Green Appliance Shopping

So, I never would have thought that buying new appliances could be fun. After all, I don't even like to shop. But after 15 years, our both our washing machine and our dishwasher needed replacing. I'd been keeping the washing machine working for the past 7 or 8 years by doing my own repairs. But they were getting harder and I finally came to believe that the time and effort was no longer worth it. With the new, high efficiency models available, it was also getting harder to justify from a total life cycle perspective too.

That's why Robin and I headed off to Sears last Saturday. Armed with reliability, efficiency, performance, and pricing information from Consumer Reports and the broader Internet, we were able to select both appliances fairly quickly. For the dishwasher, we got a Bosch. It's quiet and one of the most energy efficient models out there. The washing machine is a front loader Kenmore -- also one of the quietest and most energy efficient available. There were a few glitches with delivery, but nothing major. We even got them to take away an old, unused, washing machine that had been taking up way too much space in the basement.

Unfortunately, as with everything these days, there's always something else to learn. On the dishwasher side, it's a requirement (or at least "strongly recommended") to use not just detergent but also a special drying agent that prevents streaks and spots. I'd never heard of this before installing the dishwasher, so it was time to do a little research. I still haven't found a real ingredient list, but according to most sites, they're typically a combination of nonionic surfactants, a chelating agent, dye, and fragrance. Ethanol is commonly one of the main ingredients, since it readily evaporates and leaves no residue. I'll have to look a bit more to understand the carbon footprint effects of using ethanol this way (vs running your dishwasher at a higher temp for faster drying). Several sites also mention using vinegar, but I'm not sure I'm ready to try that in a brand new appliance. For now, I'll stick with an Earth friendly brand, such as Ecover's "Rinse Aid":


Naturally, the washing machine also came with a chemical surprise. Apparently, the high efficiency front loaders need extra concentrated, high performance laundry detergent. Now both my wife and daughter are allergic to dust mites, so we've been using All's Free and Clear for years. It's fragrance free, and helps keep the allergen count down. Back to the Internet... This time, I didn't look into the chemical properties, but instead chose to take the pragmatic approach and see what substitutes I could find. There aren't many. A search on Amazon only turns up three. Since we like the Method guys, we'll probably try theirs. Here's the link, if you're interested in trying it yourself:



All for now,

Keith