Addressing Lifestyle with Time-Saving Amenities

The trends cited in multifamily housing indicate a diversity of users with a variety of lifestyles. Few rooms in a housing unit reflect that lifestyle more than the kitchen. Households that do a lot of cooking look for more kitchen workspace and higher-quality amenities. Those who choose to downsize to smaller living units may only cook for themselves and rely on local restaurants or bistros for entertaining guests. Anyone with a busy schedule will want high quality and plenty of time-saving features. Appliance manufacturers have recognized these needs that have played directly into the updated designs of several kitchen appliances as well.

Dishwashing Appliances

Residential dishwasher design has increasingly been influenced by professional grade dishwashers to provide better performance, use less energy, less water, and need less time to get dishes clean. Most notably, dishwasher manufacturers currently recommend that there is no longer any need to pre-rinse dishes in a sink. Rather they can be taken from the table, scraped of any loose food items, and placed directly into the dishwasher. This saves considerable time and water usage. Once loaded, wash times can be as short as 30 minutes thanks to improved washing technology and refinements that assure all loaded dishes get cleaned. Among the most significant innovation in dishwashers is the use of soil sensors inside the unit that incorporates technology to automatically adjust the cycle time based on how much cleaning is needed for a particular load of dishes. Shorter cycle time means the dishwasher runs for less time and therefore consumes less energy and water too.

Photo courtesy of Electrolux

The latest generation of dishwashers provides improved performance and many control options that allow users to save time, energy, and water.

A significant portion of the energy used by dishwashers is actually the energy required for heating the water they consume, since almost all dishwashers on the market use internal booster heaters. That is actually a good thing, because it allows household domestic hot water heater temperatures to be turned down to around 120 degrees, instead of the higher temperatures usually desired for dish washing. The lower water heater temperatures mean less energy is used on an ongoing basis with the higher temperature created only for the intermittent needs of the dishwasher. Selecting a unit that meets or exceeds the ENERGY STAR® rating requirements for both energy and water usage will enhance the energy savings even more.

There are some other options and choices in selecting a dishwasher that will make a difference on overall performance and ease of use. For times when dirty dishes sit overnight, a dishwasher with a rinse option feature will typically use a fraction of the water needed to hand rinse. Sizing the appliance to suit the household size will promote running full loads whenever possible which is helpful since they can use about the same amount of energy and water regardless of the number of dishes inside. Further, selecting units that have a no-heat drying option can still give good drying results using notably less electrical energy.