Dishwasher Test Results

Last month, German CU tested dishwashers. Since it may be of some interest to you, I decided to give you a shortened (and translated) version of the test. So here it goes…

The new dishwashers with Zeolite by Bosch/Siemens set a new benchmark for water and energy conservation. But competitor Miele is keeping up.

Last year, B/S/H wrote history with the most frugal dishwasher ever. In addition, their new Zeolite-technology also held up well in our endurance test. Miele also ranks amongst the top dishwashers in this test due to its refined drying technology called AutoOpen. However, none of the five highest-ranking dishwashers received a “Very Good” because the all energy saving cycles still take too long – approximately two hours. Not so much of a problem at night –since all dishwashers are quiet enough not to wake anybody up – but a test of one’s patience during the day.

The five highest-ranking dishwashers wash and dry nearly perfectly, while being extremely frugal. The Zeolite dishwashers need the least amount of energy and water. Three gallons and 0.8 kWh to clean 160 pieces. As a comparison: the biggest water-hogs, Zanussi and Whirlpool, use four gallons and one kWh.

Zeolite is an environmentally friendly mineral that stores moisture and transforms it into heat. At the beginning of the cycle, the Zeolite is heated and dried. This release steam, which helps to heat the wash water. During the drying cycle, moisture is stored by the mineral and dry heat released. This works so well that we decided to replace some of the cups, plates and bowls with ones made of plastic. The disadvantage of this drying system: it takes time. When selecting varioSpeed, a setting to speed the cycle up, the Zeolite function is skipped – resulting in a “Good” drying performance. And the high-speed option needs more energy. This is where Miele’s AutoOpen drying shines: “Very Good” drying even when using the Turbo setting. Miele’s engineers achieve perfectly dry dishes by increasing the final rinse temperature and by automatically opening the door 15 minutes at the end of the cycle so steamy air can escape. A fan prevents the worktop from any condensate. Disadvantage: a slightly higher energy consumption than the competitor with Zeolite.

This was the first time we tried a quicker cycle for normally soiled dishes. Many people like to use them to get clean dishes in a hurry (we looked for a cycle that takes about an hour, washes at about 122°F and is suitable for normally soiled dishes). Except for Zanussi and Whirlpool, all dishwashers offer such an option or cycle like varioSpeed, Turbo or Daily Fast. The test showed: the quick cycles don’t clean as well as a full-length cycle. However, Bosch/Siemens and Miele dishwashers still cleaned “Good”. Electrolux and Bauknecht left fairly large amounts of spinach and ground meat behind. Their fast cycle is only usable to clean lightly soiled items like glasses from a party. Gorenje’s Gentle cycle cleaned really bad.

The Whirlpool dishwasher has another disadvantage: it lacks a water-protection system. Should the inlet hose ever leak, water will just keep flowing onto the kitchen’s floor.

Some more details…

The top-rated dishwasher by Bosch/Siemens and Miele cleaned and dried very well on their Eco cycles, which take about 160 minutes. The automatic cycles clean and dry very well, too, but are generally shorter and need a little bit more water and energy. The Miele also dries very well using the Turbo mode – but its quick cycle (Light Soiling 50° + Turbo option) takes 20 minutes longer than Bosch’s Eco 50° + varioSpeed cycle due to the AutoOpen drying feature (95 vs. 74 minutes). Using varioSpeed boosts water and power consumption on the BSH machines. Miele’s Turbo uses less water and energy, since it eliminates the pre-rinse cycle. The dishwashers are all very quiet at 39.6 to 41.9 decibels.

Electrolux and Bauknecht did not so well. On the Eco and automatic cycles, the Bauknecht cleaned very well, while the Electrolux “only” cleaned good. However, both failed to produce clean dishes on the quick cycle. The Electrolux had the fastest quick cycle at 52 minutes – Miele had the slowest. In general, Electrolux had the fastest cycles: the automatic cycle took 114 / 112 minutes for a heavy / normal soiled load, respectively. The Bauknecht dishwasher was the slowest: its automatic cycle takes 196 minutes to clean a normally soiled load and 214 minutes to wash a heavily soiled load. Its automatic cycle also used the most energy of all tested dishwashers. Otherwise, their energy and water consumption is low.

Can’t talk much about the Gorenje, Zanussi and Whirlpool. They seem to be more BOL models. They cleaned and dried okay-ish but needed more water and energy. The Whirlpool was the noisiest dishwasher at 51.9 dB. Note: Whirlpool Europe and Whirlpool USA produce different machines – the results cannot be transferred to US machines. It’s the same case with Electrolux.

