Should You Heat Dry or Air Dry a Dishwasher?

A dishwasher is a modern convenience that we all use. By creating large quantities of hot air, the dishwasher dries the dishes for us, and saves time. The only thing you need to do in that situation is press the button to remove the excess water from the dishes. However, you can even remove that Heat Dry option with the power of Air Drying.

Both of these options exist, and both help to reduce energy consumption and cut down on time. Here at Repair Aid, we’ve worked on enough dishwashers to know the difference, so let’s talk about it.

The Heated Drying Option

So, let’s talk about the heated drying option. Basically, what happens inside your machine is that the heating element creates large quantities of hot air. The hot air is then pumped through the dishwasher, with some leaving through the small exhaust port, and this helps to speed up the drying process by pulling all of the moisture from the plates and the dishes.

Without access to a heated drying component, the cycle instead uses just ordinary air that is room temperature. This does the same job, but it makes it a little bit longer.

Saving Energy

However, if you’re ready to cut back on your energy bills, then this is probably something you need to think about in more detail. On average, the heated drying cycle generates 15% more energy usage than an air drying cycle.

Understandably, this can increase your energy bills quite dramatically over time. Air drying works by taking the energy consumption down via eliminating the heating element from the drying process. Air drying requires minimal energy.

Obviously, it’s not a perfect method. You will still have to hand dry any dishes during the summer months, because humid environments will extend the time.

Quick or Energy-Efficient?

So, ultimately, it all boils down to whether or not you want to be able to dry your dishes quickly, or whether you want to do it in an energy efficient way. There are drawbacks to the energy efficient method, for example you may get water spots developing as a result of the evaporation process.

There are some people who think that both methods are not efficient. Nobody can argue that the dishwasher is more effective for washing the dishes, because it uses far less water than you will, but if you were going to dry the dishes, sometimes the best result is to use a hand towel and do it yourself.

Final Thoughts

So, ultimately, it’s not difficult to dry the dishes in your dishwasher, but you have to think about which method you want to use. Doing it by hand and forgoing the use of the machine components can be quite helpful.

However, if you are on a tight schedule, the heated drying method can be useful. It’s ultimately up to you to experiment and figure out what will be best for your needs.