4/15/2008
Washing Dishes By Hand
I tried a little experiment this past month with our electric bill. I haven't been as good as I would like to be with the laundry hanging outside to dry so I'm still using my dryer most of the time but I decided to only wash dishes by hand for a month to see if we would save any money. Guess what!?!?! We saved 100 dollars off our electric bill!!! And 20 bucks on our water bill. Obviously our dishwasher isn't as energy efficient as I thought and instead of running out and spending money on a newer model I think I'll be washing by hand for a little while longer. The added bonus is I use a large bowl to catch the rinsed water and then carry that outside to dump on the garden. So no water is wasted. Try your own experiment to see if your dishwasher is as bad as mine :)
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4 comments:
Wow, that's a big difference. When you're washing the dishes, do you wet them, turn the water off to scrub, and then turn the water back on to rinse? I'm curious if you do it that way or leave the water running the whole time. My guess is the latter...
I do exactly what you described and I collect the water in a tub at the base of the sink so that I can use that rinse water to water plants in the garden.
After 6 years in NYC without the option (and a tiny kitchen sink and no counter space to air dry), I have decided that some things are just worth the cost. I'll disconnect the A/C before I go back to hand washing dishes. I hated, HATED doing that.
Plus, we got a new dishwasher after the hurricane and it is awesome.
In Australia where there are still lots of people without dishwashers this is how we do it. Put water and small amount of suds in sink, wash without rinsing and let everything dry on the rack. Wash in this order: glasses, crockery, cutlery, pots and pans. To my knowledge no-one in this country has ever died of detergent poisoning. I luv handmade dishrags and throw them in the washing machine once every few days. Line dry.
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