Is a dishwasher really less environmentally friendly than washing by hand?

I know a few ppl who pride themselves on living w/o a dishwasher. Supposedly, it saves water/energy.





Let's say I take off all the extra-special heat settings, and just let my dishwasher run the normal cycle, but full of dishes.


Does that really take up more water than by hand? I say, running your faucet for 15-20 minutes straight would take up more water than the machine.





Are there any studies that conclusively show, one way or the other? Why is this so often repeated? How can dishwashers be so bad when they make me so happy?Is a dishwasher really less environmentally friendly than washing by hand?
We have 5 children and by the time I would wash all of our dishes just from dinner, with the water running non-stop and all the soap I would use, nope I use less water with a dish washer. I can almost guarantee it.Is a dishwasher really less environmentally friendly than washing by hand?
Used correctly, a dishwasher uses less water. Generally because you use it much less than hand washing. People have this perception that, just because it saves you time, it must be less economical. On average, a dishwasher uses between 8-12 gallons of water, once every few days. Hand washing uses about 20 gallons (including rinsing) every day.


Seems fairly obvious to me.


Here is a site for info.
Comparing the efficiency of automatic dishwashers and hand-washing of dishes is difficult because hand-washing techniques vary drastically by individual. At least one privately funded, non-peer-reviewed study concludes that automatic dishwashers when fully loaded use less water than even the most efficient hand-washers, while relative energy use depends on hand-washing technique and number of place settings washed per load (a smaller load still favours hand washing)[9] The study does not address costs associated with the manufacture and disposal of dishwashers or the cost of possible accelerated wear of dishes from the chemical harshness of dishwasher detergent.





Many people are sceptical of these claims, and one private individual has shown that dishwashers are comparable to efficient hand-washing in water usage;[10] however this small-scale study did not include any measurements of other environmental impact.
A dishwasher uses less water than hand washing. The average dishwasher uses between 9-12 gal of water per load, new ones as little as 7gal. Hand washing uses about 20 gal. Yes there have many been studies do document this. They are not bad. If you want to save more money don't use the heated dry. I love my dishwasher too. I don't see any virtue in washing dishes by hand.
I am incredibly skeptical of these studies that ';prove'; using a dishwasher is more efficient than hand washing. Most of them quote something in the range of 20+ litres of water used when washing by hand, but what I haven't seen discussed in this forum is the fact that this number is often derived by calculating the amount of water used if you're leaving the faucet running the ENTIRE time you're washing your dishes.





The fact is, I don't know anyone who does this. Most people (as far as I know) when hand-washing, myself included, fill one side of the sink with warm, soapy water, and use the other side to rinse the dishes they have already scrubbed. This means, at least when I do dishes, that the water is only actually running for as long as it takes me to fill the soapy side of the sink (that's what, four or five litres?), and intermittently to quickly rinse the stack of already washed dishes in the other side of the sink. Even assuming this uses four or five litres of water, I'm still only at 8 to 10 litres (but I'm pretty sure I use way less than this!). Leaving the water running the entire time while doing dishes is silly and just seems intentionally wasteful to me.





Also, once my dishes are rinsed by hand, they go into a dish rack where they are allowed to either air dry, or I dry them by hand with a cloth dishtowel. Even on the most energy efficient setting for a dishwasher, some amount of energy must be used to dry those dishes--even if it's not hot air, some air must be circulated through there. So, there's zero electrical energy being used to dry my dishes compared to at least some amount being used by a dishwasher.





So, while I'm no expert, I'd have to say that it sure seems to me that handwashing dishes must be more resource-efficient than using a dishwasher. I've also seen studies conducted that state that ';individual styles'; of handwashing make it hard to obtain an actual estimated average resource usage.





All of which leads me to ask, who's conducting these studies praising the efficiency of dishwashers? I've read them all, too. I can come up with two reasons: (1) these studies are largely being preformed by groups that have something to benefit by people actually using their dishwashers (e.g., dishwasher manufacturers), or (2) these studies have been unintentionally biased by human purpose; i.e., the expected or desired outcome is that dishwashers are more efficient, so we can all feel better about not doing our dishes manually, so the results of the studies--or the research methods themselves--lend themselves to this conclusion, whether this is accurate or not.





But who am I to say?
If your happy so be it.


Hope you're at least running a full washer and not just so you don't have to stand at the sink. I think studies would be on full loads being sound judgement.