Decoding the Dishwasher Dilemma: Upgrade, Downsize, or Stay Put? Your Comprehensive Guide to Smart Choices

Beyond Suds and Rinses:Tailoring Your Dishwasher Choice to Fit Your Lifestyle

We are not often the ones to tell you to give up on a dishwasher that works. After all, one of our key mottos is that we will keep trying to fix something until you tell us to stop, so long as it is fixable.* So why would we, clients rescue services, tell you to replace your dishwasher? Well, there are a few circumstances where it's just necessary.

Choosing a Dishwasher for a Bustling Household

If your family has recently grown by two or three people, congratulations! Whether it's a marriage, birth, or family moving in, when you add more people to your household, your dishwasher is going to be used much more often. And that four-setting dishwasher that you had before isn't going to be able to handle now having a family of six or more, at least not without being run multiple times in a day. At this point, you might look into a larger model with more features to help deal with all of the dishes that you now need to get done.

Growing Family
Courtesy of Craig Adderley

You might look at features such as fold-down tines or rows to add in space and ensure everything gets cleaned. Cooking for larger groups also includes larger pots, so an adjustable or free-flex rack can help get dinner dishes taken care of quickly. Info lights and auto-release doors are features that we adore as they let you know if your dishwasher is done and ready to unload. (Honestly, these are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to features, but they are some of the most useful in our opinion.)

Compact Dishwashers: Small Size, Big Efficiency

The flip side to that is if you're downsizing your home, potentially an equally joyous time. It might be that the kids have all survived to adulthood and are starting their own homes. It might be that you're living on your own for the first time, and you don't need a large dishwasher. Or it might be that you're outfitting a mother-in-law suite. Whatever the case, you don't always need a full-size dishwasher. Instead, you can consider how many people you're doing dishes for and whether a compact dishwasher might not serve you better.

Empty Nesters

Courtesy of Kampus

So this would lead you to question what is a setting, and what is the smallest dishwasher I can use? So according to the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers, a full setting includes the following: a large dinner plate, bowl, knife, small snack plate, coffee cup, two teaspoons, a saucer, drinking glass, dinner fork, and a salad fork. Most dishwashers on the market can fit between 10 and 12 full settings and are approximately 24 in. A compact dishwasher fits a setting and is typically only 18 in as of the time of writing. While there are other even more compact dishwashers, such as one that can be set up in your sink, we advise against those. As of yet, the engineering in them is not the best, and we cannot guarantee your dishes coming out clean or in one piece.

Beyond the Bills: Energy and Water Efficiency in Dishwashers

My Electric Bill

Courtesy of Google Deepmind

Or if you're struggling with an exorbitant energy bill or water bill, you might want to look into a new model to replace your old workhorse. Just because it still runs perfectly doesn't mean that it's still serving you best. As we've talked about many times, with every passing year, companies are making more efficient dishwashers. If you want to learn more about energy-efficient dishwashers, we'll share our post going into what defines energy and water efficiency and how to find them, in the Additional Reading section at the end.

Deciphering Decibels: Finding Your Ideal Sound Level

If your current dishwasher can wake the dead… Maybe you have a new baby in the house, or you have somebody who's ill and needs as much sleep as they can get. If it's not a matter of something being faulty, a new dishwasher might be a better choice.

Finally some quiet

Courtesy of sound-on-

While dishwashers used to average about 60 decibels, we've come down to 45 to 50 being the standard, with some models being as quiet as 30 decibels. To better illustrate that an older dishwasher would be around the level of a loud vacuum, the average for modern dishwashers is about as loud as typing on your keyboard, and 30 decibels would be someone whispering near you. Additionally, modern dishwashers are designed with advanced noise reduction technology built into the frame. This might mean additional soundproofing; this might mean better-joined components, whatever it is, the manufacturers are working on making them quieter with every generation. More recently, however, the dishwasher space has changed. Where older models averaged about 60 decibels—just below the sound level of a vacuum—modern dishwashers average between 45 to 50 decibels, which is about as loud as typing on a keyboard. It’s not completely silent, but also not loud enough to wake someone up.

Signs It's Time to Let Go: Beyond the Obvious Breakdowns

Or in the rare cases when we've tried everything, and we have to say we can't fix it. It's not often, but occasionally we do run into appliances that we can't fix, or getting the parts to fix them is worth more than purchasing an entirely new model. While we are always eager to help keep your home running smoothly, we do understand having to balance your checkbook against practicality.

We will always try our best to keep your home running smoothly. Whether it's your dishwasher giving you fits or your washer isn't draining properly, Appliance Rescue Service is here for you. You can get hold of us via our website or by giving us a call at ( (214) 599-0055). We'll work with you to find a date and time that works for your schedule and send one of our expert technicians to get the job done right.

