Dishwasher or no Dishwasher?

[Bruce B]

I prefer washing dishes in a dishwasher if at all possible. My wife and I had this argument for years at home. She preferred to wash by hand whereas I preferred the thoroughness of the machine. As diligent as my lovely wife and I were about hand washing dishes thoroughly, the results were never as consistently clean as the machine washed dishes.
Now we wash by machine at home.
If we had the space for it, I'd personally love a dishwasher on the boat.
On this boat we added a Splendide washer/dryer, something we would have scoffed at a few years ago. We use it every other day and love having it aboard.
Appliances are not all evil and I find that we can charge batteries, make water, heat hot water, run air conditioning and wash clothes in a 3 to 4 hour cycle every day thus keeping our Northern Lights generator happily loaded.
Bruce

https://www.rodalesorganiclife.com/wellbeing/washing-dishes-dishwasher-vs-hand-washing

 

[Bigsfish]

Ted

Your wife would never know. Has she ever been on the boat? LOL
You have the perfect life, my hero.

 

[twistedtree]

Not familiar with the term "wh" which I assume means watt hours. Is that the equivalent of 770 watts for one hour?

Yes, that's right. Sorry.

At your home you buy electricity in killo watt hours, or kwh. And there are 1000 watt hours in a killo watt hour. It's the basic unit for consumed electricity.

Many people monitor their battery charge level using amp hours, or Ah. To convert from wh, just divide by the battery voltage. So 770wh is 64 Ah drawn out of a 12v battery, or 32 Ah drawn out of a 24V battery.

 

[O C Diver]

Ted

Your wife would never know. Has she ever been on the boat? LOL
You have the perfect life, my hero.

I'm trying to remember if I showed her a picture of it.

Ted

 

[Seevee]

Some folks even go so far as to install a raw water faucet at their galley sink just for dishwashing.

That sounds like a good idea, would like to see how other folks have done this. Might be too much of a project for most of us ICW cruisers, unless we do a LOT of hanging on the hook.

 

[Seevee]

Wifey B: No, I mean high speed rack type dishwashers. Actually compared to many restaurants, ours are small and low speed. The cool ones are the conveyor models. They'd do over 200 racks of dishes in an hour. Ours only does something like 15 or so an hour depending on how you set it. A wash cycle is under five minutes.

We do sometimes have big groups for a meal.

Wow, WB,

You get some serious use out of dishwashers.

It all depends. I don't like the dishwasher. I can do by hand in just about the time it takes to load the DW. My lady likes it, so she uses it occasionally, even with the 2 of us which drives me nuts.

I never use it, even at times we have 8 or 10 over. Use to do the big 20 to 30 people parties, but not anymore.

For a boat....never. Just ain't worth the effort and noise and space.

 

[FF]

"We have commercial dishwashers at home."

This might be a Great idea for a voyaging boat.

Reading the dish washer requirements in "Ship Captains Medical Guide" shows a very hot rinse followed by a heated dry cycle is required in many tropical locations.

I dont think home units can get warm enough to be safe from worldwide diseases.

 

[BandB]

Wow, WB,

You get some serious use out of dishwashers.

It all depends. I don't like the dishwasher. I can do by hand in just about the time it takes to load the DW. My lady likes it, so she uses it occasionally, even with the 2 of us which drives me nuts.

I never use it, even at times we have 8 or 10 over. Use to do the big 20 to 30 people parties, but not anymore.

For a boat....never. Just ain't worth the effort and noise and space.

Wifey B: Well, our boat dishwasher uses very little space and isn't noisy. We'll keep it. We don't have one on the boat we're out on today though, but then we don't cook on this boat. Just playing around.

You must really be slow at loading a dishwasher or you really don't wash very well by hand.

 

[ksanders]

Having a dishwasher onboard a 54' boat is not about using less or more water. It's about convience, and use of space.

I would assume, and probably safely that a boat that size has an ample watermaker. I would also assume that a boat that size has a significant inverter capable of handling the load, or a nice quiet generator, probably both.

In a boats galley counter space is premium. We hand wash and about half the time allot of counter space is taken up by dishes that are drying. That is space we would have, if we had a dishwasher.

On the other hand the space under the cabinet that a dishwasher takes up is valuable space as well.

So the choice comes down to a trade of countertop space, vs cabinet space. In my opinion, if your galley layout can sacrifice cabinet space for a dishwasher, install one. If it cannot, then dont.

