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About this tool
Compare the true cost of a dishwasher cycle against hand washing, counting electricity, water, detergent and your time.
This calculator prices a single dishwasher cycle against washing the same load by hand, using the appliance's label energy and water figures on one side and tap flow rate times minutes on the other. Hand-wash heating is computed from physics rather than a rule of thumb: energy equals litres times temperature rise times water's specific heat of 4.186 kJ per kg per kelvin, divided by 3600 to reach kilowatt-hours. It is aimed at anyone deciding whether a dishwasher is worth its running cost.
Open Dishwasher Running Cost Calculator on AltFTool — it loads instantly in your browser.
Enter the values you already know.
Fine-tune the options to match your scenario.
Read the result and use it in your planning or reporting.
Hand-wash heating uses the specific heat of water and your actual temperature rise.
Electricity, metered water, detergent and optional labour are all priced separately.
Override the programme defaults with the kWh and litres printed on your machine.
Usually yes when the machine runs full, because a modern eco cycle uses roughly 9 to 11 litres while 15 minutes at an 8 litre-per-minute tap uses about 120 litres. Heating that extra water dominates the cost — the hand wash in this example needs about 1.76 kWh against the machine's 0.83 kWh.
A full-size 60 cm dishwasher on its eco programme typically uses 0.7 to 1.0 kWh per cycle, with intensive programmes reaching about 1.4 to 1.6 kWh. At 8 INR per kWh, an eco cycle costs roughly 6 to 8 INR in electricity before detergent.
A modern eco cycle uses about 9 to 12 litres for a full load. Hand washing under a running tap uses whatever the flow rate multiplied by the time is — commonly 100 litres or more — though filling a basin instead can bring hand washing down to 20 to 30 litres and closes much of the gap.
Yes. Eco cycles save energy by washing at a lower temperature and soaking for longer, and heating water is where nearly all dishwasher electricity goes, so the longer run time costs far less than the higher temperature it avoids. That is why the eco programme is the one manufacturers must declare on the energy label.
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