They "work" because the most common form of evacuation for humans is urination. And that is easily cleared with a lower volume of water. The math is that even if you have to flush three times after you poop to get everything gone, you've saved water because most of the time you only peed and that took less water than it did before. The math checks out.
That said, washing is a different story. That is because washing is a chemical process, not a mechanical one. Regulation has simultaneously cut phosphates[1] (EDIT: per wikipedia the phosphates chelates the water which allows the detergent to be more effective) and reduced water (which is required for chemical action) and as a result the effectiveness of washing units (dishwashers and clothes washers) has in some cases stopped being effective.
Regulation itself has become less effective (in my opinion) because it continues to attack the symptom and not the problem. For example, it would have been just as effective to upgrade waste water treatment plants to remove all phosphates rather than ban them from detergents, however that solution creates a tax burden which can be resisted by a population whereas restricting the sale of products the consumer wants cannot be countered by the consumers directly.
But plastics recycling comes to mind as a bit of a counter example, where all the effort has been put on dealing with the end problem, when perhaps they should be targeting the symptom (regulating unnecessary plastics and packaging, and taxing the producers instead of the consumers). Currently plastic producers have incentive to generate more plastics, and consumers are left trying to deal with the waste.
I’ve said this for years. It’s always been ignored or downvotes to oblivion, but maybe it’s finally catching on?
It’s not an end-consumer problem, because the further down the manufacturing and delivery chain you go the more difficult it becomes to recycle.
A complex mechanical product is more likely to have problems, which is something that can’t be ignored.
Either their standard was too lenient or their testing procedure unrealistic though, because my dishwasher has the "EU mode" (which has to be selected by default by law), and then 4 other modes that will actually clean the dishes.
I'm surprised that the manufacturers didn't label the EU mode as such to make clear to customers who they have to thank for that.
Such experiences sour consumers for future eco initiatives (compare e.g. early CFLs and LEDs leading to people hoarding incandescent bulbs and refusing to touch the technology to this day).
Vacuum cleaners are the EU's most recent victim.
It must be a quality thing I guess? Cheaper/worse dishwasher will never clean dishes as well as a better one without using least efficient programs.
And what's wrong with vacuums? I got the good old Henry hoover(if you're in UK you might know the brand) just a year ago and it's as good as ever.
In the US these newish dishwashers drive me crazy. They don’t have a heating element on the bottom (efficient!) and anything plastic is absolutely dripping wet, even after it’s been drying overnight (or rather, actively drying for a couple hours and then just sitting there). You’re supposed to top them up CONSTANTLY with Jet Dry (drying agent), but it barely does anything. Parent was spot on in describing the efficiency gains as being a result of not doing the damn job.
Also they still make both and the models with the heating element aren't hard to find.
THANK YOU, I had no idea why my dish washer seems to go through jetdry like it was water!
How is that possible? Even when I hand wash plastic items they'll usually dry within a few hours, at worst overnight.
The biggest problem with this is some of the not dry items have so much water on them they end up getting everything wet again when you even so much as slide out the dishwasher racks.
But mine is a cheap samsung dishwasher provided by the landlord, so I don't expect it to be terribly effective. Mainly I use the dishwasher when I forgot to do the dishes and need to start cooking and need the sink. It's basically an overflow sink for me.
Never ever again.
On vacuum cleaners - i would hazard a guess that you are in the UK where this has been a major talking point e.g. during the brexit referendum. Truth is that there are plenty of studies showing that new vacuums are as good as old ones and just use less energy. Regulating vacuums was a huge success in that sense. Of course if you get a 40£ tesco vacuum they fared better before they were obliged to try and be efficient, but by a proper brand and you shouldn't notice any difference (except where the brand maybe decided to reduce cost e.g. Dyson has gone downhill for years and recently decided to move HQ to Singapore...).
The energy saving has become goal, not an efficient outcome.
