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I mentioned in an earlier post, MUCH earlier, that I was on the hunt for a dishwasher and I compared the cost of “time” to the cost of the dishwasher itself. Sometimes, when you have to make up for a machine’s inefficiency and you lose time doing so, it just makes simple sense to replace the machine and regain your time.
Well, I’d love to say that I followed through on my own advice way back when, but…I didn’t. Life, as it were, got in the way and we never replaced the dishwasher. Now I’m finding myself in an even worse situation because it works even more horrendously than it did before, even after a good cleaning and maintenance. Sixteen years, this little workhorse did it’s job, but I’m afraid it’s time to put it out to pasture.
So the 2010 Dishwasher Hunt is on! Coupled with some stimulus money in Minnesota as part of their “Cash for Clunkers” program for appliances, we hope to get a good deal and get a dishwasher that can keep up with us!
We’re looking for:
* Energy Star Rated: we want to save energy AND money!
* Better capacity than we have now…enough room for big pots and pans, but also able to handle little stuff like sippy cups.
* QUIET…we really need for the dishwasher to be quiet since our kitchen is right next to our family room.
* Some sort of way of keeping our two year-old out of it! The lever alone doesn’t work…he’s mechanical!
* A way to really sanitize our dishes, especially the things our son uses. It seems like our current dishwasher gets hot, but not REALLY hot.
* Some sort of mechanism that pulls the grit out and away from the dishes rather than sloshing it all around. A grinding and filter mechanism would be great!
Our dilemma: We have white appliances now…OLD, white appliances. We’d like to upgrade, but we’re stumped. Do we add one mismatched stainless steel appliance to our kitchen with the HOPE of upgrading them all at some point, or do we go with white again? It’s a tough decision. What if we sell our house before we have all of the stainless steel? That’s a tough one!
So the 2010 Dishwasher Hunt is on….your opinions and recommendations?
1 response so far ↓
1 Angela Warner // Feb 8, 2010 at 1:53 pm
Jen-
My sister Julie told me you were hunting to find the best dishwasher for your family. I myself am the mother of 3 youngins’ and I have been selling appliances for over 11 years now for my family business, so I thought I could help. I am not sure what type of budget you are working with, but if you are like me and most of my customers, you just want the most bang for your buck. I invested in a Miele DW almost 6 years ago and it was one of the best things I ever did. If you have never seen one, check them out. It was more expensive than some of the other models we sell, but well worth it. This machine is a work horse. It gets run at least once a day, sometimes twice in my home. It does not make a peep either so I can run it whenever it is convenient for me. (Not just after we go to bed for fear it will keep us awake!) I don’t have to clean my dishes before I load them in either. I think that is the point of a dishwasher right?! I can get a LOT of stuff in each load which I love. There is a cutlery tray at the very top of the dishwasher with its very own spray arm. I am so confident that the dishwasher will clean my silverware, that I even leave peanut butter all over the knife after I make my middle sons daily PB sandwich. It has not failed me yet! I also love that tray because when my kids were all using sippy cups and bottles, I could put all that on the cutlery tray as well. I knew it was going to still be there when I opened it up after the cycle and not floating down in the bottom someplace..like on previous models I owned. It has a heater built in unlike other brands of dishwashers and can get the temp of the water up to 170 degrees depending on the cycle you choose. That is a lot hotter than my hands can handle in my kitchen sink, so I always put baby bottles in my dishwasher. I just can’t say enough about how much I love my Miele dishwasher. I even moved it out of my house and with me to a new house last year. I just could not bear to part with it! As far as the color goes…I have a white one. I have all white appliances and don’t plan to remodel in the near future. If you do however, especially if you are buying something that can last 20-25 years like the Miele, make sure that you buy one that you can see having for a long time. I hear from people sometimes that they just replaced (insert appliance) in white and now they are remodeling and will need to buy another one. I would rather replace now with the color I can see myself wanting in the future and just decide to live with the fact that is will not match the rest for the time being. Stainless is cool after all, so if you sell, they will just think that is one less appliance that they have to switch over to stainless steel. I hope that some of this makes helps you. I am used to discussing options in person, but would love to help if you need more advice. We carry over 40 brands so let me know if you want to discuss an alternative brand! Good luck with your hunt!
Angela Warner
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