7 Dishwasher Energy Saving Tips

After working with thousands of restaurants through The Restaurant Warehouse, I’ve seen how commercial dishwashers can eat up energy costs, especially in high-volume operations. The biggest tip I give restaurant owners is to pre-scrape dishes thoroughly instead of pre-rinsing them under hot water.

Most modern dishwashers are designed to handle food residue, so that pre-rinse step wastes both hot water and the energy needed to heat it. I had one pizzeria owner in Chicago tell me he cut his water heating costs by nearly 30% just by training staff to scrape plates clean instead of rinsing them first.

Load your dishes strategically with the dirtiest items facing the center where spray arms are strongest. This ensures everything gets clean in one cycle instead of running items through twice. From my selling days at Amazon, I learned that efficiency always beats brute force – same principle applies here.

Use the shortest cycle that still gets your dishes clean. Many people default to heavy-duty cycles when normal or quick wash would work fine. I’ve seen restaurant managers save hundreds monthly just by matching the cycle intensity to actual soil levels rather than always maxing it out.

It is truly valuable when you find simple ways to save energy and lower your bills at home—those small changes add up fast. My approach to saving power is always about managing the biggest electrical load. The “radical approach” was a simple, human one.

The process I had to completely reimagine was how I looked at household appliances. I realized that a good tradesman solves a problem and makes a business run smoother by knowing where the heavy power consumption happens. In a dishwasher, the main electrical load comes from the heating element.

The one tip for conserving energy is to always use the air-dry setting or prop the door open. The heat-dry cycle is the most energy-intensive part of the whole process. By eliminating that step, you instantly remove a huge amount of electrical load from your system. The specific setting I recommend is the “No Heat Dry” or “Air Dry” option.

The impact has been fantastic. This simple change reduces your household’s overall energy demand, which is good for your wallet and the grid. It proves that a clear understanding of the electrical load is the key to efficiency.

My advice for others is to find the biggest power draw in your home and manage it. A job done right is a job you don’t have to go back to. Eliminate the unnecessary heat load. That’s the most effective way to “conserve energy” and build a life that will last.

After transitioning from IT service management to plumbing during COVID and applying ITIL frameworks to home services, I’ve found that water temperature is the biggest energy drain most people ignore. Set your water heater to exactly 120°F–every degree higher forces your dishwasher to work less efficiently since it’s designed around that optimal temperature.

The game-changer I teach our Cherry Blossom Plumbing technicians is scraping plates instead of pre-rinsing. Modern dishwashers actually need some food particles to activate their sensors properly, and pre-rinsing with hot water can use up to 6,000 gallons annually. Just scrape off the big chunks and let the machine do its job.

From managing government IT projects, I learned that small system optimizations compound dramatically. Clean your dishwasher’s filter monthly–a clogged filter makes the motor work 15-20% harder to circulate water. Most homeowners in Northern Virginia don’t even know where their filter is located, but it’s usually a twist-out cylinder at the bottom of the tub.

The water quality insight from our Arlington installations: if you’re running a dishwasher without addressing hard water (Arlington water contains more chlorine than a swimming pool), your machine uses extra energy trying to overcome mineral buildup. A simple water softener makes every appliance more efficient.

I recommend that the eco cycle be used on the dishwasher since it operates using a lower temperature and consumes less power without affecting cleaning efficiency. Visitors in our holiday-lets are not often conscious of the extended cycle, but the reduced energy consumption will be seen in the bills. I also recommend against the use of the heated dry cycle. There is no additional electricity consumed when the door is slightly left open to air dry, and in one of the properties where I tested this, it resulted in about 20 percent reduction of the energy used by dishwashers.

One other critical process is to ensure that the machine is full before it is run. The dishwasher was frequently half full in one of our larger homes in Ambleside, running three times a day. Once a little reminder note was put in it to have it filled completely, the energy consumption decreased by approximately 15 percent month by month. Such modest modifications made in numerous households will result in actual savings and help to be sustainable in its mode of operation.

As someone who’s handled thousands of water damage calls in Houston and Dallas, I see how dishwasher leaks from overheating can cost homeowners big time. The most overlooked energy saver is actually using the “soil sensor” or “auto cycle” setting that adjusts wash time based on how dirty your dishes actually are.

I had a client whose dishwasher was running 2.5-hour cycles every single night, which contributed to a pipe joint failure from constant thermal expansion. When we showed them the soil sensor feature, their cycles dropped to 1.5 hours on average, cutting energy use by about 30%. Less heat cycling also means less stress on your plumbing connections.

The Bosch 300 Series SHEM63W55N is what I recommend most often during our restoration projects where we’re replacing damaged units. Its EcoSense technology automatically shortens cycles when dishes are cleaner, and I’ve seen it use 40% less energy than traditional timer-based models.

From a restoration perspective, anything that reduces the heat and moisture cycling in your kitchen helps prevent the kind of gradual damage that insurance won’t cover. Your dishwasher working smarter instead of harder protects both your energy bill and your home’s structure.

One simple but effective tip we use at home is running the dishwasher during off-peak hours. We’re on an energy tariff that offers cheaper rates overnight, so we load it up during the day and set the timer to start the cycle around midnight. It’s a small change, but over time it makes a noticeable difference on our bills, and it also helps reduce strain on the energy grid when demand is lower. Most modern dishwashers have a delay-start feature, so it’s easy to build into your routine without any fuss.

I’ve found using the energy saver or eco setting makes a noticeable difference with dishwashers. It may run a bit longer, but it uses less heat and electricity overall. When staging one of my flips, I always set appliances to eco mode to signal to buyers that the house runs efficiently. Look, high utility bills can scare off buyers, but showing them these small savings cuts right through the concern. It’s a detail that feels minor but stacks up across an entire home’s energy usage.