Dishwasher Buying Guide : How To Choose A Dishwasher?

Are you planning to buy a dishwasher? Are you confused about various technical terms of dishwashers? Then this Dishwasher Buying Guide is for you to answer all your doubts.

After a long day of slogging, the home has become a mere resting place for tired bodies in the past few years.

In such a scenario, home appliances have achieved a huge importance in our lives.

When we think of Indian households, we imagine that there would be a woman to handle all the possible chores.

What if the woman herself is a working woman? And is it not every family member’s responsibility to care for the household?

This is where a dishwasher is bound to come to your rescue! It is not only a more hygienic option but also reduces the time that is usually taken up by such tasks.

A dishwasher can easily be your best friend. However, choosing the right dishwasher can be nothing short of a terrible nightmare.

There are so many brands, products, and specifications that it can sometimes be a very baffling experience. Choosing and buying the best dishwasher in India is not very easy.

The fact remains that the basis of each Indian household is good food and lots of it. The more food there is, the more dirty utensils there will be. Also, a family that eats together stays together.

So, whenever there is a party or a gathering, there is a family, extended family, and many other guests. Can you imagine the pile of plates you will have at your sink at the end of the day?

Are parties meant to be so hard on you? The answer is no! All you need is a perfect dishwasher to solve your problems.

One could ask why one should spend money on buying a machine that does what one could easily do manually.

The best dishwasher in India will save you physical work hours and significantly reduce the amount of stress that comes from the sheer weight of doing the chores.

Types Of Dishwasher

There are two main types of dishwashers, based on how they are assembled in a kitchen.

• Built-In Dishwasher
• Portable Dishwasher

Built-in dishwashers are further divided into the following two types.

• Standard Built-In Dishwasher
• Dishwasher Drawers

Portable Dishwashers are further divided into the following two types.

• Countertop dishwasher
• Portable on wheels

Built-In Dishwasher

A Built-In Dishwasher can be installed under the sink and perfectly blends with the cabinet. The water and power connections also need to be made under the sink. This ensures that there won’t be any pipes or wires dangling around in the kitchen.

A built-in dishwasher is perfect if you buy a new house and design your kitchen cabinet considering your dishwasher size. After-market fitment is not good for built-in dishwashers.

Maintenance and troubleshooting are a big pain for the built-in dishwasher as it is assembled under the sink.

However, many people prefer to choose a Built-In dishwasher because it keeps their kitchens clutter-free, and they also like its elegance and looks.

Built-in dishwashers do not have a cover on top of the tub, so you cannot use one as a portable dishwasher.

Dish Drawers

Dish drawers are not yet popular in India. They are similar to built-in dishwashers, but they have drawers instead of pull-down doors. The capacity of dish drawers is less than that of built-in dishwashers.

There are two types of dish drawers: single-dish drawers and double-dish drawers. Fisher and Paykel, a New Zealand-based company, initially introduced dish drawers, and now almost all dishwasher companies manufacture them.

Counter Top Dishwasher

As the name suggests, a countertop dishwasher can be placed on top of your kitchen counter. You must keep the dishwasher near the sink and connect the inlet to the faucet. This type of dishwasher occupies more space on the kitchen counter.

The capacity of countertop dishwashers is less than that of other types of dishwashers. This is because a full-size dishwasher cannot be kept on top of a kitchen counter.

Countertop dishwashers are good if you are a bachelor, have a small family, and live in a rented place. You can move your dishwasher easily when you move.

Portable On Wheels

This is the best solution if you want to buy a dishwasher and place it wherever you want. Just like you put a washing machine on wheels and move it wherever you want, you can do the same with a portable dishwasher.

Portable wheel dishwashers are the same size and capacity as built-in dishwashers. They can be kept in the kitchen or in the utility areas. Due to this added convenience, most consumers in India prefer to buy this type of dishwasher.

How Does Dishwasher Work?

Here are the basic tasks a dishwasher does to clean dishes.

• Add water to the tub
• Heating the water
• Automatic dispensing of detergents
• The spray of water on dishes
• Drain the dirty water
• Fill the tub again for rinsing
• Drain out the irrigated dirty water
• Heated Dry

When you start a wash cycle in a dishwasher, the first thing it does is fill the tub with water. For that, you need to connect the inlet to the faucet or have a separate water connection arrangement for the dishwasher.

