Dishwasher – Clean Up Your Carbon Footprint
Unfortunately, current federal regulations on dishwashers are not very strict, so many new homes are installed with models that will hurt your carbon footprint and contribute to global warming. On average, Energy Star qualified dishwashers use 41% less energy – a huge savings to your carbon emissions and a big step towards fighting global warming. This has led to some confusion about the best way to cut your carbon footprint – whether to use a dishwasher or to wash by hand. If you have a model that is from earlier than 1992, than odds are that you are better off washing up by hand if you want to fight global warming. Newer models are actually far better on energy consumption compared to washing your dishes in the sink – not to mention much easier too!
We’ll start with simple behaviors that will help reduce your carbon emissions with the dishwasher that you have. Like your washing machine, be sure that you are always running full loads. Dishwashers use up the same amount of water regardless of the load size. Since most energy used by a dishwasher comes from heating the water, the carbon emissions from a large load would be almost identical to a small load.
If your dishwasher will allow you, you should always use the ‘air dry’ option to dry the dishes. This is an instant savings for your energy use and carbon footprint – and of course, for your energy bills too.
Buying a new dishwasher
Think you are ready to buy a new dishwasher to help fight global warming? Here are a few things to keep in mind to make sure you get one that will have the biggest impact on your carbon footprint. Be sure that you choose the right size for your household’s needs. The biggest that you will be able to use with full loads are generally the best. Compact sizes will usually use more energy, and if you have a lot of dirty dishes you’ll end up running it far too often and thus using up lots of energy and creating lots of carbon emissions.
You should also be sure to buy a dishwasher that provides a variety of different wash cycles. What you are washing will have an impact on how much hot water is needed and how long it needs to run to get the dishes clean, which has big implications for energy use and thus carbon emissions. With a variety of cycles to choose from, you can make sure that you are always using the most energy efficient cycle and thus have biggest benefit to your carbon footprint.
Click here for a list of Energy Star qualified dishwashers.
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