDad03]

Keeping on topic, I have seen it suggested that you run the tap on full hot until hot water reaches the kitchen sink before turning on the dishwasher. This ensures that the very first bit of water that enters the DW is piping hot, therefore better to rinse the dishes during the first cycle.

If you do that, I guess you might as well rinse a dish or two at the same time.

I don't have to deal with that since my DW is almost directly above my WH. It takes just a couple of seconds to get full hot water to my kitchen sink and DW.

Now, the shower on the opposite side of the basement is a different story. I really should install a recirc pump, but I just haven't gotten a Round Tuit.

[Higgs Boson]

Damn, damn, damn! I remember now being told about running the hot water before starting the DW!

Another thing: They (gas co) tells you to keep the temp in the WH at medium. ISTR checking into this -- supposed to be to protect people from themselves; the same idiot-proof legal language that can be seen on everything from packaging to...

I have had the WH temp boosted to HOT for years.

Did I done do sumpin' wrong?

HB

[Two doors]

You and me are the same kind brother. The first time my old lady didn't get me a beer, I knocked her front teeth out. Nothing like putting an old bag in her place, eh?

[Two doors]

I know what you mean. I remember I was listening to Hannity, the bitch was making a ruckus, while fixin dinner. This was the second time I broke her friggin beak for her. She threatened to call the man, and I slammed her to the ground. Kicked her in the ribs, breaking a few of them. She whined like a baby for about a week before I told her to walk to the hospital in the snow. She's lucky I let her put a pair of shoes on.

[DerbyDad03]

The safe temperature to prevent scalding of young children, the elderly or anyone that can't move fast enough to get away from the water or turn it off quickly is 120F. 125F and above can be dangerous.

It's got nothing to do with idiot-proof legal language and there's no law that says you can't shower in boiling water if you so choose - other than the laws of nature and how they apply to your epidermis.

However, if you have small kids, the elderly or a disabled person that might visit and use your hot water, it might be considered a nice gesture to keep it at no more than 120F for safety reasons.

[Higgs Boson]

Thanks for that.

I visited the site, and have one q:

Heading: "Reducing the amount of heat that is lost out of the hot water ta nk (known as stand-by losses). If appliances, such as clothes washers and d ishwashers, use hot water at the temperature supplied by the water heater; and do not mix this water with cold water to achieve a set hot water temper ature, additional savings will occur."

How do I know what the HOT setting on my CW means? I've seen that it feeds HW and CW alternately, but to what final temp?

WH is in a corner, hard to see; will ask Gas Co. when they come to relight/ check my room heater** and other gas appliances.

Same with DW. It's got a HOT setting, but what does that mean?

Both happen to be Whirlpool; no special reason. Guess I'll have to get on the phone to them and pose my questions -- unless the answers happen to be readily available here..

** I lit/shut off RH myself for years, but now the gas co guy is welcome t o get down on the floor

HB