The price of electricity this Sunday, September 17, 2023, drops and for the first time this week, regulated tariff customers linked to the wholesale market will be able to use their appliances and pay only four euros per megawatt hour for much of the day. It is the best time to run the washing machine, use the ceramic hob or run the dishwasher. There is a national debate surrounding the use of this particular appliance that undoubtedly occurs in many homes. There are many who maintain that much less energy is used if you scrub by hand. The Organization of Consumers and Users (OCU) takes up the gauntlet and settles the debate.
The OCU has done the test to find out how it is spent more, whether washing by hand or in the dishwasher. Hot water, scouring pad, detergent, light, dishwasher tablets… Both modalities imply an expense in the home budget and the Organization has been examining point by point. The first, water consumption. According to their study, the dishwasher uses between 10 and 15 liters, which represents a consumption of 0.01749 euros and washing by hand up to 60 liters – also depending on each person’s habit of closing the tap or not to soap – and the expense is shoots at €0.1.
The biggest point in consumption is heating the water as gas and electricity prices are, and the dishwasher wins again in some cases because it consumes less and has to heat less quantity. But where washing by hand is more economical is when purchasing the products you require. Paying for a dishwasher is not the same as paying for everything the dishwasher requires: tablets, salt and rinse aid.
Another advantage that the OCU does highlight is that using the dishwasher, if we can, is more hygienic. With the high temperature reached inside, bacteria that can generate food remains are eliminated. Clarifies that this does not mean that washing by hand is not hygienic, but the degrees of temperature work in its favor. Time and convenience also work in favor of machine washing dishes.