*If something is shattered on the floor or has met its demise in an irreparable state, we reserve the right to reconsider our stance—because even we can't work miracles on shattered dreams or appliance ghosts.

Additional Reading

5 Energy Efficient Dishwashers For Your Home

Dishwasher Deep Dive

Revolutionizing Kitchen Chores: The Water-Saving Benefits of Dishwashers

 How Dishwasher Manufacturers Finally Cracked The Code

Another night another load of dishes to do. Even if it's just for yourself, you have dishes you ate from as well as whatever you used to make your meals that day. Many of us hate doing dishes, but your options are either do dishes or end up growing science experiments in your kitchen.  Which is why we invented dishwashers, to make the job that little bit easier. 

Unfortunately, for a very long time, you actually spent more money and time by having a dishwasher than by not having one. You had to pre-wash your dishes before you could use the dishwasher. And then the dishwasher used even more water than you did during that pre-wash. With today's energy-efficient dishwashers though, that's no longer the case. 

Courtesy of Wendelin Jacober

Many of today's dishwashers have a water-saving feature built in. This means that not only are they using less water and shrinking your electric and water bills, but they're still getting your dishes completely clean. Instead of having to pre-wash your dishes, most dishwasher manufacturers, including whirlpool, advise against doing this. Pre-washing your dishes will actually make the dishwasher less effective because today's modern dishwasher detergents have enzymes in them that are intended to eat that food away. 

So that's how a modern dishwasher works. What the heck does that have to do with it saving water though? How does the dishwasher use less? 

A water-saving dishwasher will only use approximately 4 gallons of water per cycle. It achieves this by running the water through a filtration system during the wash cycle. By rinsing the dishes and then running the water through a filtration system, you maximize the washing power of a single load without wasting water. Not only does the filtration system catch the food debris, but it also filters out the soap from the wash cycle in order to rinse the dishes. 

How does it stack up, then?

Courtesy of LIliana Drew

Proctor and Gamble's Cascade recently did a study paired with Marie Claire showing that consumers use almost 7x the amount of water that a water-efficient dishwasher will. And the reason is the sink faucet. For every minute that you have your faucet running, you are using approximately 2 gallons of water. While this will vary from household to household, this is on average.  The same study also found that the average American takes about 15 seconds to wash a dish.  Compare that baseline to your average modern Energy STAR-certified dishwasher which only uses 4 gallons total for a load of dishes. Even if you run your dishwasher every other night, you're still using half the amount of water that you do when washing by hand in a single night. 

What options do you have for a modern dishwasher? 

Although we have covered Energy Star dishwashers in the past, here are three selections that are new to the market and offer the best in both efficiency and cleanliness.

The Miele G 5266

This washer offers some of the best performance on the market as of the time of writing, The Miele uses only 626 gallons of water per year and runs fat a very efficient pace to get your dishes done. Not only does this help your water bill, but it also helps cut down your electricity bill. 

Some additional features include:

• A sanitizing wash cycle to ensure a deep clean if you're worried about bacteria or if someone in the household is sick 

• Sensor dry - pays attention to when the dishes are dry in order to save time and energy.

• An auto-opening door to allow your dishes to cool off after they're done washing and as a signal to you that the load is done.

The Bosch sgx78b55uc/13

This excellent option from Bosch is slightly less water efficient, going through approximately 744 gallons per year, but it's also a bit easier on the wallet for your initial purchase while still offering some of the best cleaning power.

Some additional features include:

• The Bosch dishwasher is the quietest brand in the US with this model only clocking it at 42 DB while running.

• Up to 24 hours with delay start so you can always run the dishwasher when you're ready.

• Best of all, the Bosch dishwasher is ADA compliant to fit into your home how you need it.

The Beko dut25401x

Our final selection on the list is also the most inexpensive, coming in at under half the Bosch's price and only a third of the mealy. Don't count it out, though as it still packs quite a punch being a highly efficient dishwasher that uses only 731 gallons of water per year.

Some additional features include: 

• A very quiet run cycle is roughly equivalent to a quiet conversation in another room. 

• A child lock to prevent children visiting or yours from changing the settings on your dishwasher.

• A dirt sensor to tell just how much is needed in a given load. 

Modern dishwashers are much easier on you and your wallet. While we will always support repairing your current one, we are also amazed by how far the technology has come! If you did have to buy one of these three dishwashers, which would you buy? Let us know over on our Facebook page! (Don’t worry, in the event one of them gives you trouble, we service all three brands!) 

