Many people use the eco mode of the dishwasher thinking that it is the most responsible option. There are two reasons why not

I am a faithful user of the dishwasher’s eco mode. In fact, I don’t think I’ve used another one since they installed it in… 2018? It cleans my dishes and saves water, all advantages, or so I thought. It turns out that There are two reasons why it is not recommended Only use this mode.

Using the eco mode reduces water consumption and also electricity consumption by not heating it as much. According to a study by the OCUeco mode consumes, on average, 16% less water and 20% less electricity than the normal program. In liters, they calculated that the normal mode consumes about 13 liters and the eco 11 liters, so it is not a huge saving either. If we look at the money, they calculated that per year we save 7.7 euros, 0.60 euros of water and 7.1 euros of electricity.

The problem: temperature

As a general rule, dishwasher eco programs heat the water up to 50 degrees. This is enough to soften the dirt so that it comes off the plates and cutlery, but not to eliminate certain bacteria that we can find in a kitchen such as E. coli or salmonella.

To get rid of most bacteria, different food safety guides They talk about temperatures starting at about 60-65 degrees combined with sufficient exposure time. Below that range, even if we have used soap and see the dish clean, there is no guarantee that no bacteria will remain.

Normal dishwasher programs are usually around 60 degrees and also have intensive modes up to 70 or 80 degrees, although it is best to consult your model’s manual to be sure of the temperature of each mode.

Another thing we usually do that can harm disinfection is open the dishwasher door prematurely. Even if you have finished washing, the residual heat continues to do its job to dry the dishes and also to kill any bacteria that may have remained.

The fact that the water is not as hot in eco mode has another consequence and that is that it can end up damaging the machine itself. With the passage of time, grease and debris deposits are created in the dishwasher ducts, but if we use a program that does not heat the water much those deposits accumulate morewhich can cause bad odors and even lead to long-term failure.

A user account on Reddit that his dishwasher broke down and, when the technician arrived, he told him that the culprit was the eco mode because the temperature of the water was not capable of completely dissolving the soap and it had been accumulating in the ducts until it clogged them.

That does not mean that you should never use this option, but it does mean that it should not be the only one. For my part, I am going to continue using it, but seeing that the savings are not as great as I thought and that using hotter water has advantages, I will alternate it from time to time with the intensive mode.

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