The apt I am renting at the moment comes with a dishwasher. It may sound backward but this is the first time I am operating a dishwasher and there is no manual. So naturally I have all these questions I need answered. How should I load the dishwasher? Can all my dishes fit in there? What is the minimum load I need before I effectively save water and energy? Since it is just me and hubs in the household is it really cost effective considering the limited kitchenware/ utensils that we have in the first place? Do I need to pre-rinse? Yada..yada...Tried looking for answers on the web and this is what I concluded:
1. Pre-rinsing is generally not required. Apparently, pre-rinsing can take up to 20 gallons of water!
2. Do however scrape off bits of leftovers on the dishes before loading them.
3. Load glassware on the top rack and try to space them apart to avoid breakage.
4. Similarly, plastic containers goes on top to avoid melting during the dry heating since it gets hotter at the bottom rack.
5. Place plates, bowls, pots and pans at the bottom facing down towards the the spray arm.
6. Spoons, forks, knives (facing down) and other silverware goes into a basket usually located on the bottom rack and mix them up to avoid "nesting".
7.To be more energy efficient, run the dishwasher with a full load and avoid using the heat dry function.
8.And do go easy on the detergent! More is not necessarily cleaner!
On a final note, "washing dishes by hand uses much more water than using a dishwashers. Using an ENERGY STAR qualified dishwashers instead of hand washing will save you annually 5,000 gallons of water, $40 in utility costs, and 230 hours of your time."
Woo..I like the sound of that...:)
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