If you’re here because your current dishwasher is giving you trouble, you can reach out to us via our contact page, or by giving us a call at ((214) 599-0055). We’ll work with your schedule to find a time that works best for you before sending out one of our expert technicians. 

Places to Avoid: The Paw Version!

Or, Appliances That Your Pets Need to Stay Away From

Appliance Rescue Service has been taken over by the pets! This week we (Murder Mittens the cat and Odie the dog) are talking about our favorite places in the house, the appliances! They offer warm, and cold and food, we can't forget the food! 

Courtesy of Gomez Daniel

Washer

MM: I don't understand why the humans use this one it removes their scent, and then they have ti put it all over things again.  They put their clothes in, the clothes get wet, and then they move them over to another rumbly. 

O: And! They yell at you when you get them wet any other time, even though they also have the rain room that they go into.

MM: That is the bathroom. They put my litterbox in there as well. The wet machine is nice to lay on when it rumbles, but you're right on them griping about getting wet. 

O: I don't like the way everything smells,  but I love watching the clothes tumble round and round.

MM: Of course you do.

Dryer 

O: I hate this one more than the wet machine. It smells and it's hot. 

MM: As usual you have no taste. This one is perfect to curl up inside of when the humans have removed their clothes. You just have to make sure you don't stay in there when they put the clothes back. 

Courtesy of RaGeBe

O: Wait is it that where you go when I want to play?

Oven

O: It's the hot food box!  Humans like to put their food in and then they take it out later and it's a warm and I don't get why they put it in there to make it warm because it's just as good cold but sometimes if you're fast enough you can steal food from it! 

MM: Or if you wait for the right moment you can steal food from it and take a nap inside the warm. It's too hot sometimes, but that is why you are supposed to wait. 

O: And we're not going to talk about how you got your tail singed the one time.

MM: Not if you don't want me telling Ralph where you hid your bone.

Dishwasher 

O: This is my favorite! This one has all of the smells and food, almost every day! 

MM: Yes but the humans always yell at you for standing on it. Whereas I can stand on it and not get caught.

O: And that is just one more reason that I steal your kibble when you're not looking. Anyway, the humans put in the food dishes, and they still have food on them. They don't even lick their dishes clean! And then the machine makes lots of noise and spits steam everywhere - 

MM: Which is the best time to lay on the counter above it.

O: And then when they open it there's no more food! Why do they feed the food to the machine and not to me!

Stove

O: This one is tough Murder Mittens. On one hand, the humans make food up there, lots of food.

MM: On the other hand, even if you can get up to the food, you never know if it's safe.

O: Exactly! It looks like it's the rest of the kitchen but sometimes it's hot and sometimes it's not and sometimes there's fire according to Ralph down the street.

Courtesy of elina-volkova

MM: You trust the Chihuahua? He barks at his own shadow.

O: You have a point. Maybe his has fire but ours doesn't?

Refrigerator

O: The cold box! There is so much food in here and the humans just leave it in there and stare in front of the food as if they expect it to do something. I know the food is dead when they put it in there so why do they stare at it? 

MM: You expect me to be able to explain the humans?

O: No it just doesn't make sense. Anyway this one is also great during the hot months if you're sneaky you can get in there and eat the food and be cold all of the best things in one spot.

Courtesy of luca andrade

MM: As much as I hate it, I have to agree. There's food, there's tight spaces to curl up in, and it is cool when it is unbearably hot outside.

Freezer

O: This one is frustrating. On one hand it's nice and cold when it's hot outside. I love this box. On the other hand it smells like food but everything's frozen and hard definitely not food it's so cruel for the humans to do this. And then they yell at you when you want to stay in there and they put wet things on you. 

MM: The wet things. Perhaps the humans think you don't bathe yourself I certainly don't. As to the cold box, I believe the humans put things here so that they are food for longer like hiding one of your treats so that you can eat it later. 

O: But who would they hide it from? It's not like with my treats and you're going to eat them later. 

A final note from the People of Appliance Rescue Service: Although this has been phrased in a rather light-hearted way these are all places that you want to keep your pets out of for their safety and for the longevity of your appliances. In the event of your pets getting into one of your appliances and you being unable to get them out please make sure to call your vet first and a second. While we love our pets as much as the next person, we are much better at fixing appliances than we are animals. If you want to reach out to us about your appliances, you can reach out to us at ((214) 599-0055) or by heading to our contact page. 

6 New Appliances To Consider In 2023

Sometimes you need to go shopping for new appliances. Sometimes you just want to know who has the shiny new things that are going to make your life easier. And that is what this article is. We're looking at six of the best and brightest appliances that are on the market that look to make your life easier. Will show you not only what they can offer your home, but who we think would be best suited to these appliances.

