We pack it, and switch it on when it is FULL … I’m the “not-raccoon” … as none of us just has 1 or two of things.
It is about saving energy but that requires habit changes.
Why have a solar system installed and then complain when you have so much spare in the day, yet the dishwasher goes on at night? Set the thing on a timer for when you know there is spare power … or whatever works.
It never goes past two days. So we run the dishy probably five times per week. Very occasionally twice in one day, but that’s exceptional.
I’m often the ticked off party. I finish breakfast, go to put the bowl and spoon in the dishy… And it’s running. Surely there was space and we could have waited a little longer before pushing the button (a task I actually can perform adequately).
Exactly. But it’s not always lekker to be the person who is always putting their foot down.
I have… guidelines. The dishy gets switched on no earlier than 8:30, no later than 10:00. Afternoons are for heating the contents of the geyser and maybe charging of the battery if the day has been cloudy. Then I am happy because we have a nice full battery to get thru the night and into the next morning.
I hear you … been there.
So one day I “lost” it … year or more of begging, pleading, putting my foot down.
Told “them” “I give up”!
Said that when the batts go off, then no one is working tomorrow morning from home because the solar system will be “off” (with some help obviously) till the sun takes over, and the next day is a bad weather day. And if the Eskom units run out, I’m not spending one. more. cent
No more geyser monitoring! You have the App.
I’m done!!!
Told them I’ve spent so much of my money and they just don’t give a “tick”!!!
I was furious man, furious! (read, I looked very impressive.) 
So “they” decided to take over the Eskom account. Went well till the 3rd month (it being winter). They quickly changed their habits. They also started asking about the SOC, can we switch this on, that … is there enough sun? Checked the geyser wisely.
Dishwasher, dryer, they check the sun now.
I “passed the buck” and shared the “responsibility”.
So much so the wife has even had a cold shower or two because she forgot to check … not one visit to the hospital for me. 
Today they are much more “aware” after that “standup comedy show”.
This is a good thing! Before, everyone thought that electricity came from the plug in the wall: a free limitless supply of energy. What more could you ask for??
If you find that adding salt doesn’t make any difference then you don’t need it 
You can just open it and add it…
Of course, there are some caveats. But the day I found out that you can open the door and the water will NOT run out on the floor, as I used to imagine as a child, was a really good day. You have to open it slowly, so that the spiny arms don’t chuck a blast of hot water in your face. Of course it also depends where it is in the cycle. but if you add a soft breakfast plate 10 minutes into the cycle it won’t matter at all.
Our washing machine is the same. It uses little enough water that you can pause it, open the door, and add the sock you dropped on the way to the machine. On our machine I find that it only allows this during the early parts of the cycle.
Usually when the glasses start smelling like they were washed in a fish pond, I put in a request for the salt to be replenished, which usually fixes the problem…
This is true, and I have sometimes done that. So now I feel less reasonable. Thank you.
My family can fill the machine to the brim twice in a day. Mostly through the amount of glasses and cups… coffee cups. After lunch we chuck in the kids’ lunchboxes as well, and at that point it is breakfast+lunch+lunchboxes+a bazillion cups, and we use the 45°C program to clear some space for the supper dishes.
Supper can fill up the machine another time. But that’s because I wash EVERYTHING in the machine. Pots, pans… I stack that thing like some real life version of Tetris.
Just make sure the Eco program wasn’t selected!
maybe try some Zambesi / Bull sharks - they are apparently quite adaptable to varying salinity.
apologies but @Richard_Mackay started it 
now this thread, being posted in the weekly ‘summary’, is the stuff for friday afternoon browsing. really interesting at not without amusement 
as i still do the washing around our place - well mostly the machines - my first comment is that clean is clean - eco or denot - the dishwasher gets rinsed a couple of times until it is full and only then comes the full wash cycle, never eco; al this eco-stuff is phsycobabble anyhow, granted, some eco settings might save on something but hey, do i want an eco political party, green flag, tree-hugger, whale-kisser 
- hence this topic in the weeds?
most of us dont mind the extra watt here and there as the sun provides, we still have to work on the water though…
eco-groete
I’ve taken to manually washing the plates etc. before stacking them. (I don’t do pots in the DW)
This way there’s no need to be pressurised into running a DW cycle due to unhygienic contents. Good for peace of mind wrt kitchen matters.
I started this discussion on this board because it didn’t seem to be a good fit anywhere else.
You can be unworried about looking at things through an eco lens, but there are savings and they’re worth paying attention to. The eco mode on my machine saves water and electricity. If you don’t have PV and you don’t care about the reduction of footprint, you should still care about the reduction in consumption and thus on your bill.
My family in Spain care about these savings. They use another feature - the timer. Load that sucker, select the eco mode, set the timer for 1 in the morning when electricity is cheap. When you get up, the dishes are done. They do the same with the clothes washing.
If you’re more concerned about consumption, as I am, then this is still a desirable outcome even if the motivation is primarily to save money (not uncommon for a young couple with a young family and debts and school fees).
So I don’t see why anybody shouldn’t be interested in at least learning about these options and weighing them up. Whatever your motivation is, you can get a benefit and still have clean dishes.
Indeed. For many folks that power saving, over a year, is a consideration (see my preceding post). For those of us with PV the reduction in electricity used is less of an issue, but I still concern myself with water consumption. So with the help of the discussion we’ve had here, I’ve made a decision to switch to another mode that uses only a little more water, more of the stuff that I don’t pay for, and which should reduce wear and tear on the machine’s innards.
I’m waiting for the new month’s municipal bill. I am trying to reduce my water use, and I track this using kL billed this month, 12 months ago and 24 months ago. This one will give a good idea on whether or not I am sustaining the savings I’ve been seeing (2 straight months earlier this year I came in under the 6 free kL pet month the city gives all residences).
indeed, I stand corrected… especially in the light of ‘the young couple…’, thanks Nicholas!
Yup, that is the key, not a wash here and there, but the total over 365 days. Water and electricity.
In Daily Maverick email:
160.3 … the average cycle time in minutes for clean dishes in modern eco-friendly dishwashers. More than double the 69.4 minutes it took in 1983.
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