Alex


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Post# 428650 4/14/2010 at 07:45 (5,119 days old) by logixx (Germany)
Checkrate/Likes Last month, German CU tested dishwashers. Since it may be of some interest to you, I decided to give you a shortened (and translated) version of the test. So here it goes… The new dishwashers with Zeolite by Bosch/Siemens set a new benchmark for water and energy conservation. But competitor Miele is keeping up. Last year, B/S/H wrote history with the most frugal dishwasher ever. In addition, their new Zeolite-technology also held up well in our endurance test. Miele also ranks amongst the top dishwashers in this test due to its refined drying technology called AutoOpen. However, none of the five highest-ranking dishwashers received a “Very Good” because the all energy saving cycles still take too long – approximately two hours. Not so much of a problem at night –since all dishwashers are quiet enough not to wake anybody up – but a test of one’s patience during the day. The five highest-ranking dishwashers wash and dry nearly perfectly, while being extremely frugal. The Zeolite dishwashers need the least amount of energy and water. Three gallons and 0.8 kWh to clean 160 pieces. As a comparison: the biggest water-hogs, Zanussi and Whirlpool, use four gallons and one kWh. Zeolite is an environmentally friendly mineral that stores moisture and transforms it into heat. At the beginning of the cycle, the Zeolite is heated and dried. This release steam, which helps to heat the wash water. During the drying cycle, moisture is stored by the mineral and dry heat released. This works so well that we decided to replace some of the cups, plates and bowls with ones made of plastic. The disadvantage of this drying system: it takes time. When selecting varioSpeed, a setting to speed the cycle up, the Zeolite function is skipped – resulting in a “Good” drying performance. And the high-speed option needs more energy. This is where Miele’s AutoOpen drying shines: “Very Good” drying even when using the Turbo setting. Miele’s engineers achieve perfectly dry dishes by increasing the final rinse temperature and by automatically opening the door 15 minutes at the end of the cycle so steamy air can escape. A fan prevents the worktop from any condensate. Disadvantage: a slightly higher energy consumption than the competitor with Zeolite. This was the first time we tried a quicker cycle for normally soiled dishes. Many people like to use them to get clean dishes in a hurry (we looked for a cycle that takes about an hour, washes at about 122°F and is suitable for normally soiled dishes). Except for Zanussi and Whirlpool, all dishwashers offer such an option or cycle like varioSpeed, Turbo or Daily Fast. The test showed: the quick cycles don’t clean as well as a full-length cycle. However, Bosch/Siemens and Miele dishwashers still cleaned “Good”. Electrolux and Bauknecht left fairly large amounts of spinach and ground meat behind. Their fast cycle is only usable to clean lightly soiled items like glasses from a party. Gorenje’s Gentle cycle cleaned really bad. The Whirlpool dishwasher has another disadvantage: it lacks a water-protection system. Should the inlet hose ever leak, water will just keep flowing onto the kitchen’s floor. Some more details… The top-rated dishwasher by Bosch/Siemens and Miele cleaned and dried very well on their Eco cycles, which take about 160 minutes. The automatic cycles clean and dry very well, too, but are generally shorter and need a little bit more water and energy. The Miele also dries very well using the Turbo mode – but its quick cycle (Light Soiling 50° + Turbo option) takes 20 minutes longer than Bosch’s Eco 50° + varioSpeed cycle due to the AutoOpen drying feature (95 vs. 74 minutes). Using varioSpeed boosts water and power consumption on the BSH machines. Miele’s Turbo uses less water and energy, since it eliminates the pre-rinse cycle. The dishwashers are all very quiet at 39.6 to 41.9 decibels. Electrolux and Bauknecht did not so well. On the Eco and automatic cycles, the Bauknecht cleaned very well, while the Electrolux “only” cleaned good. However, both failed to produce clean dishes on the quick cycle. The Electrolux had the fastest quick cycle at 52 minutes – Miele had the slowest. In general, Electrolux had the fastest cycles: the automatic cycle took 114 / 112 minutes for a heavy / normal soiled load, respectively. The Bauknecht dishwasher was the slowest: its automatic cycle takes 196 minutes to clean a normally soiled load and 214 minutes to wash a heavily soiled load. Its automatic cycle also used the most energy of all tested dishwashers. Otherwise, their energy and water consumption is low. Can’t talk much about the Gorenje, Zanussi and Whirlpool. They seem to be more BOL models. They cleaned and dried okay-ish but needed more water and energy. The Whirlpool was the noisiest dishwasher at 51.9 dB. Note: Whirlpool Europe and Whirlpool USA produce different machines – the results cannot be transferred to US machines. It’s the same case with Electrolux. Alex

Post# 428660 , Reply# 1 4/14/2010 at 08:49 (5,119 days old) by hotpoint9534 (UK)
Checkrate/Likes According to the instruction book for my Miele dishwasher, the turbo function uses more water and energy to get the same results in a faster time.