Miele’s Built-in Coffee System

Millie has come up with a beautiful built-in coffee machine that we absolutely are mooning over. The top of the line model comes with built-in water line, an auto descale, and a cup sensor. More importantly though is what it can do for your coffee. Starting with the grinder, the coffee system has the ability to do three different coffee varieties. And can even make two coffees at once. Think of how much coffee you could make for yourself and others!

Price: $ 6,499.00

The obvious answer as to “who is this for” would be the coffee lover. However, the less obvious answer, and the more important one, is the host or hostess. The person who loves to gather friends over for dinner the night before and have everyone stay over. Then enjoying breakfast and coffee together before heading home. 

Beko Refrigeration

We went to start with, we review a lot of refrigerators on this block. Our technicians repair even more. But the Beko 36 in four-door French refrigerator? That's just beautiful. What matters though is not how beautiful it is, it's not the brushed steel finish. It's not the energy star stamp of how much energy it does not use. It's not even the fact that it is top of the line when it comes being both a freezer and a refrigerator with the shift of a button. Beco has created what they call active fresh blue light technology. Which extends the life of fruits and vegetables up to 30 days. Not only does it promote your fruits and vegetables to continue photosynthesizing inside of your refrigerator, it maintains the vitamins within them.

Price:  ‎$3,499.00

If you’re a gardener, this is the refrigerator for you. Think about the crush and bustle of harvest time in late summer and through fall. Think about the frantic push to eat all of the fruits of your labor, to preserve them or to give them away before they rot. Now, think about being able to take just a little bit more time with that. Being able to stretch out how long the bounty of your hard work is able to feed you and yours. 

Beko’s Compact, Recycled Washer 

Becco is bringing their highly applauded compact machines to the US. They have all sorts of features like reducing the number of creases in your clothing, quick washes, and an anti allergy program. What has us most interested though is how their washing machine tub is made of recycled plastic bottles. While it is currently only 10% of the tub, Beko has promised that they will continue increasing that number and working to reduce the carbon footprint of their products.

Price: $494.00

This washer is for the person who wants to reduce their carbon footprint in every way possible. If you’re looking to cut back on every level, what better way to consider it than a compact washer made from recycled materials? Not only does it reduce the electricity used, but it also is made from plastic bottles taken from the ocean. 

Sharp’s Built-in Steam Oven 

Sharp has developed a three-in-one combination steam and convection built-in oven. They claim that their 24-in oven can be installed in a wall under the counter or a kitchen island. It can both steam bake and cook via water bath which has us very curious for making cheesecakes. It also comes standard with superheated steam, gentle and regular steam, and both radiant heat and convection settings. The most important in that list on our opinion is the superheated steam. The sharp oven is capable of cooking foods to crisp without burning using steam up to 485° f. We believe that all of the different options at this oven offers is going to be the way the market turns in the coming years.

Price: $2,499.99

The fitness guru is  the one that would be best served by this oven. When you’re already on the cutting edge of your own physical health, you want to feed that with better food. Learning how to use a steam oven takes time and dedication, but for someone who is determined to care for themselves, that won’t b an issue. 

LG Studio’s New Dishwasher

The LG studio smart dishwasher has both quad wash and true steam. The truesteam technology skips the need for pre-washing or re-washing dishes. It uses a blast of seam at the start of a cycle to dissolve caked on food and is also used during the drying cycle to eliminate water spots.

Price: $1,049.00

LG’s New Dishwasher is great not just for the hostess, but also the college student, wrapped up in their Masters. When you don’t have time to think of anything other than your class load, how do you have time to do dishes? Easy, with this you don’t have to. 

Traeger’s Pellet Smoker with Induction Burners 

Imagine having the versatility of your entire kitchen right next to your pellet grill. That is what traeger is bringing with this smoker. You can make everything from fish to vegetables to delicious smoked meats in the smoker and at the same time make a delicate sauce or a rich pasta using the induction burner at the side.

Price: $3,499.99

We hate having to go with the expected, but for a pellet smoker, it’s going to be a grillmaster that’s going to love this smoker. It’s a very specific type of person though, that we’re thinking of. Someone who enjoys experimenting with food, of seeing how different flavors of pellets and will infused meat and vegetables, fruit and fish. To experiment and see how those then pair with different sauces and serving up strange and wonderful combinations. That’s the type of person this grill would be perfect for. 

If you had to pick one of these appliances to bring into your home, which one would it be? Let us know on our Facebook page or in the comments down below.

