Is it cheaper to wash your dishes by hand or by a dish washer?

thank you!Is it cheaper to wash your dishes by hand or by a dish washer?
There was a segment on the ';green channel'; that tested this theory out. Hands down a dishwasher was better than handwashing... However, only if it's fully loaded, and the dry cycle was OFF. I have a family of four so we run our dishwasher every other day or so. I only run it when it's full.





I also only run it at night on time delay and air dry... I've also turned my hot water heater down to 120 degrees which is still hotter water than I could do my dishes my hand. It also saves me time/energy and also from having dish pan hands! It also uses LESS detergent/water than handwashing.





PLUS depending on how you handwash you dishes may NOT be clean... A two basin approach is preferred as you can wash/rinse the dishes.... Using HOT soapy water and rinsing in clean cool water...





You also save more water by NOT prewashing dishes... Most newer dishwashers don't need to have dishes prewashed and detergents are better than in the past...





So, I think it's better to just use the dishwasher. We also have a rule of using ONE glass for the day. That helps keep the dish pile down...





Is it cheaper to wash your dishes by hand or by a dish washer?
Dishwasher providing you aren't ';washing'; them ahead and you fill up the machine in a day or so.





For us two, I still believe hand washing is best as we have so few dishes it would take a week to make a load. The thought of dishes sitting around that long is disgusting. So to compensate I try hard to limit the water I use when washing: use a dish pan so as not to fill the sink, assemble a bunch before rinsing.
By hand, most definitely. The water you use for hand-washing vs. machine washing is the same (they recycle for 1 use). But the energy (electricity) dishwasher uses is incredible.





Wash by hand if you want to save money on bills.
Old question...lots of answers...


http://answers.yahoo.com/search/search_r鈥?/a>
my guess is dishwasher, when hand-washing your constantly running water and its a waste, plus a dishwasher can hold MANY dishes
by hand because you don't use all that water!!!! just turn the water off when your not using it!!!!
you will save some money if dont use the dry cycle, just let them air dry. google'; how much to run household appliances';
dish washer