Do you use heated dry on your dishwasher?

[mark_wpduet]

ON my maytag dishwasher, there is no Sani Rinse... but I'm not sure what all of these other options are...maybe it's just there it's just named differently? The settings I use are Normal/Tough scrub (not sure what that does but it sounds good) Hi-temp... no heat dry.. In the past I've tried auto clean... I wasn't sure about it. All I know is the only cycle I've never used is quick wash... but all other options steam billows out like crazy when it's done... so I know that things were definitely hot enough..

that's an interesting point about using heated dry in the winter because the kitchen is already cold.. same with the oven or any other appliance that creates heat.. It's actually helping the heating system to a small degree.. at least it's something tho. Summer would be opposite obviously.

 

[combo52]

Reply number 31

Hi Mark, you should not use quick wash on a normal basis that's meant for occasional loads of dusty dishes from the China cabinet. It often causes problems with greasy buildup in the pump, etc. use light wash if you don't want to use normal if your dishes are not that heavily soiled

I don't know if it's a bad picture or not but it looks like the plastic packing film is still on your control panel. If it is, you should remove it. It can ruin the membrane control panel.

You're right it makes more sense if you're going to use heated dry to do it in the winter when you're heating your house anyway however you're probably not using resistance electric heat so it still cost more money to use it even in the winter but it definitely makes no sense to use heat to drive when your air-conditioning is running in the house that's just crazy.

Reply number 30 the insulation is on the outside of the tank to minimize heat loss and reduce operating sounds. It does reduce the drying ability. You would get much better condensation if there was no insulation on the outside of the tank the insulation in no way improves the condensation drying of a dishwasher.

John

 

[ryner1988]

Reply #32

John, that's interesting that you say insulation reduces drying ability. Is this especially true in condensate dry models? Because on my new machine, it came with an insulation blanket but it had to be removed to be able to fit in the opening. I find that I don't suffer the same issues with condensate drying as a lot of people seem to. As mentioned above, I normally start my DW before going to bed and most dishes are perfectly dry by morning, save for a few plastic items, which I'm trying to gradually purge from my kitchen anyway. Wonder if I would dislike the drying system more if the insulation blanket was still there. I'm not sure how much quieter the machine would have been, I find it's not by any means silent, but not annoying either. We can sleep in the other room without it bothering us at all, for sure, and when I run it during the day it's not in the way of the TV or anything else.

 

[mark_wpduet]

I see what you mean. the pic makes it look like the plastic is still on there... but it's not... it's the compression artifacts making it look like that.

 

[foraloysius]

I’m not too sure about Zeolite. At one of the offices I worked there was a Bosch dishwasher with Zeolite. When that thing was just done and I or someone else would open the door I would get an asthma attack. That never happened with other dishwashers. I assume it was the very warm humidity that did that but never really found out.

 

[appnut]

Luigi, if I'm going to run the dishwasher, I strategically run it such that when the cycle is completed, I allow the dishwasher to run the full cycle, including Crystal Dry option (equivalent of heated dry)and door remains closed over night. When I wake up and goto the kitchen, dishwasher is still slightly warm inside and dishes are fully dry reminiscent of 1960s dishwasher heated dry cycle results.

 

[panasonicvac]

Our sound insulation on the KitchenAid had to be removed after a year or two of owning it because it overheated the dishwasher or caused the motor to burn out, can't remember which was which. But I could barely tell the difference since it's so quiet unlike our Maytag we had before.

That being said, I use heat dry on mine.

 

[gelaundry4ever]

starting my dishwasher

I usually start the dishwasher before going to bed. However, I start it after breakfast or lunch sometimes depending on when it gets full.

 

[henene4]

@logixx

Huh, I always thought the hot fill setting deactivated the heat exchanger completely.

Thanks for the info!

 

[henene4]

DW door prop

Do you know how oven doors have thar indent at a few degrees open?

That is was the cheapo Vestel made DW I bought for my partner has.
Actually many DWs with AutoOpen door have these, so when the door is pushed open by the machine, it just stays there.

My Miele stays open in any position anyway, any other brands do, too.

@appnut

Again, not sure on the EU vs US drying systems, but at least over here, Sani rinse overrides the temp setting for Intensive Dry on Bosch DWs.
Sani rinse heats to the same temp as Intensive Dry, it just keeps the temp longer.

Intensive dry however - IIRC - adds a few minutes to the drying cycle as well, which might make a difference.

 

[combo52]

Insulation on the outside of dishwasher tubs

As I mentioned before is mainly there for noise and to keep heat in the dishwasher, it does slow down condensate drying inside the tank but the dishes will still dry just a little more slowly with the insulation there.