Dryers can absolutely be made to be more energy efficient! They just need to use reverse-cycle airconditioners to efficiently heat the air and dehumidify it instead of simply using a resistive heater. These are much more complex to make and are expensive.
Blowing lots of cool air through clothes will also dry them eventually, which is cheap and "energy efficient". Of course, this doesn't work well in humid climates and damages clothes. It's probably overall a net loss for the environment, as making new clothes takes a lot more resources than drying them.
Note for the other commentators that there are also "Condenser" dryers that pump the water into a hose or water tub instead of into the air - that are still otherwise resistive and not "Heat Pump" dryers though "Heat Pump" dryers are always "Condenser" dryers.
I've seen these in apartments in Europe; I presume this is because it's a PITA to route a dryer exhaust vent to the outside in a 400-year-old building with 2-foot thick stone walls. Such dryers work well; you just have to dump the accumulated water out of them every so often. But I've never seen one for sale in the US.
At least that's what I think my Hotpoint does.... it does get mighty hot and release a rubbery sort of smell when it's drying; my wife can't smell it but to me it stinks.
Clever equipment though.
Then there are "Heat Pump" dryers that operate with a compressor the same as a reverse-cycle air conditioner. "Heat Pump" dryers are always "Condenser" dryers.
https://www.abt.com/product/140010/Bosch-24-800-Series-White...
I've read the opposite, that heat can damage clothes.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1999/08/990831080157.h...
Heat may confound this, suggesting an equilibrium that minimizes both wear from excessive heat and from excessive tumbling.
So I use the heat I warm my room with the extra airflow of the fans works well with my apartment
Unless the measure is page-load time, in which case it's a damn good measure.
Also, if you want to iron something, it better be not completly dry or you have to wet it a little bit for ironing.
I used to live in an apartment with a landlord-installed $200 cheapie dishwashers that never worked.
Then I moved to an apartment without a dishwasher, so I bought a $500 one that I could plug into the sink. Worked much better.
After that apartment, I moved into one that had the same dishwasher that I bought, but installed. Worked great! Then I moved into another apartment with a cheapie dishwasher that was so loud I'd only run it when I left.
Anyway, the lesson is that you need to be a savvy consumer... And skip the cheapest models!
New toilets are awful.. just terrible.
New models can be good!
https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/the-best-dishwash...
They have otherwise nearly identical models with physical buttons. If I were buying it over again, I would definitely get one of those.
But the Ikea dishwasher we bought, it was loud but it worked
I'm not sure that's a good idea.
I had a dishwasher that had the failure described in the article linked below. The electronics circuitry (top of door) caught fire. Opening the door didn't stop the smoke, and also caused water to spew uncontrollably into the kitchen.
Fortunately I made a quick dash out to the garage and turned off the breaker so there was no damage to the kitchen.
But if I wasn't home .... what would have happened? If we were all sleeping upstairs while the fire was downstairs .... what would have happened?
https://www.consumerreports.org/dishwashers/whirlpool-settle...
I lived in a studio apartment with this kind of dishwasher for five years.
I refused to run it since it was so obnoxious.
Now I just treat the dishwasher as a drying rack. Works great.
When my old one failed to drain and filled up, I was amazed at how much water came out of it when I shimmy'd it to the back door and released the kraken over the back garden. It was like a tsunami.
1: https://www.consumerreports.org/dishwashers/energy-efficient...
0. use aerating faucet head to increase spread of water.
1. Short splash of cold water to remove stuck-on food, letting it sit if needed.
2. Wash with detergent on wet sponge, no added water.
3. Rinse with cold water, low water volume, with stacked dishes below faucet so that water from the rinse is rinsing dishes below as well.
I've never measured how much water is used, but I would think that it's fairly competitive against a dishwasher.
Finally, there has been very few times where it has been necessary for me to use hot water instead of cold. Unless I had burned the food, almost everything will come off after a good soak and scrub, even in cold water.