Unlike washing machines, you can not put water into the dishwasher using buckets.

Water doesn’t fill the whole inside of the dishwasher; it only accumulates under the bottom area of the lower rack. A flood switch detects the amount of water in the dishwasher.

Once the optimum water level is reached, the flood switch automatically stops the inlet valve and stops water from entering the dishwasher.

Once the water is in the tub, heating elements heat it to 130-140 °F. Water heating is needed to clean the dishes properly and sanitize them.

A sensor detects the water temperature. Once the required temperature is reached, the power to the heating element stops.

Hot water is then sprayed on the dishes through spray arms, which have numerous holes for pouring water.

Those arms are designed to rotate independently due to the water pressure when the water sprays out. If there are three racks in a dishwasher, there will be two spray arms.

After the wash, the dirty water drains away, and freshwater enters the dishwasher for the rinsing operation.

After the rinsing, the dirty water is again drained away. But after the rinsing, a sensor checks how dirty the water is.

If the sensor detects that the water is not very dirty, it proceeds with the drying operation. Otherwise, the washing cycle starts again until the sensor detects clean water.

Once the sensor detects clean water, it throws that water out and starts the drying operation. During the drying operation, the heating element generates heat.

Due to the heat, vapors form and escape the dishwasher through vents. Once the drying operation is completed, the machine automatically stops with a beep sound to alert you that the dish cleaning is completed.

Factors To Consider While Buying A Dishwasher: Dishwasher Buying Guide

Firstly, you have to remember that the dishwasher is no longer a rich man’s machine. It has become a necessity now.

So, you have to figure out your requirements before you buy a dishwasher. Here are a few factors that you should always consider.

1. Family Size / Place Setting

Many things depend on your family size when you buy a dishwasher. If you have more family members, you need to buy a dishwasher having a higher capacity or be ready to run your dishwasher multiple times a day to clean all your dishes. With that, you will waste much of your time and electricity. The choice is yours.

Every manufacturer mentions dishwasher capacity in their listings. The place setting defines dishwasher capacity.

Usually, place settings are 8, 12, 14, or 16. To give an idea, one place setting can hold a large dinner plate, a small snack plate, a saucer, a bowl, a coffee cup, a drinking glass, a knife, two teaspoons, a dinner fork, and a small salad fork. Now, you have to decide what place setting you want to buy based on your family size.

A 12-place setting dishwasher is more than enough for a typical family. However, for a big joint family ( More than six members), consumers can go up to 16 place settings.

However, 16 place-setting dishwashers are not very common in the Indian market. Below is an excellent video explaining what is meant by place setting in a dishwasher.

2. Number Of Rakes

Racks are where you put all your utensils. The more racks, the more utensils you can wash at a time.

95% of dishwashers have only two racks. The lower rack is attached to the dishwasher’s bottom, and the upper rack is a slide-in rack attached to a rail.

You should always make sure that the upper rack is height-adjustable. We Indians have different vessel sizes, so with the height-adjustable setting, you can wash oversized vessels in the dishwasher.

Nowadays, Some dishwashers come with an optional third rack to put your spoons and other small items.

However, this does not mean that small items cannot be washed in two-rack dishwashers. Two-rack dishwashers also have a plastic basket where small utensils like spoons can be washed.

3. Tub Material

The tub Material is either plastic or stainless steel. Budget dishwashers only have a plastic tub, whereas premium dishwashers come with a stainless steel tub.

A stainless steel tub adds a premium to the cost of a dishwasher but has many benefits over plastic.

Please note that the stainless steel tub is more durable, can better transfer heat, and looks very elegant, but it adds more weight to the dishwasher.

4. Types Of Filter

First of all, we should understand why filters are required. No matter how much you try, some food particles will still remain on the utensils, right?

Filters can catch those food particles so that you can clean them periodically. Otherwise, your sink pipelines will be clogged in no time.

There are two types of filters available in a dishwasher. One is a fine filter that can catch microscopic particles, and the other one is a coarse filter that can catch medium-sized particles.

Low-cost dishwashers come with only a coarse filter. Small food particles will still accumulate in the drainpipe, and you need to clean it very often.

