Buying Guide: is a slimline dishwasher right for my home?

Looking for an easier way to do the dishes, but don’t have much room to spare in your kitchen? Will adding a standard dishwasher to your new or renovated compact kitchen leave you drastically short of cupboard space?

Slimline dishwashers have narrower designs than most standard dishwashers, making them a better choice for more modest kitchens. Your dishes will enjoy the same cleaning standards as using larger models, while your kitchen remains clean, tidy and efficiently organised.

Here are a few reasons why a slimline dishwasher could be just the right machine for you:

The clue is in the name – slimline dishwashers don’t take up a lot of kitchen space. This means your dishes can benefit from faster, more efficient cleaning, and you’ll also leave enough cupboard space available to store all of your cookware, utensils and more.

While every model is different, a width of approximately 450mm is fairly common among slimline dishwasher designs (that said, ALWAYS check the measurements before making a purchase!).

Did you know that on average, most dishwashers actually use less water to clean a load of dishes than washing by hand?

Slimline designs, being smaller than standard dishwashers, tend to use even less water and power with each load. Just be sure to use them efficiently to get the most sustainable performance – for example, consider air-drying or hand-drying your dishes rather than running an energy-intensive drying cycle.

Check each dishwasher’s energy and water star ratings to get an idea of a dishwasher’s efficiency. Remember that these ratings are based on washing an average load with a standard cycle and that different dishwashing settings may use more or less power or water.

Tying in with the above point about using less power and water than you may expect, Slimline dishwashers in turn often have lower average running costs than their full-sized cousins.

To save more money while keeping your dishes clean, try to make good use of your slimline dishwasher’s Eco setting (if available). And if there’s an option to delay the start of your dishwashing cycle until a time of your choosing, try to program your machine to run at night, during off-peak energy periods (if you have a variable energy plan with on and off-peak pricing).

Full-sized dishwashers have capacities of up to 14 place settings (one place setting = all the plates, cutlery and glassware required to serve one person a three course meal), which is much more than a small household needs.

If you live alone or with a partner, a full-sized dishwasher could be overkill when it comes to dealing with your dishes. You'd often find yourself running out of clean crockery as you wait to fill the standard sized washer up, or running the wash cycle when it's only half full, which can be a waste of water, energy and money.

Slimline dishwashers typically average 8-10 place settings, making them a more efficient choice for a smaller home of two or three people.