Experts finally settle whether dishwashers or hand washing uses more water
It’s a debate that’s previously stumped eco-friendly warriors and budgeters alike: which uses less water, washing dishes in the sink or loading them into a dishwasher?
According to statistics, UK households are pretty evenly split when it comes to those who have a dishwasher, (49.5 percent) and those who manage to clean their crockery without one (50.5 percent).
If you’re part of the former party, then you may say you prefer the appliance for ease, time-saving purposes, or claim the finish is superior to that of soap and suds.
However, if you said it was because it used less water than washing dishes by hand? Well, you may have been wondering about the validity of your statement.
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Over the years, arguments for and against dishwashers have raged; many complaining of electrical consumption, and the idea that it uses a lot more than a bucketful of water.
With the average electricity prices for medium homes in Britain sitting at £147 per month (via EDF Energy) and MoneyHelper claiming water costs around £50 on average, you may think that the dishwashing hero is a massive drain on resources.
But, according to Which?, it may not be as black and white as it seems.
In October, the consumer champion published a guide, revealing that hot water and energy usage varies massively.
Which? stated that on average, you can effectively wash one place setting by hand in 4.5 litres of water, or two in nine litres.
A place setting is a dinner plate, a dessert plate, a soup plate, one glass, one saucer, one cup, and a set of cutlery.
However, according to research, dishwashers can wash the same amount of crockery in just one litre.
Moreover, washing 14 place settings by hand would use 63 litres of water, compared to an average of 12.96 litres when using the main wash cycle on the 33 dishwashers sampled by Which?
The advisory board added that if you switched to eco mode, that drops down to around 696 millilitres per place setting; just under 10 litres for a 14 place settings.
So while Which? stated that dishwashers use less water, is it the same when it comes to energy usage?
Not quite, according to the independent organisation.
They wrote that, of the dishwashers used in the experiment, the average energy expenditure per wash was about 1.12kWh of energy.
Based on the October 2025 energy price cap of 26.35p per kWh, that costs roughly 29.5p per wash.
Comparing that to the energy used when you switch on an electric immersion heater, and you’re in for a shock.
Which? says that electric immersion heater’s use that's 3kW to heat up water, meaning it will cost around 11p to heat up a nine-litre washing-up bowl.
Despite appearing cheaper, the site wants you to remember that a dishwasher can usually wash more place settings than you can fit in a sink basin.
If you don’t own the large white appliance, and are sick of your dirty dishes piling up, then good news: there's a major ‘hack’ for cleaning your sideboard.
Last year, All Recipes reported on the ‘2-minute time management rule’ - a technique that promises ‘to lead to action rather than excuses’.
The idea is credited to New York Times best-selling author David Allen, and sees the dishwasher tackling a few plates at a time, rather than trying to clean it all at once.
“When it comes to doing the dishes, you wash one dish here, you wash another couple there, and you end up with a clean sink everyday. That's a fine sight to behold,” the site reasoned.
Ella Scott