5. Dishwasher Cycles

Different cycles use different temperatures, cycle times, and energy levels. What cycle you should use depends on the types of utensils you need to clean and how soiled they are.

For example, day-to-day low-soiled utensils can be cleaned using a normal wash cycle.

Below is a list of different wash cycles available in a typical dishwasher. Although these cycles vary between dishwashers, they are generally the same.

• Normal wash
• Pre-wash
• Quick wash / Express wash
• Heavy-duty wash
• Delicate wash
• Sanitize
• Delayed wash

Normal Wash

Normal wash cycles are perfect for cleaning day-to-day utensils. They use the optimum amount of detergent, water, and energy, and they also consume the optimum amount of electricity.

Pre-wash

Sometimes utensils may have hard soil, like after frying food, and you may see some hard marks. Right? Usually, to soften those marks, we soak them in water.

The dishwasher does the same thing in the pre-wash cycle. It soaks the utensils so that dirt is soft for the main wash cycle.

Quick Wash

A quick wash will clean dishes only if they are very little dirty. It takes about one hour to finish the wash. However, it may consume more power and detergent.

Heavy Duty Wash

If your utensils are badly soiled, a heavy-duty wash is the only option. It will consume more power and detergent and may take more time to clean dishes.

Delicate Wash

Some utensils, such as glassware and plasticware, may not withstand high temperatures. In that case, delicate wash, which uses low temperatures, can save these utensils.

Sanitize

Most dishwashers nowadays have a sanitizing option. This option is helpful if you want to sanitize kids’ milk bottles or utensils. A sanitized cycle uses higher temperatures to kill germs.

Delayed Wash

You can use the delayed wash cycle if you want to clean your dishes at a predefined time. You just need to keep putting dishes into the dishwasher, and the machine will automatically run when the time comes. This is a very convenient feature, I would say.

6. Food Disposal

Although we try our best, some food particles will still be left in our dishes. Right? A food disposal mechanism crushes the food into small particles so that it can accumulate in the filter and be cleaned.

Food disposal consists of a small blade that you usually see in a mixer grinder.

So, basically, a food disposal blade grinds the food particles. The filters are fitted right below the blade so that small food particles accumulate on the filter.

7. Heated Dry

All dishwashers come with a heated dry option. This option removes moisture from utensils and also sanitizes them.

A dishwasher has a heating element right below the bottom basket. The heating element is connected to the mainboard. When it is time for heated drying, the heating element heats up and dries the dishes.

8. Control Panel

There are two types of control panels available in dishwashers based on where the control panel is located.

• Front Control Panel
• Top Control Panel

Front Control Panel

As the name suggests, the front control panels are located at the front of the dishwasher door. They are usually found in low-cost dishwashers.

It usually has mechanical knobs to control the different functions of dishwashers. However, electronic touch controls are becoming very common. Portable dishwashers come mostly with a front control panel.

Top Control Panel / Hidden Control Panel

The top control panel is also called a hidden control panel, as it gets hidden under the sink in the case of the built-in dishwasher.

It often comes with touch control or tactile buttons, which give the dishwasher a premium look. The absence of clutter on the front of the dishwasher also adds elegance to your kitchen’s appearance.

Top control panels are common across the premium range of dishwashers.

9. Handle / Without Handles

Many dishwashers come with handles, and many come with a groove on the front door. The functionality is similar, but the dishwasher with handles looks more premium and clutter-free. However, it is an individual preference to choose the type of configuration they like as per their requirement.

10. Auto Restart

The auto-restart option is a blessing in India, where we suffer from frequent power cuts. Auto-restart starts the machine from where it was stopped before the power cut, so you don’t need to run the full cycle all over again. That saves a lot of water, power, and time, making it a must-have option in dishwashers for India.

11. Flood Sensor

This is a must-have sensor in all dishwashers. It senses the amount of water in the dishwasher and cuts off the water line if it feels that the water level is too high to cause a flood in your kitchen.

If you see that water is leaking from the dishwasher, you need to check this flood switch first for any issues.

12. Accordance With Hard Water

In India, we usually get hard water for daily washing and sanitary purposes. Hard water is terrible for dishes and dishwashers, too.

Though some softeners are available on the market that can soften the hard water in dishwashers, many dishwashers come with an inbuilt water softener feature that can solve this problem.

