The Dishwasher: A Kitchen Appliance I Cannot Live Without (I Tried)

Kitchen remodeling is one of the biggest home improvement projects that you can take on. You can help minimize the frustrations and spread out the expenses of this time consuming project by doing it in stages. One of the most helpful improvements you can make is to get a dishwasher.

I am amazed at families who live without a dishwasher. I grew up with one in every home, then when I got married we didn't have one in our first home. It was incredible how time consuming it was to wash dishes by hand. I definitely had better things to do with my time. When we moved to our next home I made sure there was one already installed, or at least plenty of room to put one. There's no way I'm doing without it again.

Dishwashers are more complicated than you'd think. They come in a variety of styles and have an astonishing range of features. There are built-in dishwashers, stand-alone dishwashers and countertop dishwashers. For instance, Bosch has a line of dishwashers that is so quiet you might forget you turned it on. I know because my mother in law has one. It's phenomenal. The most recognized are built-in dishwashers which are less visible once installed. If you have a very small kitchen and no available slot for a built in you'll need to get a portable rolling dishwasher, which are self contained units often with a counter top that can be useful for other kitchen needs. Some come with a full blown chopping block on top.

In addition to their obvious time saving factor, dishwashers can also be energy efficient. Electric dishwashers use less hot water than washing and rinsing dishes by hand. (If your spouse is complaining about the money for a dishwasher give him that fact). Many of them carry the energy star label and have special settings specifically to use less water and if you have a water softener you can use less soap, too.

If you don't have a dishwasher already I highly recommend one. From that point on you'll never voluntarily go back to hand washing again.

Get more information on dishwashers and portable dishwashers at our resource site. This is a sister site to Compact Refrigerator review.