Why is the cycle on our dishwasher so long?

April 24, 2017 9:46 AM

We just had a new Bosch dishwasher installed. The plumber ran a test cycle and it took nearly 2 hours and the manual says all the non-express cycles take at least 115 minutes. Why is that? Is it more efficient? Or will the dishes not get clean otherwise? Please tell me why our dishwasher works the way it does.
posted by platitudipus to Home & Garden (13 answers total)

Best answer: Energy conservation.
posted by Kriesa at 9:51 AM on April 24, 2017 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Did you replace a really old dishwasher? That's a pretty standard cycle length now. Apparently less total water and less pressure means they need to work for longer to get good effects. Quick Consumer Reports article about it.
posted by brainmouse at 9:51 AM on April 24, 2017 [6 favorites]

Yeah, we bought a Bosch about two years ago, and its normal cycle is about two hours. We regret buying it, but our circumstances may be different from yours: we have on-demand hot water, and live in a 2nd floor apartment, so the combination of the on-demand delay, and the dishwasher wanting tiny gulps of hot water, leads to poor results. As in, the only way we've been able to get acceptable results has been:
- load it only about 50% full
- run it on "express" and "extra shine", which we suspect makes it use hot water more continuously; as a side benefit, the cycle is shorter
- open the dishwasher shortly after it finishes running (no more than a couple of hours later)
- clean out the filter at least once a week.

We never had any of these problems with our old dishwasher, but it was kind of loud.
posted by mr vino at 10:07 AM on April 24, 2017

My Bosch's eco cycle takes three and half hours! The night time cycle takes four! But it's OK, cos if I'm pressed for time I just put it on the standard cycle which is done in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it two hours forty five minutes.
posted by ZipRibbons at 10:15 AM on April 24, 2017 [2 favorites]

Funny - my Bosch's Auto & Sanitize together runs 2 1/2 hours and leaves me sparkling clean dishes. I love my Bosch!
posted by PorcineWithMe at 10:21 AM on April 24, 2017

We also have a Bosch whose normal cycle takes about two hours. It doesn't bug me because it's so quiet—it's not two hours of disturbance. If I really need the dishes, I use the express setting.
posted by BlahLaLa at 10:21 AM on April 24, 2017

I have a Miele that takes about two hours, though it's very quiet. The only noise is the sound from the water in the sink drain but if I put a plate over the drain it mutes that noise too. I just turn it on right before bed.

We were told energy efficient dishwashers are like that. "Slow and Steady."
posted by bondcliff at 10:34 AM on April 24, 2017

I have an old GE dishwasher I just had serviced. I asked the maintenance guy why new dishwashers in our kids' houses and various rentals we've had take so darn long. For energy reasons, the new dishwashers use less water and take longer. I'm hanging on to my workhorse GE but always run it on the light cycle and don't use plate warming function.
posted by Elsie at 10:40 AM on April 24, 2017

Our recently purchased Bosch is the first appliance I've ever raved about. We previously had a higher-end GE, and the Bosch both has fewer problems getting things clean and is designed to hold significantly more items.
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 10:45 AM on April 24, 2017 [2 favorites]

Best answer: FWIW, at least on our Miele, the Express cycle works quite well. 99% of the time we run it over night, so it doesn't matter how long it takes, and we just let it do the normal cycle. But every once in a while we're in a hurry, and Express does the trick just fine.
posted by primethyme at 10:54 AM on April 24, 2017

Bosch owner. Express for todays dishes and that works for 9 out of ten. Regular for yesterdays. Note: the sanitation cycle requires the longer cycles.
posted by zenon at 1:06 PM on April 24, 2017

My Bosch's standard cycle is 2:09, and can go up to about 2 and a half if we throw in bells and whistles.

Also you might be pissed the first time you open it any everything is wet. European dishwashers don't dry. Just open it when it beeps and your stuff will steam off pretty quickly. :)

(As a pro for this slight annoyance, Bosch's are AMAZING. It's cleaned everything I've thrown at it. I just use cheapo Costco pods and they work beautifully. Also, we have the one with the pullout drawer for cutlery and it's way more awesome than I expected. It's probably my favourite appliance.)
posted by aggyface at 5:29 AM on April 25, 2017

European dishwashers don't dry.

A derail, but this isn't my experience with Miele, but ours opens itself at the end of the cycle, and also has a fan that circulates air to help drying. The only stuff that doesn't get dry is some plastic stuff, especially if it has a spot on the top for water to pool. Regular dishes and silverware come out dry.
posted by primethyme at 2:58 PM on April 25, 2017