13. Noise

Although government regulations in India are not very strict regarding noise pollution, we must use appliances that create less noise.

Dishwashers use a special butadiene-based soundproofing canopy that helps to reduce the amount of noise going out.

But dishwashers are not silent machines. The noise level varies from 40 dB to 100 dB. The lesser the dB value, the more costly the dishwasher will be.

14. Child Lock

Safety is first. Right? And when it comes to kids, you should not make any compromises. Although the dishwasher will stop automatically if a kid opens the door accidentally, you can not control the water flow.

That is why most dishwashers have a child lock feature that locks the control during the wash.

15. Spray Arms

The spray arm is one of the critical components of a dishwasher. It sprays water jets at a force on utensils.

Some water jets spray water in 2D directions, and some other spray arms pour water in a 3D direction. The 3D water jet is always better as it consumes less water and time to clean dishes. However, you need to pay a premium price for this.

If there are two racks, there are typically two arms. One spray arm is at the bottom of the lower rack, and another is at the bottom of the top rack. If there is a third rack, an additional spray is also available in that dishwasher.

16. Wi-Fi Connectivity

We live in the age of digitation, so having Wi-Fi in appliances is common. Many dishwashers come with Wi-Fi functionalities, through which you can control different functions of the dishwasher.

You can also start and stop or schedule the wash cycles using manufacturers’ smartphone apps.

Best Dishwasher Brands In India: Dishwasher Buying Guide

Although many brands in the market manufacture dishwashers in India, the following three brands are the best in product performance, pricing, reliability, and innovations.

Bosch

Bosch is known for making reliable products, and its dishwashers are truly solid. They have a wide range of dishwashers lined up and are constantly investing in innovation. Although a bit expensive, if you compare the feature-to-price ratio, Bosch dishwashers make more sense.

IFB

Although IFB is still trying to get footfall in the Indian market, the dishwasher is one product that makes it stand tall in the crowd.

They have an edge in terms of built quality, features, and pricing. However, if they improve the aesthetics, they have the potential to become the market leader.

LG

LG is everywhere, be it a washing machine, refrigerator, or dishwasher. They are truly a global brand and have a solid portfolio in most appliance categories. If you are bothered by aesthetics and new innovative features, then you should buy LG dishwashers.

Dishwasher Use And Maintenance Tips

In India, we have a wrong perception that dishwashers can not clean dishes properly. Do you know that a dishwasher is considered an essential appliance in developed countries like The USA and the UK?

You won’t find a single home in the USA without a dishwasher. So, if our perception is correct, do you believe they live with dirty utensils?

The problem is how we handle the dishwasher to get a proper cleaning. Like how we dump 10 kg of clothes in a 6 kg washing machine, we should not dump excessive dishes in a dishwasher. If we do so, no machine can give a good cleaning.

Here is an excellent video explaining how to properly load containers in a dishwasher.

Here are the few points that you should take care of when you use a dishwasher

• Never overload your dishwasher. Overloading may not clean your dishes at all.
• Arrange the plates in such a way that water penetrates between plates.
• Always pre-wash your dishes before you dump them into the dishwasher.
• Make sure there are no food particles on your dishes.
• Always use both hot and cold water combinations for the best result.
• Never use thirty-party local dishwasher detergents.
• Clean dishwasher filters once every week.
• Check if the dish is dishwasher safe before putting it into the dishwasher.
• Use the proper cycle based on your load size and the level of dirtiness.
• Don’t block dishwasher vents with other appliances.
• Ensure the dishwasher is grounded correctly to save you from electric shock.
• Check the drain pipe regularly for any clogging issues.

Conclusion: Dishwasher Buying Guide

Please don’t let the misconception that dishwashers are fancy appliances meant for rich people persist. Instead of paying 2000-3000 per month to a maid, you can invest in a dishwasher, and you can save more in the long run.

Don’t forget that a dishwasher can sanitize your dishes, whereas a maid can not.

I hope this article gave you enough insights into how a dishwasher works, the factors you should consider while buying one, and how to handle and use it properly.

If you still have any questions, don’t hesitate to post them in the comment section. We will be happy to help.

You may also like to read: 10 Best Dishwashers In India

FAQ | Dishwasher Buying Guide