Post# 428661 , Reply# 2 4/14/2010 at 09:05 (5,119 days old) by logixx (Germany)
Checkrate/Likes *Turbo versus varioSpeed* Maybe I wasn't clear on that one. Light Soiling 50° + Turbo uses less energy and water than ECO 50° + varioSpeed. Those were the (quick) cycles they tested. Of course, the Turbo option uses more energy and water. But, overall, Turbo uses less extra water and power than varioSpeed.

Post# 428666 , Reply# 3 4/14/2010 at 09:19 (5,119 days old) by hotpoint9534 (UK)
Checkrate/Likes Ahh I see. Thank you.

Post# 428671 , Reply# 4 4/14/2010 at 09:56 (5,119 days old) by rapunzel (Sydney)
Checkrate/Likes *Sounds like they clean well if one doesn't put in really* but do they rinse well? How much chemical residue dries on to the dishes? How effective are they cleaning pots and pans with burnt on food? How fiddly is the filtration system and how often does it need to be cleaned with heavy use?

Post# 428674 , Reply# 5 4/14/2010 at 10:08 (5,119 days old) by favorit ()
Checkrate/Likes *as usual, they have compared pears to apples* As not every Miele DW has the Turbo option and as not every B.S.H. DW has the Variospeed/Speedmatic option, likely not every Electrolux DW has the 55°C - 50 minutes cycle The AEG Favorit 89020 IM has it : CLICK HERE TO GO TO favorit's LINK

Post# 428679 , Reply# 6 4/14/2010 at 10:17 (5,119 days old) by favorit ()
Checkrate/Likes *also the ReX Techna TT1200* has the "eco breve 55°C" (eco short 130°F) 50 minutes cycle you can check it clicking on "informazioni dettagliate" CLICK HERE TO GO TO favorit's LINK

Post# 428681 , Reply# 7 4/14/2010 at 10:22 (5,119 days old) by favorit ()
Checkrate/Likes Olaf, my sister brand new Miele G2572 uses 11 litres of water on the Automatic (Sensor) cycle. I admit i was rather skeptic with so little water, but actually it does the job even on pots and pans like did that water hog Zanussi (you know them as Dishlex) it replaced

Post# 428821 , Reply# 8 4/14/2010 at 18:21 (5,118 days old) by Brisnat81 (Brisbane Australia)
Checkrate/Likes Hi Olav, We bought Michaels Mum a TOL Freestanding Bosch with VarioSpeed in the Christmas sales. I'm from the school of thought that you remove any bones and scrape loose items, but otherwise you pour the gravy etc into the dishwasher. I dont rinse greasy baking pans with burnt on starch and fat. The Auto Cycle takes a mind numbingly long 2hrs 30mins But it is whisper quiet (I have to open it to check that its on) without any drain noise. With crusty pans, it will prewash, wash, cold rinse 65deg final rinse. Everything burnt on washes off and unlike our 5yo Miele the filter really is self cleaning and there is nothing left to remove. With VarioSpeed it takes 90mins and I havent noticed any drop in cleaning performance. I prefer the racking in the Miele to the Bosch, but Miele dont make a Freestanding model in Stainless steel. The Turbo function is the only reason we'd contemplate replacing our Miele Dishwasher, when you've cooked for 10-15 people the 2 hour cycle time usually leaves me with 3 loads that night plus a load to put on the following morning. So My experience (And I'm not afraid to pour food into the dishwasher) is that the Bosch machine works perfectly. Everything is clean, streak free and sparkling. Its better on starch residue than our Miele is. CLICK HERE TO GO TO Brisnat81's LINK

Post# 428835 , Reply# 10 4/14/2010 at 19:18 (5,118 days old) by favorit ()
Checkrate/Likes in case one does need just the stainless door there are the far cheaper undercounter versions. G 1235 SCU CLST G 1022 SCU CLST G 1200 SCU CLST G 1534 SCU ED

Post# 428827 , Reply# 9 4/14/2010 at 19:07 (5,118 days old) by favorit ()
Checkrate/Likes actually doesn't sell them in OZ, but does in Italy :) G 1235 SC CLST : G 1834 SC CLST

Post# 428842 , Reply# 11 4/14/2010 at 19:31 (5,118 days old) by favorit ()
Checkrate/Likes *As for Bosch* beside that nice stainless models Nathan has linked, here we have this beauty, the SMS65T25EU : CLICK HERE TO GO TO favorit's LINK

Post# 428851 , Reply# 12 4/14/2010 at 20:21 (5,118 days old) by Brisnat81 (Brisbane Australia)
Checkrate/Likes They are nice looking machines. We need the top on the machine, as there has always been a specific dishwasher alcove, but for some reason they didnt put a bench top over it. The original dishwasher was freestanding :)