It's very important if the dishwasher came with insulation to keep the insulation on the dishwasher, we can see a huge difference when we're testing dishwashers in the shop that we are rebuilding if the insulation is not there, they take an extremely long time to make it up to the high temperature wash temperatures because the heat loss is so rapid you'll use more electricity without the insulation for sure and have often longer cycles.

Reply number 37, hi Alex if they took the factory insulation off a KitchenAid dishwasher, they didn't know what they're doing. The insulation could not possibly cause the machine to overheat or the motor to burn Out there's been no recalls on KitchenAid dishwashers for such issues. As mentioned in the last paragraph if you take the insulation off, the machine is just gonna run a lot more use more electricity wear out the main motor faster and possibly ruin the electronics faster with all the current draw that's required to try to heat water without insulation.

John

 

[panasonicvac]

I was off

Apparently the insulation is still on after further look. I guess I only saw the insulation get taken off by the technician to get inside the machine.

 

[wholelottared]

on my top of the line recent Serie 8 Bosch dishwasher:

i have these settings turned on for drying, and i have no idea what it is doing or using lol. it has Zeolith drying technology, but i don't know if my settings makes it use fan drying or something else, i don't know the logic behind it and would've loved to learn.

i use it on Auto program, and weirdly, both during the pre-rinse and wash cycle, for the first 15-20 minutes, i hear a fan noise. like is it using Zeolith to heat the water too or something? is that possible?

 

[logixx]

The fan noise is the zeolite being regenerated. There's a ~1,000 watt heater underneath the zeolite container that heats the minerals up the release moisture/steam that is used to heat the water for (pre-) washing. The main heater comes on once the regeneration of the zeolite is done.

I recently used the Glass cycle along with varioSpeed and Intensive Dry and it increased the final rinse water temp to 69C.

 

[appnut]

On my Bosch 800, intensive drying option impacts all full wash programs. The final rinse temperature is higher than the program's default temperature. except for the 60 minute quick wash cycle, all other programs also turn on the blower during the drying phase. On quickk wash program, the default 60 minute length is increased to 84 minutes with Intensive dry on. [this post was last edited: 1/19/2025-16:06]

 

[wholelottared]

to logixx and appnut

thank you both for the replies.

to appnut, what do you mean by the quick cycle not having a "blower"? for example i always use the auto program and i hear a continuous humming during the drying cycle, does it not do that on the quick cycle? then how does quick cycle dry? what's the difference between those two drying types? i'm curious because i never used anything other than auto yet so i don't know, and i love learning the logic behind it.

thanks!!

 

[appnut]

My quick cycle is officially called Speed60. With Intensive Drying option selected, final rinse rempterures are slightly higher. On Speed60 without Intensive dry, the program length is exactly 60 minutes. The last 5 minutes is sitting in its own heat generated and program ends. With intensive dry enabled, program legth is 84 minutes and that 5 minute is increased 15 minutes and program ends. Dishes just dry in their own heat inside the machine. When using this cycle, after the end of program signal I just open the door and let load sit over night. I don't use this program very often, I prefer using programs that utilize the CrystalDry technology/feature. I paid for that feature and I am going to use it.

 

[logixx]

I paid for that feature and I am going to use it.

Haha, my thoughts exactly.

If I use the Eco 50C cycle along with speedPerfect, it brings the time down from 3:15 hrs. to 1:05 hrs. It skips the zeolite drying and let's the dishes just sit there like a regular dishwasher. I tried that cycle once.

 

[wholelottared]

too appnut and logixx again, also another question

thank you so much haha i think i understand it now. from this logic my auto program + intensive dry setting should be using Zeolith already so i'm good to go.

i have one last question though so bear with me please there's an another option regarding drying and i also never used that before. it's called "Shine & Dry" and it's a feature that's only selectable from the app. it has a big impact on both the energy, water usage & time.

so "intensive dry" makes the rinse water hotter, "EfficientDry" makes the door open automatically, but what does "Shine & Dry" do?

does anyone know what this additional feature does and changes? thank you so much!!

 

[logixx]

Shine & Dry is why I chose a Siemens branded dishwasher over the Bosch branded one, as only Siemens had the option at the time of purchase (mine doesn't have WiFi yet so no app features).

What it does is add another interim rinse (with a bit of rinse aid) before the final rinse. The additional rinse is supposed to make the dishes, well, shinier because of better rinsing performance - something along those lines is what the marketing material said.

I use the option all the time. The only other dishwasher to offer an extra rinse would have been Miele - but it would have also been twice as expensive.