When making choices, we find that a trash smasher is pretty darn valuable as we seem to travel away from port for a week or so at a time and trash volume can become an issue. I would love a dshwasher, but would not trade our trash smasher for one.

 

[Seevee]

Wifey B: Well, our boat dishwasher uses very little space and isn't noisy. We'll keep it. We don't have one on the boat we're out on today though, but then we don't cook on this boat. Just playing around.

You must really be slow at loading a dishwasher or you really don't wash very well by hand.

Yes I am slow and also lousy at washing... but I get the big chunks off....

 

[BandB]

Yes I am slow and also lousy at washing... but I get the big chunks off....

Wifey B:

 

[Donna]

I need a bigger boat!

 

[markpierce]

Have a dishwasher at home-a-shore, but never use it. For us, a dishwasher on the boat would be a total waste, consuming money, space, power, and water. If you frequently entertain many guests, however, a dishwasher could be a logical choice if your boat can handle it.

 

[Bay Pelican]

Count me a fervent lover of dishwashers but perhaps not a Bay Pelican, a 42 ft boat that lives at anchor.

I see three downsides to the dishwasher:

18 inches of cabinet space. Several years ago we removed a trashcompactor that had little use other than as a garbage storage space. That 18 inches of cabinet now holds our entire pot collections plus a few other cooking items. Priceless as every inch of space is valuable to us.

Gallons of water. Not sure how much water a dishwasher uses but it is more than our hand washing. If it is five gallons then that takes 20 minutes of running our water maker to replace. Perhaps not the worst problem for a dishwasher, but I expect we would run it every day.

Power usage, 770 watt hours is the equivalent of running our coffee put (750 watts) for an hour. This is 76 DC amp hours or close to our total solar production per day. Since I don't currently run the generator for more than 40 minutes some of this time will be off the batteries.

Given these drawbacks I don't feel a dishwasher is a good fit on our 42 foot Krogen. My view would easily change if we had the 54 foot boat of the OP. Space, water and power are much more abundant on the larger boat.

 

[BandB]

Count me a fervent lover of dishwashers but perhaps not a Bay Pelican, a 42 ft boat that lives at anchor.

I see three downsides to the dishwasher:

18 inches of cabinet space. Several years ago we removed a trashcompactor that had little use other than as a garbage storage space. That 18 inches of cabinet now holds our entire pot collections plus a few other cooking items. Priceless as every inch of space is valuable to us.

Gallons of water. Not sure how much water a dishwasher uses but it is more than our hand washing. If it is five gallons then that takes 20 minutes of running our water maker to replace. Perhaps not the worst problem for a dishwasher, but I expect we would run it every day.

Power usage, 770 watt hours is the equivalent of running our coffee put (750 watts) for an hour. This is 76 DC amp hours or close to our total solar production per day. Since I don't currently run the generator for more than 40 minutes some of this time will be off the batteries.

Given these drawbacks I don't feel a dishwasher is a good fit on our 42 foot Krogen. My view would easily change if we had the 54 foot boat of the OP. Space, water and power are much more abundant on the larger boat.

Wifey B: I am shocked that you removed your compactor. 18" is on the large side though. But, to dishwasher, I just have a couple of things I'm trying to understand. Not arguing, just would like to understand the thought of you and many.

1. Today's dishwashers will not use more water than most people hand washing, but just granting that possibility.....what's the big deal about needing to run the watermaker an extra 10 minutes? Do you minimize showers and other things to keep from running it? Seems to me the reason for having it is to afford those luxuries.

2. Then same question, only different. What's the big deal of needing to run the generator an extra 10 minutes? Seems to me a lot of people having gens but then fighting not to use them. They don't use much fuel, they last nearly forever, so I don't know?

I see a lot of reservations expressed here that seem to go back to not having the conveniences and even small sailboats but a reluctance to use the equipment the boat people own now has. Isn't the reason for having watermakers and generators to not have to worry about water and electricity? I just find it a bit confusing.

Now, I do understand the space issues.

 

[Bigsfish]

WifeyB

Now don't go trying to use logic on this crowd.

 

[psneeld]

Those that have primitive camped know how to use very little water washing dishes and getting them just as clean and sanitary....probably 1/10 the eater as most human or machine dishwashers.

Dont get me wrong, if I had the room and the money, I would have more appliances on my boat than I could ever afford in my homes.