I have an unusual interest in this topic. I grew up in the UK, and that's just how people do the dishes. Or at least, the people in my orbit. So when I see that on TV, it's completely normal.
But, I now live in Mexico and everybody uses some variation of your method (again, everybody with a "people I've observed washing the dishes" qualifier). I find it completely bizarre.
That's like just over a minute of the tap being on full blast for an aerated tap.
I am sure you could compete with that if you really tried, but from what I've seen a lot of people simply leave the tap on for the majority of the time they are washing the dishes.
Also, an additional difference between handwashing and using a dishwasher is the environmental impact of the manufacturing of the dishwasher, if the main concern is the environment. If the main reason is reducing work, then the dishwasher comes out ahead.
These are actually useful if you're ironing your clothes, which, admittedly, is not very popular these days. But yes, there should be "completely dry" option too.
In the NEW versions of the hybrids, they never go to no bars or full bars, and a toyota rep told us they made that software change because new owners were ringing up and asking if they need to do something to stop the car over charging (because it was showing full bars).
This sort of "presumptive tail wagging the dog" bullshit needs to stop. Manufacturers need to show us real data not the Fischer Price data.
If the car fuel economy is getting worse I will use the data feedback to collate anecdotal evidence to deliver to my mechanic.
I might pay a visit to my mechanic sooner if I see strange behavior. I t might save me money, it might save a life.... but with a fake ass dashboard feeding me bullshit readings It's not in the slightest bit useful.
The older style toilets I remember as a kid just worked. One flush would properly and fully clear out anything that didn't clog the darned thing.
The new toilets barely flush properly with two flushes, and I still wonder how much is left behind in the backwash.
Anecdata is anecdata. It's most likely that some toilets are just bad and some are good, regardless of flow amount.
Because of humidity that actually might be the right behaviour in some cases-- drop the temp lower then let it go back up a bit to lower the humidity level... but not in others. :)
If you're only measuring energy usage, then actually doing the job is irrelevant.
I know this because long ago when we retired our old cheapie house phone, I took it apart and it had two lead weights in the base and handset.
To have a similar "heft" compared to the old "ma bell" phones - which are made of actual durable materials - they removed lightness.
This is not the reason for the weights. Remove them from the base, and the phone ceases to stay put when you pick up the receiver (which is attached by a springy cord). Remove them from the receiver, and it is not heavy enough to keep the buttons on the hook depressed when hung up.
(Source: I did exactly this in college, with exactly these results.)
Unless it's a radiant heater by the window, it gives exactly as much energy as it consumes. An "energy efficient" heater is a useless one.
For example, I recall there was some computer EPA energy saver test - you ran the test and compared energy used to energy used at idle. Thing is the computer was so efficient that running the test was done mostly in hardware and took very little energy. So the ratio of benchmark energy to idle energy was pretty much 1:1.
Higher-quality brands like Miele still suck as good as ever, they just use less power thanks to improved designs.
A year later, I decided to look into it. It occurred to me that there should be an exhaust somewhere on the exterior of the house where the dryer is blowing air out of. I went looking for it, and couldn't find it! This was crazy.
After a lot of searching, I finally found it - the previous owner(s) had blocked the vents - they were covered. I removed the block, and air could flow freely again.
And suddenly the sensor dry worked perfectly.
If yours is not working, do some debugging.
What you really want is "sensor dry + 10 minutes" or some other offset.
we really need open appliances (with some safety features)
For example, we had a window air conditioning unit in our previous house that had an efficiency feature. Instead of recirculating the air, it would cool to the temperature you asked for, then set itself a few degrees higher. So it cooled down to the right temperature, and then just changed the temperature so it wouldn't remain as cool as you wanted. THat's not more efficient — that's just not doing its damn job.
Likewise, our dryer has settings that amount to "almost dry," "not actually dry," and "can't even tell you put it in the dryer." Who are these settings for? When I dry my clothes, I need them to be completely dry every time. I can't hang a shirt that's still damp in the closet or it will get all musty. WTF?