 

[henene4]

The main way Zeolite DWs are more efficient is basically a little heat energy shuffle.

The heat that is used to dry the mineral is used to heat the wash water.
There, the heat energy pulls double duty: heating the mineral to make it ready for drying AND heating the wash water.
That's why, for about 10-15min each cycle during a wash period, the fan comes on, together with the heater in the Zeolite container.

If the DW would have to do that regeneration of the mineral on its own and could not "reuse" the heat it needed for that, it would use more energy in total than other drying methods.

The Zeolite then allows for much lower final rinse temps.
Eco cycles target about 35C (or below 100F) for the final rinse here, or about 50C (120F) for normal cycles.
If you select certain options (VarioSpeed, Shine&Dry, Intensive Dry, Hygiene+/Sanitize) the final rinse temp gets raised accordingly, negating any energy savings, but boosting dry performance.

Typical temp targets are 65C (150F) for Eco cycles without Zeolite, 69C (just shy of 160F) for "normal" drying and 72C (something like 165F) for Hygiene+ IIRC.

 

[wholelottared]

to henene4 and logixx

thanks for the replies.

since i already have "intensive dry" turned on by default for all programs on my device, do you guys think turning on "shine & dry" too and saving it as a favorite program (auto + intensive dry + shine & dry) would be too extra/unnecessary?

like do i really need shine & dry if i already turned on intensive dry? i wonder if it actually makes a difference for the shininess of the dishes, but i can't test it right now and you guys probably already know better than me, so wanted to ask. thank you so much!!

also, i have an another question but this is a bit off-topic so you can reply later if you want to. i really want to learn if "auto" program uses the maximum power for the spray arms. i searched about this and found nothing. i hear different sounds during wash but of course i can't see anything so i can't make sure. i don't use "eco" because it's too long & temperature might not get everything clean, also apparently always using eco is bad for the device in long term. i don't use "express 60°" because apparently it doesn't do a pre-rinse and doesn't uze Zeolith for drying. i don't use "heavy" because that wouldn't be suitable as an everyday program. i don't use "intelligent" because i think rating via app/AI is messy and unnecessary. so i'm with using "Auto 45-65", with my sensor setting set to "sensitive" (i don't know what it changes but i'm hoping it makes the wash temperature warmer). this is why i'm curious about pressure of the spray arms. thanks!!

 

[appnut]

ON my Auto cycle, the spray pressure does vary based upon soil level.

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

Well maybe the question is: “Does anybody use the non-heat dry or air-dry?”…

My Samsung heats and only heats, even propping open its door during what’s probably the last ten minutes and some items are even still damp and wet…

I believe the Maytag I had before didn’t even offer a No-Heat option…

So think back to when dishwashers only baked your dishes when drying them, you had a fan which lasted as long or even longer than the rest of the dishwasher did and if that heating rod burned out it was replaced or you bought a new machine if the element couldn’t be…

(And I just heard the ringing that it’s done & I will see the Sanitize light on too)

— Dave

 

[DADoES]

 
There isn't a "no-heat" choice on my dishwasher other than the Rinse-only cycle.  All of the eight wash cycle choices heat the main wash and final rinse periods to specific target temperatures.

 

[combo52]

All dishwashers that have a heated dry

Have had offer an air dry alternative since the early 80s per energy requirements.

Air dry, has not only saved a lot of energy, but it has saved a lot of damage and even fires inside dishwashers from items on heating elements and the premature damage it does to the racks and other parts of the machine

John

 

[lakewebsterkid]

Heated dry

Thought I posted here, but I guess not.
The KitchenAid dries so well that I do not use it in the summer. Though, the extra heat and moisture is great during the winter, so we use it then.
Some machines need a heated dry cycle more than others. Frigidaire DWs immediately come to mind.

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

well if there is such an energy crisis using the heating element to dry in your dishwasher and you notice a decrease in your electric bill just from that disuse of that one feature, not to mention the level of safety on a par with self-cleaning ovens, then use the non-heated dry if you have it and it performs 100% to your drying expectations...

 

 

 

-- dave

 

[gelaundry4ever]

dry assist

I have the dry assist programmed to "on". What happens is, it raises the final rinse temperature and extends the drying time. It's a quasi heated dry. As a side note, the wash action is powerful, even when the dishwasher pump changes from soak to blast.

 

[askolover]

None of my mother's nor my dishwashers have ever completely dried everything 100%. Plastic. Doesn't matter if heated or energy saver is selected. Everything but the plastic will be dry. But I'm used to that since our first one when I was 3. So now 50 years of drying the plastic items by hand or just putting them in the dish drainer for a bit to let them finish drying. Part of our routine.