If you're still just daydreaming about new appliances and you'd rather fix the ones that you do have that's where our technicians come in. And Appliance Rescue Service, we want to work with you to get your home running smoothly again. We know how frustrating and upsetting it is when your routine is broken because your oven has stopped working or your washer is leaking. Wherever you live in the DFW area, Appliance Rescue Service is here for you. You can reach out to us via our contact page or by giving us a call at ((214) 599-0055l, and we will work with you to find a time and date that fits your schedule.

Appliance Deep Dive Round Up

Putting It All Together To See What Makes Appliances Tick

Appliances might not be the most interesting topic in the world, but they are a basic part of the American home. They make our lives easier, most of the time. According to Merriam-Webster, “ an appliance is a device or piece of equipment designed to perform a specific task, typically a domestic one.”  Over the last year we’ve broken down every major appliance in the home, to go deep into what makes the different appliances work and what matters. 

Each of the posts covers the important parts of their appliances. How do the appliances work? What sort of variations are there? What are the differences that are important to know if you’re looking to purchase? What features would you expect to find? So that’s the way each one works. We want to highlight the different posts, make them easier to find, and most importantly, show off something from each of them that might be of interest. 

All About the Refrigerator 

Let’s start off looking at the 5 major styles of refrigerators. When it comes to refrigerators you’ve got freezerless refrigerators, top freezers, bottom freezers, side by sides, and french doors.  Even though the first three are listed by the location or lack of a freezer, they are still refrigerators. Why are they listed by the freezer then? Probably because they’re still refrigerators without much of a change. Even the Side by Sides and the French Door refrigerators are most defined by how they’re set up rather than any change in what they do. While that might seem odd, it’s because refrigerators don’t grow by leaps and bounds in terms of food storage. They grow by tiny moments, small improvements to how long food stays good. So the biggest factor for you as a home owner, is how you want them to look. 

All About the Freezer

The freezer is both very similar and yet very different from the refrigerator. It doesn’t change much from one year to another, but instead, it slowly improves how long food can be kept. Changes to a lack of frostbite or lack of ice building up, they’re great! But overall, the freezer doesn’t change much in terms of its function. Instead, how the freezer is set up is what changes. For the freezer, your types are the portable freezer, a chest freezer,  an upright freezer, and drawer freezers. 

All About the Oven

Ovens are fantastic and have been for quite some time. The earliest ovens have been found in 29,000 BC. The varieties we have now are many, and the features are even more plentiful. We have gas and electric ovens, we have convection ovens, and steam ovens as well.  Our favorite feature though is a toss up between the warming drawer and the steam clean function. No matter how many times we fix ovens that have that feature we have to be grateful for it. 

All About the Stove 

  When it comes to the stove, everyone knows about gas stoves and electric stoves. The fights between the chefs will continue for ages yet, but for us, we love the induction stove. The fact that it’s nigh on impossible to be burned by the stove now is a fantastic thing. We also love that many stoves also offer continuous grates, which is wonderful for making breakfast foods of all sorts. After all, who doesn’t love breakfast? 

All About the Dishwasher

For dishwashers the types you might have include built-in, drawer, portable, countertop and integrated. Dishwashers are constantly changing though and offering new tools and techniques to make them better. When researching this we found that our favorite feature was the sensor wash.  This one feature makes it much easier to manage your water bill, and only uses the amount that’s needed to clean the dishes. 

All About the Washer

We’re tempted to say that the best part of the article is adding ‘laundry’ to the list of things that are consistent in life, but that would be a rather morose thought. Instead, for us it was learning about the existence of washer-dryer combinations. It’s not an efficient machine. It’s not an easy to use machine. The fact that it exists though, is where any appliance starts, as it can’t get better if it doesn’t exist yet. 

All About the Dryer 

And finally we have dryers. There are so many different types of dyers. They can all be said to do the same thing, but how they go about it? That’s wildly different. You’ve got gas dryers and electric dryers, but that’s just the power source. More important are the heat pump condenser dryers which use a technique similar to a refrigerator to make a dryer work many times more efficiently than the dryers any of us grew up with. 

And that’s that! If you’re looking to find out more about the options as of right now (2022) these are the posts to check out. Upgrades will come with time and we’ll update the page as well, diving in and letting you know what we’ve found as always. Let us know on Facebook or in the comments below, which article do you find the most useful? 

If instead you’re here because one of your appliances is making the holidays a nightmare, we can help with that! You can reach out to us on our contact page, or by giving us a call at ((214) 599-0055). Even with the holidays, we’ll work with you to find a time that works best for you. At Appliance Rescue Service our goal is to get your home running smoothly again, whether it’s an oven that won’t stay lit, a dishwasher that isn’t draining or a dryer that’s squeaking.