 

[hmason]

A friend who has spent 5-years circumnavigating (sailboat of course) says that any stream of water that's thicker than a pencil lead is wasting water. Try showering in that.

 

[psneeld]

A pencil thin stream of fresh water after a week of salt water showers and laundry was heaven. Talk about developing dry itchy skin....

Thankfully USCG cutters got better evaporators as my career progressed.

 

[Bigsfish]

My dad would cruise the Bahamas for a month with 60 gallons of fresh water, he only showered in salt water, never drank water except for his ice maker cubes. He did consume a lot of beer and rum.

 

[FF]

"What's the big deal of needing to run the generator an extra 10 minutes? "

Ask the folks you share the anchorage with.

Especially those downwind .

 

[firstbase]

... but I get the big chunks off....

I'm with you Seevee. That's all that is really needed. The first thing we do when we sit down to eat is talk about how good the last meal was. I mean, it's right there in front of us.....it's a conversation starter.

Some people are high-bottom boaters with lots of space and needs. For me a Washer/dryer and/or a trash compactor are far up the list from a dishwasher. However, with a run of the mill Grand Banks 42' there's not much space for any of them. I guess if the need or want got so great we could fit something in somewhere but for the time being...Motel 6.

 

[Bay Pelican]

The dishwasher mentioned by the OP would use 76 amp hours for each load (770? watt hours 120 ac). A normal boat with only one charger at 100 amps would need 45 minutes to replace those amps.

 

[Bigsfish]

FF

The newer generators with under water exhaust are quite quiet. My generator running is so quiet I don't even know it.

 

[FF]

"The newer generators with under water exhaust are quite quiet. My generator running is so quiet I don't even know it."

GREAT!

But folks anchored behind will still smell the diesel exhaust stench

 

[Bigsfish]

FF

The common rail diesels have little to no smell. My thoughts are I don't anchor near others so I in a place first, if someone wants to anchor near me the have to deal with what I'm cooking.

 

[McGillicuddy]

"The newer generators with under water exhaust are quite quiet. My generator running is so quiet I don't even know it."

GREAT!

But folks anchored behind will still smell the diesel exhaust stench

Wow! Stench, huh?
If you were anchored more than 100' (2 boat lengths) from my boat, you wouldn't hear or smell my boat. Except maybe my BBQ grilling or smoking in the evening. And the occasional waft of a good cigar. And maybe bacon sizzling on a Sunday morning.

 

[Gordon J]

Agreed

Having a dishwasher onboard a 54' boat is not about using less or more water. It's about convience, and use of space.

I would assume, and probably safely that a boat that size has an ample watermaker. I would also assume that a boat that size has a significant inverter capable of handling the load, or a nice quiet generator, probably both.

In a boats galley counter space is premium. We hand wash and about half the time allot of counter space is taken up by dishes that are drying. That is space we would have, if we had a dishwasher.

On the other hand the space under the cabinet that a dishwasher takes up is valuable space as well.

So the choice comes down to a trade of countertop space, vs cabinet space. In my opinion, if your galley layout can sacrifice cabinet space for a dishwasher, install one. If it cannot, then dont.

When making choices, we find that a trash smasher is pretty darn valuable as we seem to travel away from port for a week or so at a time and trash volume can become an issue. I would love a dshwasher, but would not trade our trash smasher for one.

I agree. We have a compactor aboard, and between the two appliances think it is much more valuable. Trash, especially in places like the Exhumas, can be problematic. I can wash dishes by hand, But I am not do good at manual compacting. Of course I only have a 45-foot boat. On a 54-footer maybe you have room for both.

Gordon

 

[Bigsfish]

In the Bahamas we separate our garbage and deposit most in receptacles on shore but if we accumulate a bunch of non plastic material we make a run off shore where it is legal to do so and try to catch a fish in the trip.

 

[Bird Dog]

Why not a 2 drawer DW?

If I was refitting or commissioning a trawler I would strongly consider installing a 2 drawer DW, especially if it is mostly going to be my wife and I cruising. I would use the 2 drawer as dish storage as well as cleaning. At meal time, eat out of one of the drawers, the other drawer is clean and serves as storage. Once the meal is finished, the dirty dishes go into the drawer they came out of an await the next run of the generator. The lost space of the DW is gained by its dual use as a storage vehicle for the dishes thereby freeing up the cabinet space that typically house the dishes. Also, the smaller drawers use less water per cycle and less watts per cycle.