Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Report on switching from sanitizer to dishwashers

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

> On Jun 20, 2019, at 11:18 AM, Fred-List manager <fholson [at] cohousing.org> 
> wrote:
> 
> Chuck Harrison <cfharr [at] gmail.com>

> Our community is about half the size of Takoma Village (23 units) and we
> have meals two or three times a week.
> 
> Our dishwasher is probably the kind that Takoma Village just got rid of
> (see pic) at http://l.cohousing.org/dishwasher.jpg

Yes it is the same one. And one effect that I find very nice with residential 
dishwashers is that the kitchen looks more like a personal kitchen. Not like a 
restaurant or institution.

> It was ten years old when the community was formed (1999) and it
> just keeps going. I guess thirty years of a few meals a week isn't really
> much usage for a restaurant-grade machine. I don't know that anybody loves
> it or hates it; it's kind of noisy but we're all used to that.

We had two — the first one was used and the second new. We had downtimes with 
both, and both were by Hobart. Maybe if they work, they work forever.

One advantage that I may not have stressed is the likelihood that people will 
run a load of all the stray dishes that accumulate during the week. We don’t 
use paper products so anyone who stops to eat their takeout or have coffee, 
uses dishes that sit around. We have one meal a week for sure but that meant 
that meal would have to do sometimes two trays of dishes before they could do 
their own from the meal. And they looked messy sitting around all week. And we 
were working hard to be sure that dishes were sanitized so we didn’t want them 
hand washing.

Before we bought the second sanitizer I raised this as an issue. I declutter 
the CH 2-3 times a week and these dishes are an irritant. 2-3 people said they 
would take responsibility for running a load mid week. Of course they didn’t. 
It’s too much trouble to turn on the heater an hour before and then gear up for 
1-2 trays. We now run less than a full load so the washers are empty before the 
next meal.

> We worry vaguely about the unit eventually breaking down beyond economical
> repair and the cost of a new replacement, but we have been assuming that
> this is the right approach for our kitchen. Maybe we should be evaluating
> alternatives like Sharon mentions.

I wouldn’t consider it until this one goes kaput. But residential dishwashers 
are also cheaper. A difference of thousands of dollars. That may make the 
decision.

I think each of ours was $900 for almost top if the line. It’s the level below 
the one that has a million bells and whistles no one probably uses.

Sharon
----
Sharon Villines
Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC
http://www.takomavillage.org